MNb wrote on 02/26/14 at 23:14:41:
Pale Horse, Pale Rider wrote on 02/26/14 at 16:48:21:
I would be interested .....
Sorry, I have never investigated it seriously either. It seems to me that developing Bf1 might become a problem, so 9.Ne2 Kf7 is an idea.
MartinC wrote on 02/28/14 at 08:49:43:
iirc 9 Ne2 is an attempt to save a tempo when black plays b6, Ba6 x d3/f1. No idea how it works if black just tries to castle kingside instead.
I hope it's not a problem that these things are outside the scope of the original thread idea?! So MNb's post got me interested in this line partly because I think returning to 1. e4 so I could meet this otb. As I already said I checked the database and white scores excellent with the 9. Ne2 idea. However, looking a bit further I am not so sure about this anymore.
After 9. Ne2 the computer likes 9...Kf7, just as MNb mentioned. This move certainly looks rediculous to me. Of course castling is not really mandatory in many french lines but this seemed a bit extravagant on first glance. So i tried to "prove" that black has to be worse after 9...Kf7 when you look a little deeper - but to no avail. The situation remains very complex of course, but the coordination problems caused by the knight on e2 should not be underestimated. Many logical moves for white do not work particularly good for white.
10. Be3 doesn't seem so great because the third rank is blocked again. After 10...Nge7 (this looks very logical), I would love to move my knight to f4 but than d4 is weakened again.
After 10. Bd2 I still can't move my knight somewhere because of the d4 square
10. h4 looks good but after 10...Nge7 11. h5 white just postponed the development problem. Other ideas at the 11th move preparing to directly open the f-file (like Qh3 or so) don't look so promising either because black gets a knight on f5 sooner or later which is just good for him.
The direct attempt 10. Nf4 is answered by cxd4 when it looks as if white has to play 11. Nxd5 after which Qa5 (11...exd5?? 12. e6+) 12. Nb4 leads to a position where white is a pawn down and I don't think there is enough compensation...
I would be interested to hear your thoughts. I made a pgn to illustrate the points I made: