Take a look at this link from April 2014 which has a 4. e3 Slav game, note the comment on White's 4th move.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/gashimov-r9-all-rests-on-one-game
I'm guessing the 4. e3 Slav is a variation where black has to be careful not to be lulled into a worse position. Of course, white probably has to be a really good player to extract the most out of it.
Thank you! Excellent variation and excellent example game. 4.e3 seems to be a transpositional trick for limiting black's options - in the 'pure' Slav (4.Nc3 dxc4), white is obliged to either sacrifice a pawn or play the weakening move a2-a4, granting black considerable counterplay. Here, if dxc4 white has the option of recapture with tempo - she will be technically better (whether she can use that edge is a different question). ...Bg4 - Mamedyarov's - move allows white to play for the bishop pair, and the only other real option is ...e6, which enters the Anti-Meran, a totally equal and positional game (where someone like Caruana will tend to get an edge over someone like Mamedyarov).
This is a wonderful option for trying to blunt any sharpness before it starts.
Nice game!
Play this against the SS:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3! Nf6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Bd3(or Qc2) dxc4(Be7 e4! xe4 Nxe4 Nxe4 Bxe4 Nf6 Bc2 +-) 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13. 0-0 Qb6 14. Qe2 +=
This is like the main line, what level do u play on? I can tell you some more principal things about the opening if youre not interested in theory lines.
I've been playing 1.d4 for two years or so and expanding my repertoire bit by bit, but the semi-Slav has always given me trouble. The anti-Meran requires a surgeon's positional touch while the Bg5 stuff is deeply theoretical incredibly sharp. The only advantage to having such a difficult time finding my feet in this opening complex is that I have played virtually all of the main lines from the white side, and I don't really have a preference.
What I would like from this discussion is not a repertoire recommendation or a line dump but a selection of model games for white that make good study material. I've looked through databases myself and come up with some interesting stuff, but I know there are a lot of 1.d4 players on this website who are more experienced. So let's have it - what are some of your favorite games in the semi-slav?