Every Russian Shoolboy Knows
Build your opening repertoire - Part 20: QGD Bf4 line #7
Video #7 While 7.c5 remains White's principled answer to 6...Nbd7, closing the position is not to everyone's liking. I myself, have had a hard time playing such structures with White, as my game against IM Adler (see Video #6) can attest to. Does White have any options? One attempt is to sacrifice a tempo on a bishop move before the exchange on c4. The resulting positions may seem rather dry and equalish to some, but more experienced 1.d4 players know how to squeeze the smallest of advantages out of it, like a drop of water from a stone. My own efforts in this vein are rather unimpressive. I managed to win some games against a lower-rated opposition, but when the game with Lenderman didn't pan out at all. Perhaps, I need to follow the lead of the master technician Alexey Dreev, whose win over Yilmaz is to be studied and admired. I would also mention that any attempts on the part of Black to keep the queens on the board are likely to backfire in a bad way, as in the blitz game between So and Caruana. One can view the 7.Be2 line as a cold, practical approach, especially effective against higher-rated opposition.