i am a french player
that's not the point
what i mean is why not play the slav if there is some alternative to not blocking in your qsb. why play semi slav. semi slav is inferior to slav. in the french there is no variation where you have control over whether your c8 bishop is locked in. but in the qgd, you do, and that's the slav.
semi-slav is too diffcult for most people to handle. Nuff said.
i am a french player
that's not the point
what i mean is why not play the slav if there is some alternative to not blocking in your qsb. why play semi slav. semi slav is inferior to slav. in the french there is no variation where you have control over whether your c8 bishop is locked in. but in the qgd, you do, and that's the slav.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
It is nice to bring out the c8-bishop in the Slav, but that comes at a price: b7 becomes very soft.
Also, ...dxc4 gives up the center. It can be a very effective strategy, but not so simple as it seems. A Black player who doesn't know what they are doing can get steamrolled.
Also, in most Semi-Slav variations, Black aims to play ...c6-c5 and try to break down White's center, and later to play ...b6 or ...b5 and develop the c8-bishop to b7, where it is well-placed on the long diagonal.
@Andre: I do not like the reply 3. ... e6 as answer to Nf3 as it allowed 4. Nd2!?. Giving white good chances to fight for an advantage after the logical 4. ... Nf6 white can either enter a closed catalan (with 5. g3) or play 5. e3 with the idea to play Bd3 and take back on c4 with the knight.
The alternative is 4. ... f5 entering the stonewall but in the stonewall the white knight is actually better placed on d2 than c3 because it is easier to reach the ideal anti stonewall setup with Nf3 and Nd3
I think that all QGDs are crap in my opinion, semi-slav or slav. They give White a small advantage in every line. In my opinion Benoni/Benko or any of the Indian Defenses are better. So playing against d4, I think it's better to just respond with Nf6 and try to get into some sort of Benoni or Benko structure, or maybe even King's/Nimzo/Bogo/Queen's Indian.
Just make sure you know how to make up for the pawn when you play the benko.
white gets a small advantage in benoni/benko and most any of the indian defenses, too.
not in the benko/benoni
at least not as big as the QGD
white gets a small advantage in benoni/benko and most any of the indian defenses, too.
not in the benko/benoni
at least not as big as the QGD
You're joking, right???
Let's look at World Championship matches. When was the last time a QGD/Slav/Semi-Slav played? Oh, that's right, May 2012. It was also played in the World Championship matches of 2010...2008...2006...the 2004 Kramnik-Leko match, etc.
When was the last time the Benko Gambit was played in a World Championship match? Never.
How about the Benoni? Kamsky used it for one game in the 1996 World Championship match with Karpov (a draw). Before that, Fischer used it in one game against Spassky (which he did win) in 1972.
Looking at supertournaments, you will see a similar story: the Benoni and Benko are used very occasionally if at all, while the QGD/Slav/Semi-Slav are employed in just about every round.
white gets a small advantage in benoni/benko and most any of the indian defenses, too.
not in the benko/benoni
at least not as big as the QGD
You're joking, right???
Let's look at World Championship matches. When was the last time a QGD/Slav/Semi-Slav played? Oh, that's right, May 2012. It was also played in the World Championship matches of 2010...2008...2006...the 2004 Kramnik-Leko match, etc.
When was the last time the Benko Gambit was played in a World Championship match? Never.
How about the Benoni? Kamsky used it for one game in the 1996 World Championship match with Karpov (a draw). Before that, Fischer used it in one game against Spassky (which he did win) in 1972.
Looking at supertournaments, you will see a similar story: the Benoni and Benko are used very occasionally if at all, while the QGD/Slav/Semi-Slav are employed in just about every round.
Why?
Benko Gambit is awesome and even assures Black a good endgame.
Above master level the benko gambit and benonis dont do nearly as well as the slav/semi-slavs do .
white gets a small advantage in benoni/benko and most any of the indian defenses, too.
not in the benko/benoni
at least not as big as the QGD
You're joking, right???
Let's look at World Championship matches. When was the last time a QGD/Slav/Semi-Slav played? Oh, that's right, May 2012. It was also played in the World Championship matches of 2010...2008...2006...the 2004 Kramnik-Leko match, etc.
When was the last time the Benko Gambit was played in a World Championship match? Never.
How about the Benoni? Kamsky used it for one game in the 1996 World Championship match with Karpov (a draw). Before that, Fischer used it in one game against Spassky (which he did win) in 1972.
Looking at supertournaments, you will see a similar story: the Benoni and Benko are used very occasionally if at all, while the QGD/Slav/Semi-Slav are employed in just about every round.
Why?
Benko Gambit is awesome and even assures Black a good endgame.
At high level, a pawn is a pawn.
The benko is a valid opening, I will give you that. But calling the slav or the QGD bad is just stupid. These openings are widely played and are very solid. The benko is good, but I feel that black needs to know his stuff to prove the pawn sac.
That's true. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll just be down a pawn for nothing.
Cambridge Spring is a good opening as well, however if you are a player who just wants to go crazy and go for the kill, the botvinnik is the opening for you. Just make sure you study it a little before you use it fully.
What does everyone think about using a semi-slav to sneak into the Cambridge Springs?
This is fine if White plays 5.Bg5, but it won't work if White plays 5.e3.
Agree.
Above master level the benko gambit and benonis dont do nearly as well as the slav/semi-slavs do .
Oh. I thought the Benko was sound.
The Benko (probably) is sound, but it is risky.
What is a risky opening? Something that could run into significant theoretical problems if a player were to use it often (of course, I'm speaking about high GM level...below that, almost any mainline opening is ok).
Nakamura was playing the Dutch for awhile in the supertournaments, but once his opponents knew to be ready for it, they prepared well to deal with it. He hardly uses it now...
Many people say that even the King's Indian is risky! Kramnik gave Kasparov so many problems with the Bayonet Attack that Kasparov gave up the KID in the latter part of his career and moved to...the Semi-Slav.
Some good comments here, so I'll only give a glimpse into the Semi-Slav universe.
First of all, practically every line is completely nuts! Learn a branch or two well, and you will dominate.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6
[3...e6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bb4 6.e3 b5 7.Bd2 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 cxb5 10.b3 Bb7 11.bxc4 b4 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Bd3 Nbd7 14.0-0 0-0 is the starting position of the Noteboom Variation main line]
4.Nc3 e6
[4...dxc4 is the (Open) Slav, which itself can go in 100 directions]
Now White has a big choice:
5.Bg5
[5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 etc. is the Meran Variation]
[5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 etc. is the Anti-Meran]
5...h6
[5...dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 etc. is the Botvinnnik Variation]
6.Bh4
[6.Bxf6 Qxf6 etc. is the Moscow Variation]
6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 etc. is the Anti-Moscow Gambit
Except for possibly the Moscow, all of these lines are insane!