GM Justin Tan analyzes Carlsen-Frouzja and Caruana-Asadi in the December 21 edition of ChessPublishing. He states "The classical QGD move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 has seen something of a resurgence recently, as modern engines and theoreticians have been showing that Black’s position remains solid after 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5." Games and analysis include ...h6 for black.

It's my recollection that the natural ...h6 was once rejected in favor of Nbd7-Nf8 because black hoped to play Re8-e6-h6. Nice idea, but it hardly ever happens. More recent theory has black playing ...g6, intending ...Bf5 at some point, with a knight on g7 or d6 for support. The plan is positionally well motivated but takes time.

...h6 at some point is getting more time in the theory limelight. It will be a while before I can integrate these two games and GM Tan's analysis with my own. In the mean time, I would like to build on some analysis previously presented on this thread.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8. Nf3 h6 9. Bf4. Here I suggested c5 for black. Fans of the Tarrasch Defense should take a look at this position. You can basically treat it as a tabiya position and improvise from here. One example:
9...c5 10. dc5 Bc5 11. O-O Nc6 12. h3 a6 13. Rc1 Ba7 14. Ne2 
The computer says White has an advantage, but I think that is just because black has an isolated queen pawn. The engine now suggests 14...Qb6. More natural to me is 14...Ne4. Playing on with either move, the engine eventually sees equal chances.

MNb wrote on 09/08/21 at 06:40:41:


9...c5 may also be worth a try.

After 9Nge2, the game can proceed in many ways. This is just one, from ChessPublishing:
"1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8. Nge2 c6 9. Qc2 Nbd7 10. O-O Nf8 11. f3 Ng6 12. Rad1 h6, which actually isn't a pawn sacrifice but it feels quite artificial, 13. Bf6 Bf6 14. Bg6 fg6 15. e4"

Now either ...dxe 16fxe Bg5, or 15...Bg5 16f4 Be7 seem very reasonable for black.

tony37 wrote on 09/07/21 at 13:06:59:


You have a point there.

Let's go back to the post by alyechin:

"1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8.Qc2 h6 9. Bh4 c5!"

According to my data base, white's most common eighth move is 8Qc2. This is even true in recent years and with players rated over 2400.

However, unlike 8Nf3 and 8Nge2, it does not support the d pawn or prepare 0-0. Perhaps black's nuanced move order, delaying or avoiding ...c6, requires a nuanced reply, delaying or avoiding Qc2.

FreeRepublic wrote on 09/06/21 at 13:07:25:

then there's 8.Nf3...

FreeRepublic wrote on 09/03/21 at 18:57:17:

Without taking a stand on how good this is, White has played a move order where Qc2 can be delayed further or even skipped altogether.

So how does 8.Nge2 change things? On the face of it 8...h6 9.Bh4 c5 looks riskier there, with White one move closer to castling and d5 tactically weak due to Bh7+ discovered attacks.

Maybe Black's point is 8.Nge2 Ne4 or 8...h6 9.Bh4 Ne4 instead?

kylemeister wrote on 09/02/21 at 23:40:54:


I don't subscribe to CBM, but would be interested to know their opinion.

According to my data base (Chess Assistant) Eliskases played the line once, in 1951. It was first played by Gosta Stoltz in 1932, also one game. I'm not sure the line is properly named.

Guillermo Soppe played this line 15 times as black between 1989 and 2004. He lost one game (to Quinteros), won seven, and drew 7. Perhaps we should call it the Soppe variation.

Very playable:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Re8 8.
Qc2 h6 9. Bh4 c5!?