I've been looking at the QGD exchange variation(s). There are many variations and sidelines.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Nf3 Re8 10. O-O is the main line.

GM Max Illingworth of Chess Publishing provides very good analysis of the main line with 10...Nf8. I look forward to seeing the former main line 11Rb1 in my games, but remain less confident after the newer main line move 11h3! Black's maneuvers with his queen knight, ...Nd7-f8 sometimes to g6, sometimes to e6, are elegant but slow.

Max I. also introduced 10...g6!? "to prepare ...Ne4 also deserves attention, given that I am recommending ... g6 in many positions." It's taken me a while to warm up to ...g6 in general, but am now a convert. It blunts the bishop and queen battery for starters. Max goes on to analyse 11h3, 11Rab1, and 11Rae1.

After 10...g6 11h3 Ne4 12Bf4, Max gives ...Ndf6. This demonstrates the advantage of the line; black can bring the queen knight into the game quicker than is usually the case. I think 12Bxe7 Qxe7 deserves a look also. I've had fun looking at 11h3 Nb6!? Again, black is bringing his queen knight into the game a little quicker than normal.

After
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Nf3 Re8 10. O-O g6!? 11h3 Nb6!?, there are a maze of possible lines. They require strategic understanding and tactical alertness. In other words, I am well out of my depth. Still, neither I, nor my computer engine have found a problem so far. Take a look an tell me what you think!

gewgaw wrote on 08/17/16 at 20:19:12:


Well, the general possiblity of meeting the minority attack in that way goes way back.  (I always recall Soltis, in the first edition of his pawn structure book from the 1970s, calling it the "burn the positional bridges" defense.)

BobbyDigital80 wrote on 08/17/16 at 10:21:16:


Isn't that game mandatory anyway ?

nestor wrote on 08/09/16 at 18:17:05:


Yeah, King doesn't mention 8.Bd3 on the DVD I think, but in the additional games database, he gives the game Zhu Chen - Short 1992 which has 8.Bd3:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1252470

Laramonet wrote on 08/10/16 at 18:46:22:


Wait...it's 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 that "moves the battleground to the  Botvinnik lines"--and then only if White still wants to exchange on d5. Surely you don't mean that King's  3...Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 is so good for Black that White will avoid it if Black plays 3...Nf6. The absence of Korneev's finesse after the further 8.Bd3 Nh5, which King doesn't cover and Stigma pointed out, doesn't mean Black is equal after 8...Nh5, for example, or after 8...Nbd7. I would certainly play these for White and consider myself to have an advantage; Black still has a problem piece and a problem with pawn breaks.

They're normal, not like the lines where White plays a too-early early Nf3, allowing Black successfully to trade off his light-square bishop. Those lines (the ones that Stigma just gave with ...c6, possibly ...g6, and...Bf5) are not on the same footing as the King lines but are a famous equalizer for Black--and the only reason that 3...Be7 even works to "move the battlefield."

Speaking of that non-critical version of Nf3, I was a bit surprised when I recently noticed the young GM Jorden van Foreest (facing a GM opponent) not going for the theoretically "correct" ...Bf5 (annotated at http://www.schaaksite.nl/2016/07/27/toernooi-in-vaujany/, in Dutch).

However, his even younger FM brother Lucas (at a different event, a bit earlier) did choose ...Bf5 (and won against a much lower-rated opponent) ...

(By the way, after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cd ed 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bg5 c6 7.Qc2 g6 White can play 8. e4.  That always reminds me of a game Karpov-Yusupov in which Black then chose the wrong capture.)

Sorry Lee, I'm suggesting it for Black. It seems better when white has committed to Nf3, ruling out the Bd3 and f3 option with a delayed or omitted Qc2.