It is a Semi-Tarrash after 7. d4. What book does not approve of the line? MCO-14, out of date and sucks, gives White a small edge using Kramnik-Lautier, Belgrade 1995 as the stem game. I really don't remember ever seeing the position mentioned in any other book.
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Did you look the opening up in the Game Explorer and/or any other DB? (www.365chess.com with a much bigger opening DB than the Game Explorer BTW) What books is it treated with "strong disregard" in? Batsford Chess Openings? Encyclopedia of Chess Openings? Modern Chess Openings? Nunns Chess Openings?
How many books on the English Opening did you look it up in?
The opening (first 4 moves) is called the Keres Defense named after one of the most famous GMs in history, I found 4 columns on it in MCO-15 which means there's way more material on it in ECO and other sources.
The problem might be transpositions. The Kramnik-Lautier game had the move order 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 e6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2. MCO-14 calls this a Semi-Tarrasch. Then there are the 4 columns on the Keres Defense, in MCO-14 the possible transposition is not mentioned. I suppose 5...exd5 6. d4 is a transposition into the Tarrasch.
If you can't find the position your looking for in book, you might be looking at the wrong book or under the wrong heading.
Looks like my "expertise" on identifying openings is being exposed for the shallow fraud that it is. I didn't think about any transpositions at all AND even if I did I play the Semi-Tarrasch occasionally and have faced lines with e3 but not with g3/Bg2, so I forgot all about that possibility.
So, I was right - and wrong. The opening began as EO Keres Defense and transposed into a QGD Semi-Tarrasch (after White's d4) as shown in MCO-15 col 100 (p 437) up to 9.bc3 where the OP diverged with 9...Ne5. MCO shows 9.bc3 Nd4 10.Qd4 Qd4 11.cd4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bd2+ (end of column) The Game Explorer, after 7-9 moves, has about 70 games most of which are labeled QGD under "game results" but some as EO. So, I'm not the only minsinformed putz on this line...what a relief...
I thought the Semi-Tarrasch kept Black cramped and that it was hard to play, but in those games White had pawns on e4,d4 and c3.
TitanCG wrote:
I thought the Semi-Tarrasch kept Black cramped and that it was hard to play, but in those games White had pawns on e4,d4 and c3.
NO look at it again. The lines with 6.e4 lead to an open game. If you want cramped, play the KID as Black or an RL Closed Defense such as the Chigorin, Breyer or Zaitsev Variations.
Looks like the English to me. The one by nimzroy.
Although this opening probably already exists, it seems to be very unpopular and is treated with strong disregard in the books.