Every Russian Schoolboy Knows
Revolution Revisited - Part 18: Queens Gambit Accepted with 3.a3
Every Russian Schoolboy learns the dangers of protecting his c4 with b7-b5 in the QGA. The black pawn chain comes under assault after White plays the inevitable a2-a4. Yet, there's an outrageous idea of sacrificing the exchange that already has been played by Nakamura and some others. Black models his play after some lines of the English Defense (1...b6), and , at very least, he has great proactical chances. All this makes the featured game even more instructive. GM Atalik immediately returns the exchange and uses the time gained to support his pawn center and undermine the c4-pawn. Interesting.