Normal Topic 2...d6 4.Qxd4 curiosity (Read 4549 times)
Vass
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Re: 2...d6 4.Qxd4 curiosity
Reply #4 - 12/14/14 at 18:48:33
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All the correspondence chess games (after 10...Nd7, one annotated) I could find:

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Re: 2...d6 4.Qxd4 curiosity
Reply #3 - 12/14/14 at 14:39:35
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While I know about Maroczy Bind structure, I admit I thought it needed Nxd4 and was employed only against a fianchettoed bishop. True, in a lot of Qxd4 games black goes g6, but e6 is not uncommon either.

About the question if Qxd4 is an anti or not, where are the updates to Qxd4 lines covered here on chesspub, on antisicilians or open sicilians?


Anyway, here is a variaton that gave me some thought:

1.e4 e5
2.Nf6 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Qxd4 a6
5.h3 Nc6
6.Qe3 Nf6
7.c4 g6
8.Be2 Bg7
9.0-0 0-0
10.Nc3

Here the accepted response is 10...Nd7, after which the database gives a 75% score for white, while Stockfish thinks the position is basically equal. I found 4 games played by 2500+ in this position last year:

Sjugirov-Gabrielian 1-0 (11.Rd1 Nc5 12.Bd2)
Popov-Seliverstov 1-0 (11.Rb1)
Sebag-Paehtz 0-1 (11.Rb1 a5; three days earlier Sebag has beaten Hou Yifan in a blitz in the line 11.Rb1 Nc5)
Popovic-Indic 1/2 (11.Rd1 Nc5 12.Rb1)


plus Kovalev-Nowicki 1-0 (rapid; 11.b3 Rb8 12.Rb1 Nc5 13.Bb2 f5)

12.Bd2 as in the Sjugirov game looks like a good practical choice. Did anyone ever tried it in correspondence? And may I ask how can I put the games here? I'm a bit of naive when it comes down to encoding and the like.

PS I know I shamelessly said in the other thread that I won't be asking about novelties in the sicilian, but this is a pretty common position to reach for whom faces Qxd4 a6
  
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kylemeister
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Re: 2...d6 4.Qxd4 curiosity
Reply #2 - 12/14/14 at 00:52:20
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Historical tidbit:  4. Qxd4 caused some consternation when Salov tried to play it against Ljubojevic in an Open Sicilian theme tournament (in honor of Polugaevsky) in the 1990s; he was told he had to play 4. Nxd4.

Some older lines of 4. Qxd4 also involve c4.  I suppose the OP knows about this being a Maroczy Bind structure ...
  
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Keano
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Re: 2...d6 4.Qxd4 curiosity
Reply #1 - 12/14/14 at 00:12:14
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Rozentalis was a bit of a specialist iirc. Carlsen also dabbled.

Agree it belongs in the Anti-Sicilians also, its a decent system.
  
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2...d6 4.Qxd4 curiosity
12/12/14 at 12:03:02
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I think this belongs here, but I'm not sure, as I was told that after 3.d4 is not an anti-sicilian anymore.

As I wrote in the other forum, the vast majority of my games with both white and black are four knights; however, as a 1.e4 player, I do face the sicilian from time to time, and since I like the open positions but I'm totally horrified by heavy theory I followed Watson's advice in his e4 book and settled for the line mentioned in the subject, which gave me quite a few interesting games (all of which went Bb5, Bxc6, 0-0-0 and smooth development followed by a reasonably often successful attack on the kingside).

The thing is, taking a look at a database at the club (all the games played in the last year) I noticed that while white is currently scoring boatloads of points with this, the fashionable variations have become quite weird:

4...Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Qe3!?
4...a6 5.h3!?

Usually playing c4 afterwards. While I don't like too much these kinds of middlegames, it is interesting how much popular (and successful) they are. And I was kind of amazed that  they are not covered really much here in the forums; actually, I don't think there was ever a book on this variation written from white's perspective.

So the question is, what's the (is there a) theoretical consensus on these lines? And why are these systems with c4 considered more effective? 

And a last thing, why is Qxd4 not that popular at the top level? c4 or not, the resulting positions don't look drawish at all, at least to me (well, maybe that's it Smiley ). Actually I much prefer to be white in these games than in the 4N, but while I see top players taking the white side of the 4N (Short, Giri), no one ever goes into 4.Qxd4. And I don't buy that's simply because Nxd4 is better (it is, right?), since in the open games you also have a theoretical better alternative in 3.Bb5. Maybe they just spent so much time searching for novelties in those Nxd4 games that they hope to use them? Smiley

PS Yes, they're GMs who studied chess for decades and I'm a chess-nobody who knows nothing; that's why I'm asking.
  
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