Nice game! Think all it really shows though is why black normally plays h6 around move 15 or 16  

Watson analysed a game in the Qf7 stuff back in the may update and the conclusion seems to be well, inconclusive: "these lines are ridiculously complex both strategically and tactically".
(with a genuinely scary amount of analysis attached to the game.).

And if he can't understand them I certainly wouldn't claim to!

TN wrote on 02/22/12 at 12:08:32:


I played (long time ago in French championship Carton-Laurain) the second line with 12.Qd1 Nbc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 but then daviated from the Qc7 idea (point is to engineer a e6-e5 pawn break) with 14..c4 (closing  center ... in order to open it in good conditions later) 15.Be2 (White will not be so happy to have his "good" bishop on that square..first because queen cannot activate quickly on g4 square and second e-file is obstructed which helps Black for the e6-e5 pawn move) 15...Bd7 16.oo Nf5! (16...Kg717.Qc1 Ng8 18.Bf4 Raf8 19.Bd6 Qxc3 20.Qe3 Qxc2 Svensson, Bengt-Akesson, Joel SWE, Team ch 2003/04 1/2-1/2 SWE Round 8 2004)  Vehi Bach-Alvarez Ibarra,San Sebastian 1994 (Hazai and NiC YearBook 35) 

and now 17.Ng5 leads to a draw in Glauser, H.-Haimovich, T. Winterthur SUI, 9th Open 
1/2-1/2 Winterthur SUI Round 8 20091009 
but I prefer Black

17.Qc1 Nd6 18.Ng5 Re7 19.a4 e5 (instead of 19...Rf8 Kucherenko, Daniil-Skliar, Andrey Kharkov UKR, Open 2004 
1-0 Kharkov UKR Round 8 20040716)

Black can manage different ideas Nf5-Nd6-Ne4 and e5 pawn break and even an exchange sacrifice (darksquare bishop vs rook)

MartinC wrote on 02/22/12 at 16:04:07:


I think that is something else than 7 0-0! 

The exchange sac looks interesting, but to me it looks like Black doesn't have any chances to win. I looked in Watson's PTF3, and he also gives some alternatives. However, it looks like there are improvements for White in both lines after 15 h5 gxh5 as mentioned in the Wonderful Winaver. Moskalenko also gives analysis of the move you mention by Khalifman, 15. Ng1!? It seems interesting, but Black is probably holding the position. 

If I were to choose, I'd go with 15. h5 gxh5 16.Rxh5 Rxh5, but the endgame looks tough for Black, not for White! The main line by Moskalenko goes as follows. I wonder if there are any improvements for Black, or maybe the choice should be another line, like with an early ...f5, or ...Qf7?:

Thank you MartinC! I agree with you that the 9.Bg5 line is dangerous, maybe even more dangerous than the main move 9.Qh5. In the line you give, I think 12.Qg3 gives White better chances for an advantage than the direct 12.f4. I think 13.c4 is probably better than 13.g4 in the 8...Qa5 line, though like you say both look pretty good for White. The games I looked at from ChessPublishing suggested that the 8...f5 line is pretty sharp, at least in the 15.dc5 e5 line. 

dom wrote on 02/22/12 at 12:01:26:


I realise my question was pretty general; hence why I called this a large hole in my knowledge.  I guess the line that stumps me most is the main line with 8...f5 9.ef6 Rf6 10.Bg5 Rf7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qd1 and then either 12...Qa5 13.Bd2 Nbc6 14.Nf3 Qc7 15.dc5 e5 or 12...Nbc6 13.Nf3 Qf8. I have some theory on this from ChessPub but I feel that I don't understand what's going on in this 8...f5 line in general.

Hello Forum members,

I noticed a large hole in my opening knowledge today - I know almost nothing about the 7...0-0 variation of the Main Line Winawer (4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bc3 6.bc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 0-0). I've only done analysis of 7...Qc7, 7...cxd4 and 7...Kf8. Would one of the more knowledgeable members of the Forum be able to provide a brief overview of the theory in the position after 8.Bd3, with a couple of important games played since 2009? True, there's a lot of information on this line on ChessPublishing, but to be honest it left me more confused than anything else. If you can mention some model games for White and Black, that would be great too.