Glenn Snow wrote on 08/25/12 at 08:11:08:
Yeah, I can see what you mean. What did you find against 11...Re8? (This is mentioned in the book and transposes to what I proposed if 12.Qh4 Ne5.)
That's the Maze (2579) - Bocharov (2647), Moscow 2009 game. High level GM with Black and relatively recent game, so promising. I look at the games with an engine, but also with my own eyes. Part of my human assessment is, if presented with a position without knowing the engine evaluation, what is the likelyhood of me, or my opponent finding the good moves.
Consider White's 17th move. How many of you would play 17. Bg5 here, developing the remaining White piece with tempo? If you would, well done, you've improved on the play of a 2600 GM.
White does have to play accurately but does seem to get a stable advantage. After the line I give, the engine evaluation is about 0.5 favouring White.
I'm not saying Black is lost here, but what is bugging me about this position is the Bc8. When I first started looking at this defence over 10 years ago, one of the proposed "refutations" was in this line but with 6. de de 7. f5, locking in this poor piece. But it can come out via b7 or a6, and this is essential to Black's game.
But Cyrus's line here just seems to open the position too early, spend too much time developing, and not generate counterplay quickly enough to put White off a potentially dangerous attack.