Samurai-X wrote:
Seems that Black is just responding to what White does.
The inherent downfall in playing second.
What are the general ideas of the Slav Defense for Black?
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White used his first move advantage to gain an extra central pawn and a little bit of extra space while black got some compensation in free piece play (al of his pieces are developed or easy to develop).
Note that if white tries to exchange the active black pieces to increase his advantage that either he will have to make structural consessions or/and will lower the value of his space advantage
So black will just keep developing and put his pieces on active squares to force white to either trade down a lot or force structural consessions.
The general idea of that particular variation is to develop the light squared bishop - which is often a problem piece in Queens Gambit - outside the pawn chain. Note that 4... Bf5?! has tactical problems which is why black feels forced to concede the centre with 4. dxc4 but in return he gets easy development and can later undermine the centre with c5 or possibly e5.
Seems that Black is just responding to what White does.