A couple of weeks ago my copy of Coffeehouse Repertoire 2 arrived. GM Jones makes both the Pirc and the Modern almost look like refuted. However, as a fan of White's side, I always have some doubts on the Argentinean (4.Be3, 5.Qd2 and x.f3) against the Modern.

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2
- Or 5.h4 (it looks like typical coffeehouse chess to me to play this immediately) Nf6 6.f3 (the idea that ...Ng4 must be prevented is old-fashioned and perhaps even outdated) b5 7.Qd2 Nbd7 8.O-O-O Bb7;

5...b5 6.O-O-O Bb7 7.f3 Nd7 8.h4 Ngf6
- This makes me wonder what's wrong with 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 and 6.f3 or the other way round.

9.g4 c5 10.h5
and White is better, so says GM Jones.

However Heinemann-Watson, BL 1998 saw 10...Rg8 and White chose 11.hxg6 hxg6 12.dxc5 Nxc5. There is also 11.h6 Bh8 12.Nh3 b4 13.Ne2 Qa5 14.Kb1 Nb6 15.Nc1 c4. I'd imagine that Black is fairly happy in both cases.
Another interesting line is 9.Bh6 O-O 10.h5 Bxh6 11.Qxh6 e5 (this defensive idea, designed by Dutch GM Donner more than half a century ago, too often is neglected) 12.Nh3 Qe7 13.Ng5 Rfd8 and White's position is not as good as it looks at first sight, mainly because the king's bishop is a pretty lame piece.

An argument could be made that 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.f4 eg b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.e5 would have been more consistent in the repertoire offered by GM Jones.
I like the book very much, btw.

Confused_by_Theory wrote on 03/07/20 at 00:51:13:

I once did an early d4-d5 and Nf3-d2 in a Hippo. GM A. Ivanov answered with ...Bg7-h6 followed ...Ke8-f8-g7. So 9...Bh6 is worth considering, when white has less play on the queenside here than what I had.

Hi.

I was hoping Be3 would not be so bad to have played for white. It does not exactly look like it either, although if given a free wish replacing it with say short castles or a4 would probably make sense.

Checking with Stockfish one doesn't exactly get the impression the fish overlord understands the position after
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4. Be3 Nd7 5.Bc4 e6 6.a4!?

I think it may not be so bad after 6...Ngf6!? Fighting for both the central light squares (6...Ne7 is more normal but also more passive). The computer indicates 7.Nc3 0-0 8.0-0 as best although black seems to have a couple of seemingly playable moves after that. Maybe 6.a4 is not most exact but if not early a4 black should have time for a6 and b6 with a more normal hippo.

Have a nice night.

Hi.

I think 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Be3 Nd7 5.Bc4 could be interesting as well. Black looks like he pretty much has to do something against Bxf7+. If 5...e6 white can at least go for the standard plan a4+a5 before black goes a6+b5 and those kinds of positions tend to be hard for black to create play in. Maybe with a bishop on c4 white could be somewhat more worried of d5 at some point.

Have a nice evening.

MartinC wrote on 02/16/20 at 10:47:50:

True, but I'll never knock Tiger for being honest about the transpositions now being the best solutions in his view. Many lesser authors would paper over it and pretend there was no problem with the standard setup.

But what annoys me is Tiger doesn't even mention 4...Nd7 as an alternative in these kinds of sneaky Pirc offers by White (also 3.Nf3 d6 4.h3 and 3.Nf3 d6 4.Be2). Maybe he just doesn't consider an early ...Nd7 viable in the Averbakh Modern or the King's Indian? At least in a regular "Tiger's Modern" with Nf3 and Nc3 in, I don't think an early ...Nd7 is a problem.

Hi.

RdC wrote on 02/13/20 at 20:38:01:

Mildly off-topic but apparently Kaufman recommends 
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.f4
(alongside 4.Bf4 against the Pirc). Coverage is seriously underwhelming in both cases though.

Have a nice day.

Hi.

Keeping the f-pawn in reserve is quite interesting as well It's a line of Tiger's a6 Austrian there in the end though. Playable but maybe not critical is what I've gathered.

Edit: I suppose it can link into Austrian Pirc as well. Against Be3 black can go a6 early.

Have a nice day.