Incidentally I recall John Donaldson bringing up that approach quite a few years ago in his 1. Nf3 repertoire book, but he only mentioned someone who had played it (Zviagintsev maybe?) and that it seemed a cunning way to play, or some such.

Re Qxf3 in the QGA case, Rizzitano (citing e.g. Yusupov-Huebner and Yusupov-Lautier) contended that "Black has nothing to fear."

There's also the possibility of Black declining to take on f3 -- in the QGA case it was Rizzitano's other repertoire choice (citing e.g. Kramnik-Anand); offhand I would think Black could have grounds to prefer the Reti version of that to the QGA version.

Keano wrote on 03/22/12 at 11:14:13:


14...Qb8 could transpose to known stuff -- 15. d4 Be7 16. e4 was thought by Rizzitano (citing e.g. Piket-Lautier and Yusupov-Anand) to lead to equality.

There is also that 3 e4!? idea that got covered in dangerous weapons: flank openings. Seems good fun.

Markovich wrote on 03/22/12 at 02:21:36:


Indeed 9...Nbd7 is a "book" move in the comparable QGA position (d4 instead of Rd1) ...

Although I've done well enough against 2...d4, I've always doubted the wisdom of letting black have the space.  So does he!  Delchev disapproves of 3.g3  and recommends a really vicious gambit line with b4 and e3. He also says that it is almost totally unexplored, that computer analysis is unreliable in this line, and significantly adds  "I think it is useless to give here some "main line" since the next 20 moves require an utmost precision and should be learned by heart." This is "out of step" with the rest of the book which as he says in the forward provides a flexible repertoire based on understanding of middle-game plans.  

However he does suggest a way out: "Note that Sicilian fans might prefer 1.c4 and turn to 2.Nf3 in the event of 1..e6 or 1...c6. Thus they would avoid 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4, which is by far the sharpest Black's  response."  (Chess-Stars could really use the services of a native English speaker as copy editor.) 

There are a few places where he critiques related lines in Marin's and Averbakh's related anti-slav approaches and suggests upgrades. Practical use of this book seems to be in part dependent on what one wishes to avoid: the slav, the semi-slav, the queen's gambit, the 1.c4 English, or even the Reti with 2...d4.

Gilchrist is a legend wrote on 03/03/12 at 03:59:50:

I doubt it. But the good news is BPaulsen writes about it. 

I wonder if Delchev will write a book on how to play against 1. Nf3 c5 and 1. Nf3 Nf6. Or perhaps the other Chess Stars book on Kramnik's repertoire? I would not mind playing this against players who play the Slav and Semi-Slav, but if they play 1...c5 I am not sure what to do.