There's nothing wrong with that move-order, straight transposition into the Q.G.D/Orthodox Defense. And there's nothing wrong with the Q.G.D/Orthodox Defense. It's just passive, White might have a slight edge, but that doesn't mean "Win" by a long shot. It all depends on what you like to play. You've been talking to people who don't know anything about the Queen's Gambit. I've played both sides for many years.
Semi-Slav 5. Bg5 Be7
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Jun 21, 2019
0
#3
That's interesting. I wonder why the books don't talk about it much then. They seem more likely to talk about the transposition to the QGD Cambridge Springs variation than they are to talk about the transposition to the Orthodox.
Jun 21, 2019
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#4
It's because the Orthodox is over-analyzed and would be difficult to win with for the player of the Black pieces against best play. And it's not in fashion, both Lasker's Defense and Tartakower's Defense offer more active play.
Kramnik's "Orthodox", where Black opts for ...c5 at once is extremely fashionable currently, and surely enough a big improvement over the old Capa scheme. But- no, nothing wrong with orthodox.
Jun 21, 2019
0
#7
And the Semi-Tarrasch is doing fine. So there you have it, the Q.G.D is doing quite alright, and the Exchange Variation, though still a reliable weapon for White with the Minority Attack, still has to face Black's Kingside Counter-Attack, a line that Keres wasn't too willing to face.
I'm only 2006 USCF, but you also have an IM from Greece's opinion on it. It's a good defense, the Queen's Gambit Declined. Played at the top levels.
In the semi-slav, after 5.. Bg5, people only really talk about 5...dxc4 or 5...h6. They might talk about 5...Nbd7 but don't seem to recommend it. They often don't mention 5...Be7 at all.
If they do mention 5...Be7, they say that it is a QGD where black has committed to c6 early and therefore inferior. But I do not really see a way that white can "punish" this move without directly transposing to the Orthodox QGD. Capablanca played the Orthodox to draw and did fine with it. It is true that white scores very well, but it is my understanding that the QGD is more-or-less played for a draw anyways. And this move order to the Orthodox avoids the exchange variation of the QGD.
So why is this move order apparently so inferior to 5...dxc4 and 5...h6 both of which lead to very complicated positions (Botvinnik variation and Anti-Moscow Gambit), that only computers seem to truly understand?