Every Russian Shoolboy Knows
Build your opening repertoire - Part 20: QGD Bf4 line #8
Video #8 In this final video on the Bf4 system of the QGD I would like to devote some time to sideline options for both players. First is my somewhat clumsy attempt to economize on the bishop moves in the old game against GM Goldin. While in the game continuation White obtain a very promising position, the cold reality is that Black equalizes with ease. White's rook on c1 seems in the right place, but abandoning the a-pawn may not be a good idea. This bring us to the little move 6.a3 and its poisonous nature. White is attempting to trick Black into a more passive setup once he plays his knight to b5 and forces the reply Ne8. My personal experience with this line consists of one game where my opponent, the young J.D Bryant, was sidetracked by the idea of damaging White's pawn structure. Problem was, he fell behind in development, just as we saw in some examples from previous videos. The high-profile Andreikin-Kramnik game opens a new chapter, as Black tries to take advantage of the time spent on a2-a3 by switching to the Tartakower-Makagonov-Bondarevsky tracks. There's a lot of unexplored territory over there.