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Exchange QGD 3...Be7!? [D31]

Previously Ruslan has supplied some coverage of the main lines of the Exchange Queen's Gambit, namely those arising from 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5, etc. Black does, however, have a very interesting alternative move order in 3...Be7!?:

Black intends to play a main line QGD of some description after 4 Nf3 Nf6 but also allows him to avoid the Bg5 lines of the Exchange. Those who normally exchange will usually still do so with 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 which leads to some quite interesting positions, but ones which white players below 2400-level probably encounter quite rarely:

I'm not sure quite why this variation of the Exchange is much less popular for Black at most levels than the 3...Nf6 version, but this month the aim is to explain some of the ideas behind the variation as well as to study the critical lines. After 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Be7 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 Black faces a choice with 5...Nf6 having been Kasparov's preference, but 5...c6 is an important alternative and one championed especially by the Armenian players, Vaganian and Lputian. Black's main idea is that after 6 e3 Bf5 he gets to immediately develop his light-squared bishop (something which is always a major problem in the 3...Nf6 Exchange lines):

White must aim to deny Black comfortable development and easy equality as he gains after, for example, 7 Bd3. That's a very unambitious continuation, but it might prove tricky for those striving as Black for the win as Polak - Blatny reveals.

A more ambitious try is 7 Nge2 Nd7 8 f3:

Black should respond with the accurate 8...Bg6 after which Lautier - Vaganian was a crushing demonstration of the potential of Black's position.

The main line and the critical test of Black's idea is 7 g4! Be6 8 h4!?, continuing to seize space even though Black prudently hasn't retreated his bishop to g6. Here it would be nice to classically counter in the centre with 8...c5, but unfortunately Dautov's strong 9 Be5! appears to favour White:

We examine that idea as well as the critical, if rather greedy, 8...Bxh4 in Dautov - Lputian.

Black's best move currently appears to be Karpov's old choice of 8...Nd7 9 h5 Nh6!. Surprisingly theory hasn't evolved too far since the 1985 K-K rematch and we will examine the latest state of play in Turov - Vaganian (which is another model handling of the black pieces from the talented Armenian).

White doesn't have to follow up 7 g4 Be6 with 8 h4 and Botvinnik (who later employed 8 h4 against Spassky) preferred the more restrained 8 h3 when he introduced 7 g4 in the 1963 World Championship. After 8...Nf6 9 Bd3 c5 10 Nf3 Nc6 11 Kf1! Petrosian and also later Karpov suffered on the black side. Probably Black should again, just like after 8 h4, prefer not to rush with ...c5. In Krush - Bruzon Black flexibly begins with 8...Nd7 and after 9 Bd3 correctly seizes kingside space and counterplay with 9...g5!:

After 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Be7 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bf4 c6 6 e3, Black doesn't have to play the active 6...Bf5. He can also simply lose a tempo with the rather simplistic, but extremely solid 6...Bd6. White should now consider Grischuk's 7 Nge2 Ne7 8 h4!? as we'll see in the notes to Palliser - Eggleston. There Black rather collapsed after 7 Bg3 Ne7 8 Nf3 Bf5 9 Qb3, although he shouldn't be more than slightly worse at this stage. It's also possible to hunt down White's bishop with 8...Nf5!?:

That was Black's choice in I.Sokolov-Baramidze in which the young German grandmaster produced a model and very patient defence.

Should White not wish to have to patiently grind after 6...Bd6, he may avoid both that and 6...Bf5 with the more enterprising 6 Qc2!?:

Black has traditionally been advised to still prepare ...Bf5 with 6...g6, but then 7 f3, instead of the more normal 7 e3 Bf5 8 Qd2, appears quite promising as we'll see in Izoria - Sturua.

Those intending to take the white side of the 3...Be7 Exchange should certainly consider meeting 5....c6 with 6 Qc2!?, although the Vaganian-endorsed 6...Bd6!? may well be a good response. Certainly the 3...Be7 move order remains rather unexplored and deserves to be a much more popular alternative than it is to the standard 3...Nf6.

Richard

If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.