Ofc he reaches this position, but the early Nf3 enables Black to play 7....h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Nh5 which is decent for black

FreeRepublic wrote on 05/15/21 at 18:18:39:

8...dxc4 etc.

JFugre wrote on 04/09/20 at 08:22:45:



So it looks like black can nab on a2 and survive. Only for the brave, but seems theoretically sound. I withdraw my objection.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Rc1
Ne4 9. Ncxe4 dxe4 10. c5 f6 11. Bh4 b6 12. cxb6 Qxa2 13. Bc4 (13. Be2 Qa5 14.
Rxc6 Bb7 15. Rxe6+ (15. Rc2 O-O 16. O-O Bxd2 17. Qxd2 Qxd2 18. Rxd2 Nxb6) 15...
Kf7 16. Bc4) 13... Qa5 14. O-O Bxd2 15. Ra1 Qb4 16. Ra4 Qxb2 17. Qg4 Nxb6 18.
Qxg7 Rf8 19. Be2 Bb4 20. Bh5+ Kd8 21. Bxf6+ Rxf6 22. Qxf6+ Kc7 23. Qf4+ Bd6 24.
Qf7+ Bd7 25. Ra6 *

That line is interesting. The computer score does eventually peter out to a draw, but in practice black has won all games. I can see the appeal.

I wonder what the approach is against forcing a simple QGD transposition. Yes, it's with Nf3 but it's not like black trivially equalizes here?

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3

Also in the Cambridge Springs:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Rc1 Ne4 9. Ncxe4 dxe4 10. c5 f6 11. Bh4 b6

he gives 12. a3 now in the S&S and says white doesn't have enough for the pawn. But white just plays 12. cxb6 13. a3 and he has a nice endgame with equal material...

Jack Hughes wrote on 04/07/20 at 09:38:19:

I bought GM Shankland's course and am really enjoying it so far. However, I'd be very interested in a course that covers the triangle move order, Marshall, and the Botvinnik. Seems like a perfect complement to me. Looking forward to the release of your course.

Laramonet wrote on 04/07/20 at 06:47:19:

As the author of that thread and also of that upcoming course I can inform you that your assumption is incorrect: there are two courses, one of which authored by Shankland has just been published and is the subject of this thread (which recommends the Cambridge Springs and Slav move order), and another authored by me still under construction (which recommends the Botvinnik and the Triangle move order). The timing is a little unfortunate and at points I have been discouraged by the prospects of competing with a ~2700 GM, but I suppose there's not much I can do about it. Besides, by this point the Sunk Costs fallacy mandates me to finish and publish it!
I haven't purchased Shankland's course so I cannot say anything too informative about it, but judging from his choice of lines and discussion in the forums it appears that his general approach is to prioritise simplicity and safety (hence his choice of the Slav move order, the 8... Bd6 Meran and the Cambridge Springs), while mine is to go for the sharpest possible options and maximise the benefits of preparation (hence the Triangle, 8... a6 Meran and the Botvinnik). Shankland is certainly a world class theoretician and by all reports so far this course is of high quality, so if his approach appeals to you then I would certainly recommend his course ahead of mine. If on the other hand you want sharp complications ... then I will let you think of an appropriate replacement to this clause in the sentence . (I shouldn't be too shameless in a thread about Shankland's course!)

This course was released today on Chessable. I'm currently working my way through it. Happy to answer questions about lines as appropriate given it is a paid product and I want to be respectful of the work the author put into it.

In regards to kylemeister's comment, it is indeed a combination of the Cambridge Springs and Meran. 

As far as the Zhou-Shankland game that has been raised already, that looks like a pure Slav to me while this course covers the Semi-Slav. Unless I have found the wrong game?

For me it's an interesting prospect to see what he has to say about the Cambridge Springs.  I've long had something of a liking for it (and once had a student who combined it with the Meran, on my suggestion), although perhaps it has mostly been regarded as a "+= with best play" kind of thing.