Shock The Slav Part 2: The Hyattsville Variation

I recently posted about my unique repertoire against the Slav Defense, discussing the fun variation, the Glendarden Gambit. Today, I'm going to show how to handle an equally common defense, which I'll refer to as the Hyattsville Variation, named after the location where I worked out most of the details. 

What Is The Hyattsville Variation?

We reach the Hyattsville Variation when Black reacts to our g4 advance by retreating the bishop to g6.

The point of Qb3 is to target the b7 and d5-pawns. Black will nearly always exchange on c3 and then the fun begins. Let's see how quickly a strong GM can fall apart with the Black pieces by playing natural moves.

Even though Black's Qd7 wasn't good, it's worth knowing for White because it's Black's most common response. Here's a game against GM David Howell, who put up a better defense.

What's Black's Best Defense?

OK, so there is a way to equalize, but it's not easy for Black to navigate. Let's check out the main line.

Can Black Try Anything Else?

After our main position with 8.g4!? Black really should enter the Glenarden Gambit or the Hyattsville Variation. None of the moves 8...Be6, 8...Bd7, or 8...Bc8 equalize. Here's a game from 3-0 Thursday against Super GM Aravindh Chithambaram that illustrates the point. 

Are you ready to give the Hyattsville Variation a try? Would you be interested in a course based on this content? Let me know in the comments.