GMTonyKosten wrote on 03/16/11 at 12:48:48:
flaviddude wrote on 03/16/11 at 08:16:21:
I have tried the recommendations of this book in two tournaments over the past week without knowing much of the theory. I really like the positions that arise from lines given.
Do the recommendations improve on the lines given by Eric Prié in the ChessPub Guides?
I think so, as Lakdawala cites chesspublishing among his sources.
But I am not sure, as I am not a subscriber.
In general I also like Lakdawala's book, but I noticed a major flaw in his coverage of
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 h6 (?! Lakdawala) 4Bxf6 exf6 5.e3
Lakdawala claims the resulting positions to be better for white, which is completely wrong. He fails to mention the critical black setup with
5...c6! 6.Bd3 f5! and according to Davies and practice it may well be that black is already better, as he has the superior pawn structure and white lacks any pawn-levers. White results are very bad in this line.
After playing the Veresov for some years, I now prefer
4.Bh4 , as Black doesn't seem to be able to take advantage of the inclusion of h6 and Bh4.
For example:
4...Bf5 5.Bxf6! exf6 6.e3 followed by Bd3 and it is white who benefits from h6, as Bg6 is impossible, and the common white plan of g4 and h4 is much stronger with an additional weakness on black's kingside.
4....Nbd7 and white can transpose to his favourite setup against 3....Nbd7, may it be Nf3, Qd3, e3 or even the dubious f3.
4...c6 and again white can play as against 3....c6
4...g6!? is probably better here than after the third move, as Bh6 ideas are ruled out, but nonetheless, after f3 followed by e4 white enjoys a pleasant game.
4...e6!? is tricky and maybe the only serious try to take advantage of Bh4, as e4 can be met by g5. This is far from clear, however, and leads to messy positions the Veresov player is striving for in general. And white can also play my preferred 5.e3 playing in reversed Chigorin style.