Thanks for the Analysis. This is helpful!
Exchange Slav Novelty Lines
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Remember, people often use the Slav Exchange line for pre-arranged draws, stuff like d4 d5 c4 c6 cd5 cxd5 nf3 nf6 nc3 nc6 bf4 bf5 e3 e6 rc1 rc8 1/2 - 1/2. If you're only looking at statistics, it looks much more drawish than it actually is.
Some ideas:
4.Nc3 e5!? is a transposition to the Winawer counter gambit that White may not be happy with.
4.Bf4 Qb6!? scores well
4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e4!? scores well (so play 4...Nf6, I guess)
4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 is designed against ...a6 lines (White won't play Nf3 until black has moved the bishop out or played ...e6), but again 5...Qb6!? might be interesting
4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6!? has been an important line for a while now, Black aims to follow up with 7.e3 Bg4.
And be careful! White's extra tempo is extra annoying in symmetric positions, and if you don't watch out, White is going to get a little edge and torture you for hours.
Yeah so I was talking to this master at my last tournament and he asked me what do you play against exchange slav? Then I replied that I did not have a line and that I thought i could easily draw with it. Then he laughed at me and told me that I needed a line against exchange slav and that it is a pretty potent weapon.
So my question to you guys is:
What are some good novelty lines for white and black that can lead to favorable imbalances for both sides? That is, what is a viable line I can play for both colors that I can still play for a win.