1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Qc2 Nf6 4.Nf3 d6

This was first played (at high level) at the blitz Wch end of last year, and Van Den Doel used it in the Belgian league 3 months ago.

The computer line now is: 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Nd5 Bc5 7.b4 Bb6 8.Nxb6 cxb6 9.b5 Na5 

But I don't think white really has anything here. The offside knight looks good but it can be fixed with a6 and after e3 Bg4 we can't play Be2 so white's pawnstructure gets busted.

I don't see any improvements over the computer line, though.

Chess-Student,

In my opinion, the lines from the book that have developed the most are the 1.c4 e5 line and the anti-QGD setup. Both have seen many top-level games played over the last 2+ years. Here is a brief list of key games I have covered in ChessPub Updates. These include earlier game references and analysis in the notes. 

After 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2, see: 
5...d6 6.Ne2 Santos Ruiz-Kevlishvili, Belgium 2019, 
5...Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Caruana-Ding Liren, Batumi 2018, 
5...Bxc3 6.bxc3 So-Sevian, Douglas 2018 

After 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.e3, see:
4...Be7 Nepomniachtchi-Bacrot, Batumi 2018 
4...a6 Mamedyarov-Georgiadis, Biel 2018 
4...b6 (by transposition) Moroni-Brunello, Salerno 2018 

mn,

If Black adopts a “QID” approach (4...b6), a popular setup for White is to go for a double fianchetto rather than a classical Queen’s Indian. For example Nakamura-Ganguly, Kolkata 2018, went 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.b3 b6 5.Bb2 Bb7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.Rc1 a6 9.d4 Bd6 10.g3 0–0 11.Bg2 Qe7 12.0–0 Rfe8 13.Nd2 Rad8 14.Qc2 c5 15.dxc5 bxc5 with a typical hanging pawns position. This structure is similar to that seen in Game 31 (Bosiocic-Caruana)  in Chapter 12 of my book. It is a useful setup to know if Black plays this solid system. See also the notes to Moroni-Brunello mentioned above.

David

Different question - I see in his Black Repertoire series Jan Gustafsson suggested [1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 e3] 4...b6!?, which as far as I can tell isn't mentioned anywhere in Cummings' text. Does White have a reasonable way of avoiding the Classical [e3] Queen's Indian?

That's right. After 2.c4 d4 most players have been going 3.b4, which has built up a fair amount of theory. The alternatives (3.e3 and 3.g3) have been entirely de-fanged theoretically speaking. I don't know much about the line 2.e3 c5 3.c4 d4 4.b4, but I assume Black can make his choice between either accepting a pawn for adequate compensation or play 4...Nf6 with a decent position.

Yes 3.c4 is an option too. I was (perhaps wrongly) assuming that you wanted to avoid reversed Benoni structures, due to your aversion to 2.c4 d4.

fjd wrote on 02/12/19 at 19:30:30:


The main one I think would be 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 c5. White then has couple of options:
1) 3.d4 with a probably transposition to the Panov-Botvinnik Caro-Kann after 3...cxd4 4.exd4 Nf6 5.c4. Here White would prefer to have played Nc3 than Nf3 but it's still playable.
2) 3.b3 with a Nimzo-Larsen where Black has played d5 and c5. The good news is that I believe most White 1.b3 players like to play against this line. The bad news is that you're playing a 1.b3 line and Black is fine.

Another way of looking at it is: do you want a reversed Tarrasch or Queen's Indian with an extra tempo?

Hi David

As ever, a very helpful reply.

On my last query, it was more how to respond if Black plays g6 and Bg7 rather than Be7? So on page 109 in the bracket for move 4, Black plays Nbd7 and then fianchettoes. 

Perhaps there is possible transposition to the KID , page 353 , but Black has in addition the option to play exd4 ?

Best wishes

Krudos

Hi Krudos,

1. In the Anti Nimzo-Indian line, I have faced 6...d5 (page 300) instead of d6 or b6 approaches. Thoughts please?

I suggest 7 e3, usually to be followed by b2-b4, for example 7...c5 8 b4 Nc6 9 bxc5 Khenkin-Boehmer, Wiesbaden 2018. The early ...d7-d5 gives White’s dark-squared bishop more scope compared to the ...d7-d6 lines, but this is quite a rare line.

BTW, I’ve been reading the new book Game Changer by Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan. The Anti-Nimzo features in 11 of the AlphaZero – Stockfish games, with AlphaZero scoring 5 wins and 6 draws. Stockfish played 6...d6 or 6...a5. Interesting stuff!

2. In the 1..e5 2..Bb4 line, Semkov expands on the line in the notes to game 12 after 3 Qc2 Nf6 4 Nf3 Bxc3 with the 9...dxc4 move shown in brackets. It seems fairly equal but your sense?

I still think the resulting endgame is easier to play for White, with the two bishops and some pressure. Although Black is close to equality if he follows the engine’s top moves, Black’s king manoeuvres (in the correspondence game quoted) don’t feel very natural to me. 
If you would rather avoid trading queens, the main line 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Bb4 3 Nd5 is of course a good choice (with coverage in ChessPub Archives), although this involves a lot more knowledge. 

3. After 1c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 d6 is quite a common reply with 4 e3 being met by Nbd7 5 d4 g6 6 Be2 Bg7 7 0-0 0-0 leading to the "poor man's KID" from Axel Smith's e3 Poison book

This move order is on page 109 of the book. After 4 d4, 4...e4 is covered in the notes, while after the most common reply 4...Nbd7, the move 5 e4 transposes to the Old Indian (pages 122-124).

I hope this helps!

David