ChessPublishing Feb 2021 contains the game fragment:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dc4!? 5. e3 a6 6. Bc4 c5 7. Nf3 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qe2 cd4 11. ed4 Be7 12. Rad1 O-O 13. Ne5 Nb6 from the game Benjamin - Nabatny. Glenn Flear writes "with a sequence that 'mixed and matched' several openings, finally settling on a classical-looking IQP scenario."

As Kylemeister noted, the game transposed at one point to the game Reshevsky-Lasker which started out as a Queen's Gambit Accepted. My research showed that transpositions are possible to the Orthodox (D60-D69) variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

I have looked at the Orthodox variation of the QGD from time to time and have never been sold on it. However Nigel Davies covers it in a book that I have, and Ntiflis in a book that I do not have. Davies goes over Capablanca's freeing maneuver, ...dxc Bxc4 ...Nd5, and also the Meran-esque ... dxc Bxc4 b5, which he describes as suitable if you are playing for more than the half point. There are more nuances of moves and more orders than I realized. Perhaps one improvement can make all the difference.

By way of contrast with the Orthodox QGD, Benjamin-Nabatny defers ...Be7 and ...0-0, pursuing queen-side play. Personally, I am programmed to castle. However, I realize that if black can steal a tempo or two to establish his chances on the queen side, it can pay off. It is not entirely novel as there are lines in Open Catalan where black does the same thing.

Here's another transposition.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxc4!? 5. e3 a6 6. Bxc4 c5 7. Nf3 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qe2 Be7 (instead of 10...cxd, as chosen by Nabaty)

and

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Bd3 (generally considered inexact with 7Rc1 or 7Qc2 being preferred) dc4 8. Bc4 b5 9. Bd3 a6 10. O-O c5 11. Qe2 Bb7 

I note that the position in Benjamin-Nabaty after 9. 0-0 Nbd7 10. Qe2 cd 11. ed Be7 12. Rad1 0-0 was known a long time ago from the QGA line 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. 0-0 a6 7. Qe2 b5 8. Bd3 cd 9. ed.  For example after 13. Ne5 as played by Benjamin, 13...Nd5 (instead of Nabaty's 13...Nb6) was played e.g. by Reshevsky against Emanuel Lasker and was given by Polugaevsky (in the 1970s) and Rizzitano (in the 2000s) as leading to an edge for Black.

The Benjamin-Nabaty game covered by ChessPublishing with 5e3 went in the direction of the queen's gambit accepted:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxc4!? 5. e3 a6 6. Bc4 c5 7. Nf3 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7

What distinguishes this from the normal QGA is the early Bg5. I don't know if it helps, hurts, or is neutral. I In any case, this would be a way to get QGA lines that look like the old main lines, while avoiding several options for white.

an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 01/14/22 at 22:10:54:


Thanks for the response. Yes, I was thinking somewhat along those lines. I guess $39 for ECO A00-E99 is too good to be true!

TonyRo wrote on 01/14/22 at 17:40:17:

Korchnoi - Karpov, m(9) 1981: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068264

In other move orders, ...h7-h6 might be answered by retreating the g5-Bishop along the c1-h6 diagonal.

One game that kind of IQP line reminds me of is Korchnoi-Karpov, Merano (m/9) 1981 -- a perhaps well-known anti-isolani game.  (I noticed that Neil McDonald makes reference to it in his latest book, incidentally.)

Stigma wrote on 01/14/22 at 02:09:27:


Thanks for the links! I agree that the threads should be merged. 

Perhaps 5e3 is more of a problem for black than the tempting 5e4. Comments mainly focused on 5e3 c5. Transpositions to other openings, on tempo, or a tempo up, or down, may be critical in evaluating this line. However, as noted, a mis-spent tempo is no favor.

The Feb 21 edition of ChessPublishing covered both moves, primarily 5e4. After 5e3, black continued with 5...a6 getting a queen's gambit accepted type of structure. That was a game fragment only.

kylemeister wrote on 01/13/22 at 19:20:45:

Thanks for the reminder to check ECO. Also, I don't have my ECO volumes on hand right now.

I have considered buying and downloading the Small Encyclopedia of the Chess Openings:
https://sahovski.com/Small-Encyclopedia-of-Chess-Openings-3-DOWNLOAD-VERSION-p92...
Has anyone here had experience with that product?

It's also worth noting that if you intend to meet 5.e3 with 5...c5 that you're allowing a C-K Panno, e.g. 6.Bxc4 cxd4 7.exd4 Nc6 8.Nf3 Be7 9.O-O, etc.

nocteus wrote on 01/13/22 at 11:21:48:


I rather like the Vienna/Ragozin, but how to get there? The Nimzo, as you suggest, provides a good move order. However, in addition to learning the Nimzo, you will have to address the English opening. This is all doable, yet one might want something else.

1d4 d5 2c4 e6 3Nc3 Bb4 has been suggested in two books. It seems to call out for either !? or ?! but which? I'm still trying to answer that question.

As you noted 1d4 d5 2c4 e6 3Nc3 Nf6 allows the Carlsbad after 4cxd exd 5Bg5. However black still has the choice between several variations. That is another topic.

The interplay of variations is complex. For example, consider the following:
1d4 d5 2c4 e6 3Nc3 Nf6 4Bg5 Nbd7 5e3 c6 6cxd exd. Black may have been "move ordered" out of a preferred line in the exchange variation. He might have wanted to defer Nbd7 or c6.

1d4 d5 2c4 e6 3Nc3 Nf6 4Bg5 dxc!? leads to an original position. It can transpose to other lines, including the Vienna.

I suppose black's strategy could be described as:
If you aren't going to initiate a pawn capture and open and unbalance the game, I will.

TonyRo wrote on 01/13/22 at 00:37:21:


That's a bit strange for me that, in order to play the Vienna, you would allow the proper Carlsbad with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 which seems to me quirky to play when you like the Vienna. Or you don't like the Nimzo?

By the way, I love your last videos on YT. I do not post there, so I am a bit sad, since I wish I could intervene sometimes, but I am very reluctant to activate my account there. Anyway, glad you are back. Keep it up!

I ran across the game Benjamin-Nabaty, a speed game played in December 2020. It was selected and annotated by GM Glenn Flear for ChessPublishing. The opening sequence is one that I have never seen before:
1d4 d5 2c4 e6 3Nc3 Nf6 4Bg5 and now 4...dxc!?. They played it twice, one game continued 5e3, the other 5e4.

If this has been covered elsewhere in the forum, please merge posts.