Help with this line in the French Defense

I just acquired a book on the French Defense by GM Viktor Moskalenko. Here's one line

on his book, the line goes in the Winawer after 5. a3 Bxc3 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bb2?! Do you have any suggestions on how to go about with this line? thank you very much

Hi Optic

Had a quick look and cannot see any short term advantage (tactical). If there was a strategic reason it would have been mentioned as would be any tactical advantage. Bd2 is norm so conclusion is a mis-print at present

Take care

Yasko

How does this move come up in the book? Surely it's just a typo. That bishop in b2 staring at the chain of 3 own pawns looks just plain stupid.

Bd2 is the natural move. I have never seen Qa5 in the Winawer as white in over 30 years. Don't waste too much time studying this unless it is some new fad.

I have also never heard of Viktor Moskalenko. Is he trying to get a variation named after himself?

6... Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 is "well known".

 I did find it in a database, but it was down the list and, as I said, I have never had it played against me.

I meant that Bb2 was the effort at naming. Bd2 looks natural.

Sorry guys. Mentioned on the book was 7. Bd2. However, when I tried it OTB, most players are playing 7. Bb2

So you're playing the black side and your opponent is willfully accepting a positional disadvantage by putting his bishop on b2. One immediate possibility for black is. 7. ... cxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 where white has a bad pawn structure.

Here's a sample of his game

That line sucks.

cxd4, Qxd4, Nc6 blcak is a LOT better positionally, in fact winning. The only two squares for the queen to defend the e5 pawn are e3 and f4, both of which are strongly met by d4!. The only decent queen move is probably Qg4, which still is much better for black after Kf8!. The knight will go to h6 will tempo and jump to f5. There may even be ideas with h5.

thanks a lot! 

Thank you for the advice, fezzik. I'm planning to use the ...Qa5 Winawer mostly on blitz or OTB games. Right now, I'm finishing Lev Psakhis' book "The Complete French".

Moskalenko spends  a 24 page chapter on this line in the "Flexible French", and another chapter in more recent book on "Marvelous Winawer", or something like that. Qa5-a4 is an interesting blockading idea, and it looks a perfectly good line. Nothing on bb2 of course, but it is obviously a poor move as explained by others. (Can maybe play Ne7 before Nc6 so can defend Qg4 more comfortably).