The former line is "well-known" via [ 1.c4 e5 2.g3 f5 3.d4 ed4: 4.Qd4: (4.Nf3!?) Nc6 5.Qe3+ Be7 ] which is seen as better for white.
The difference in move order rules out Nf3 as answer to ed4: - that's pretty much it. ..Nc6 will come sooner or later, ..d6 is played in the old variant at some point.
To put it simply, it just transposes to an old variation which always gave white an easy plus since the Queen isn't easily attackable after all, he enjoys an unchallenged space advantage, and the Bishop on e7 is too passive/misplaced and would much prefer sitting on g7/b4/c5.

I don't really see where this suddenly becomes good for Black!?

George Jempty wrote on 02/11/11 at 21:46:04:

I love it when I run into a player playing moves he does not understand from some 3000+ engine.  What to do when your novel play gets a novel response that you have not had the 'silicon monster' evaluate?

sorry for the off-topic comment, but: I am a bit bewildered that this thread is in "important topics", isn't that section usually reserved for chesspublishing (Tony, moderators, etc.)?

kylemeister wrote on 02/11/11 at 22:17:50:


But you can win White's queen man!!!!11

Markovich wrote on 02/12/11 at 01:10:22:


Fair enough.  White's Nd5 is possibly not so effective though until Black has played ...d6  For instance 1. c4 e5  2. Nc3 Be7  3. Nd5 and Black has 3...Bd6 transposing into a position normally reached when Black plays 2...Bb4

Speaking of the first line, it looks to me like a kind of position which has long been considered somewhat better for White, and I don't know what the significance of ...Be7 in that particular position is supposed to be.

Bibs wrote on 02/11/11 at 12:34:52:


Who knows, maybe Kramnik became familiar with correspondence games played by Richard Callahan

George Jempty wrote on 02/11/11 at 12:30:51:


That fella mentioned it to someone else, who spoke to a bloke on the bus, who bumped into someone in a bar...who forked out for a lady of the night who had another customer who was a Russian diplomat who....
...a butterfly flutters its wings....
...hey presto, Kramnik in London.

Well done.