OK, so i'll reveal mine ideas. Not something deep, but a start:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4

(9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 c6 12. Ne3 Bc7 13. Nf5 d5 14.Ne7+ Kh8 15. Nxc8 Rxc8
White has the Bishop pair but this was never considered as a notable advantage in this position
16. d3
(16. d4 f5N is fine for Black as there is no Knight to land on e5!)
16... f5N and Black's pawn-structure limits White's light-squared Bishop while he has a space advantage)

9... b6!? with the idea Bb7+f5 and Ne4 with g5 or Bg5 etc

Of course i meant 9...Ke8 and not 9...Kh8 (what was i thinking? Strange patterns work inside the mind. The move ...Kh8 is much more common than ...Ke8!)

Yes, i also disagree about with Mark here, even though making general remarks is always dangerous. There are sub-variations of the Berlin endgame (even lines that are considered main lines today, for example Kramnik's ...h5 variation) than kill the winning chances of both sides, so if Mark had those in mind when he said what he said he is right. But, in my opinion, there are lines (like the one i talked about) that give Black hopes for the win. There is also a ...Bf5 variation which is complex and unclear.

Let me present you a fraction of a recent game of mine featuring a strong novelty from my side. After 9.Nc3 i played 9...Be6 (another good continuation) and my well-prepared opponent played 10.Ng5 Ke7 11.f4! which is considered critical in Cox's Berlin book. I played with confidence 11...h5! which is (as i understand it!) best and my opponent played 12.Rd1 which was given in Cox's book as uncomfortable for Black based on a Carlsen's game from 2005 if i recall correctly. Now i played again what i think is logical and strong: 12...f6! which is (probably!) a novelty (that came to my mind after watching plenty of those recent Ke8+h5 games, where by the way Black is not equal according to what i have found) and after 13.exf6 gxf6 14.Nxe6 Kxe6 i won easily by playing Bd6-Kf7 and after White played g2-g3 i played in auto-pilot the position after Rag8+h4 with massive attack while the Rd1 looked really stupid!

A game proves nothing of course! But i use it as an example from my experience.

@trw: Is there a chance to reveal some ways you have found to make the position after 5.Re1 a bit more complicated?

9.Nc3 Kh8! 10.h3 Be6! seems to be a good way for Black to play for the win. I see many GMs playing the move 10.Ne2 these days. Probably they try to avoid 10...Be6 (because of 11.Nf4) or at least make this move less strong now. 10...Be6 11.Nf4 Bd5 is given as equal by GM Kritz anyway.

The Berlin endgame in general is very complex and offers hopes for both sides to outplay their opponent. I believfe that in sub-2000 level a player with good feeling and some preparation (and experience) on this endgame would score point after point.

I will repeat myself and say once again that the big problem with the Berlin(in you want to play for the win) is the 7.Re1! variation (with the Bf1 retriet of course!). I would appreciate some ideas here for someone that has any because i have investigated it a lot and i found nothing! Dead dead equality (or even a slight +/=). The endgame is much more easily winable!

I agree that we need white's 9th before the vote.  I've been toying with the idea of 9.b3 and IMHO there are other playable white 9ths that don't transpose into the "standard" white setup.

Markovich wrote on 03/11/11 at 15:52:03:

Aronian would respectfully disagree with you. He plays the Berlin to win and the Marshall to draw.

As to the poll... what is white's 9th move after 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8.... would help to know that before voting...

I find 9... Ne7 ugly as heck no matter what white does.

Well virtually anything is a better choice for win vs a heavily booked, unambitious white than the Marshall

But the Berlin ending is ambitious so presumably not such an awful choice. Not sure how black generates any play vs the odd thing like Re1 and Bf1 though.

The short answer is that if you need the full point and 3.Bb5 appears on the board, don't play the Berlin.