New line against immediate fianchetto

[Rudel]

Hey everyone,
Here is a new solution against the early fianchetto for C-Z players. I realized this when fixing the disconnect on page 154 that claims White can transpose into the line I give in chapter 11 for combatting an immediate fianchetto (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 b6) when in reality he can't. I think I changed my suggestion against the early fianchetto and forgot to fix this note.

In any event, here is the idea:
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 b6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.Qe2!?

This threatens to push e4 immediately. The most important question is "what can White do against 6...Ne4"

After 7.Ne5 (threatening Bb5+), Black more or less has to play 7...Bd6.
Then we have 8.Qf3, threatening to take on e4 at a time when Black cannot really play the standard defense (f5)due to the threat of Qh5+ (8...f5?! 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Nxg6 Nf6 11.Qh3 Rg8 12.Nf4)

Instead, Black's two main options are 8...Bxe5 and 8...Ng5 (it would be rather odd for Black to think equality could come by 8...Nxd2 or 8...Nf6).

8..Bxe5 9.Nxe4 Bxd4 (9...dxe4 drops a pawn without sufficient compensation) 10.exd4 dxe4 11.Bxe4 Bxe4 12.Qxe4 Q5 13.Qxd5 exd5 gives White a slightly superior Bishop versus Knight endgame.

8...Ng5 9.Qf4 f6 10.h4 Ne4 (10...Nf7 is a quieter route but obviously cannot be fully satisfactory for Black.)

11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Bxe4 Bd5 13.Qg4 fxe5 14.dxe5 allows White a rather interesting attack regardless of where Black puts his Bishop. Key elements of this attack involve the option of Bxh7 (to be followed up by Qg6+ if the Rook takes), Qxg7, and eventually playing e4 and Bg5.

[abcott]

Doesn#t 7. ... a6 deal with the Bb5 threat.

With 7. ...Bd6, white can still play Bb5. I havent looked into this any deeper.

[Rudel]

Oh, and if the positions you see in that second line are too crazy for you, you can also simply play 9.Qh5 instead, more or less forcing 9...0-0, and White can get a variety of K-side attacking setups depending on what he is interested in. (10.f4 Ne4 11.Qh3 looks like something a C-Z player might like, with Rf3 and g4 as practical options.)

[Rudel]

Also, a more flexible idea is to play Qe2 even earlier: 5.Qe2. I say this is flexible because the Knight has not been committed to d2, which is important in any line where Black threatens ...Ne4 because (generally speaking) you want to be able to play c4 & Nc3 against that [see TMoZ, chapter 3].

This situation is less forcing and has a much broader tree, but it looks good for someone who wants a simple solution. It is best for those who don't mind thinking on their feet, and play is much more positional.

[Rudel]

Continuing my commitment to make buying Zuke 'Em somewhat similar to buying software, here is a word .doc of this new immediate fianchetto variation. This will essentially be what is in the next version of Zuke 'Em.