Jack Hughes wrote on 05/14/20 at 02:03:43:
They agree with you that this is a good way for white to kill the game (they're more excited about 9. d4 Ne8), saying that "Black can neutralise the White advantage, but it is difficult to obtain serious winning chances provided that white plays well". They give the mainline with 9... Ne8 against it.
I can understand that conclusion. I think the critical position of this variation occurs after 16. d3, which really doesn't look that threatening. But modern chess is modern chess, and after a logical continuation like 16...f5 17. Qf3 Nf6 18. a4!? I can't shake the feeling that Black is a tiny bit worse.
Jack Hughes wrote on 05/14/20 at 02:03:43:
The 'Crush the ...' name does at least give some indication as to the style of his courses. Crush the Semi-Slav recommends 5. Bg5 with a very aggressive surprise weapon against the Botvinnik (I don't think he would want me saying in public what it is at this point) and the Grischuk-Ding plan in the Anti-Moscow.
Grischuk-Ding was an interesting game demonstrating White's chances in the Anti-Moscow, but I think after the improvement 20...b4 21. Kh1 Ba6 White has to be just as careful as Black. Certainly correspondence games weren't able to prove anything beyond sufficient compensation for the piece.
Jack Hughes wrote on 05/14/20 at 02:03:43:
Crush the Italian recommends 3... Nf6 and spends considerable time analysing the sharpest lines (often really bad for white) in the 4. Ng5 complex and based on the course table of contents will recommend classical approaches based on an early ...a6 with considerable attention to (i) the standard g-pawn attack when white combines early kingside with h2-h3 and (ii) the ...Ng4 followed by ...f5 idea when white castles kingside and plays Re1 before h3.
Those are certainly aggressive plans for Black, and quite attractive if they can be pulled off. I'm in full agreement that the 4. Ng5 complex is becoming more and more attractive for Black (i.e. Gustafsson has analyzed Black's sharpest tries in his Chessable course), but in the Italian proper with ...a6 White doesn't need to be so cooperative.
For instance, after 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Re1 I don't think the immediate 8...Ng4 works for Black, and following 8...O-O 9. h3, 9...Kh8 10. d4 cuts across Black's attacking plans. Of course Black should be fine after calmer continuations like 9...h6, but I don't think that will involve crushing anything anytime soon.