Najdorf – 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 g5!?

A few months ago a guy wrote to me asking if we were going to include 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 g5!? in GM6. We had no intention to do so, but a last moment change of hearts has meant that we do indeed include this topical line. Berg, Dominguez, Navara and Ivanchuk has all been happy to try it out (not all have been allowed), but it is mainly Bogner that has shown the way in practice. However, if the ‘inventor’ of this line sees this post, he is very welcome to e-mail me again, as I can’t find his last e-mail!

24 thoughts on “Najdorf – 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 g5!?”

  1. Isn’t GM6 written from Black’s point of view?

    Hope Ftacnik’s book is going to be better researched than his latest article in ChessBase magazine where he didn’t read (or appear to have read) Avrukh’s chapter on the Slow Slav in GM1.

  2. Jacob Aagaard

    GM6 will be well researched; Ftacnik has done his job and we have added on 100s of hours to make sure that there are no holes. Obviously they will be there anyway – but at least they will be hard to find!

  3. Ponting is a Legend

    This stimulates another question: What exactly does Ftacnik recommend against 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4? Is it 7…Qc7 then?

  4. Jacob Aagaard

    Not sure on the move order, but it is another …h6 and …g5 system. To be honest, it is Andrew who has spent most time on this book, not I.

  5. GM6 was announced to be published in may/june. Each day I check quite excited if it is out now. Will it become july?

  6. Jacob Aagaard

    Yes, it will become July, but not August. We are trying to make it right – and it takes a lot of work. The Najdorf is very complicated.

  7. splinter22prime

    Until a few days it was early July.Now it will be July but not August. I think it’s gonna be similar to GM2.Announced for 2009 – Publication Date 2010.
    But if it is gonna have the same quality like GM2, it’s worth waiting for.

  8. obviously there is a lot of work to do on the manuscript of Ftacnik to keep the quality of the GM-Rep series 🙂
    BTW I received Schandorffs Karo-Cann book in Hardcover .
    The Hardcover -Edition is really ecxellent, and i am sorry that I do not have Arukhs and Marins books in Hardcover too, but at least for MArin 2+3 I still have a chance 🙂
    I also like the repertoire choice and some dry humor. The only (slight) drawback compared to the first books is that sometimes he is quoting games for 6-8 moves without comment, but this is still an excellent book !

    Congrats and eagerly waiting for the next books !

  9. Jacob Aagaard

    It takes 3-4 weeks for the manuscript to make it into book form and the shops, if the printer is not busy! We don’t reserve printing spaces, as it would have us compromise on quality, something we don’t do.

    We have typeset half of the chapters, with many more expected to be put together this week. There is a bit missing, so probably we won’t be able to send the book away till next week.

  10. This may make the bunch of you jealous, but Ftacnik is coming to our club in Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States tomorrow night. He’ll be doing a lecture, and then conducting a Simul. Maybe I can get first hand info on the book. Never know.

  11. Jacob Aagaard

    I doubt he knows more than people on this blog – at the moment the book is out of his hands and the responsibility of the editor.

  12. Abramov Anjuhin

    This game is a best promoter of a future release “KING’S GAMBIT”, hopefully in hardback also 🙂

    Carlsen,Magnus – Wang,Yue [C36] 1:0
    Kings’ Tournament Medias Bazna/Romania (4), 17.06.2010

    1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Nxd5 6. O-O Be7 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qd8 9. d4 O-O 10. Bxf4 Bf5 11. Qe2 Bd6 12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. Nb5 Qd8 14. c4 a6 15. Nc3 Nd7 16. Rad1 Bg6 17. Qf2 Re8 18. h3 Rc8 19. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 c6 21. d5 Nf6 22. Qd4 cxd5 23. Nxd5 Nxd5 24. cxd5 Qd6 25. Ne5 Re8 26. Re3 Rd8 27. Nc4 Qf6 28. Re5 h6 29. d6 Bf5 30. Nb6 Be6 31. d7 Kh8 32. a4 g6 33. Qc3 Kg7 34. a5 h5 35. h4 Rxd7 36. Nxd7 Bxd7 37. Qd4 Bc6 38. b4 Bb5 39. Kh2 Ba4 40. Rd5 Bc6 41. Qxf6+ Kxf6 42. Rc5 Ke6 43. Kg3 f6 44. Kf2 Bd5 45. g3 g5 46. g4 {!} 46… hxg4 47. h5 Be4 48. Rc7 f5 49. h6 f4 50. h7 g3+ 51. Ke1 f3 52. h8=Q f2+ 53. Ke2 Bd3+ 54. Ke3 — 1:0

    GM Repertoire GRUNFELD has got a fierce competitor by Chess Stars – “The Grunfeld for Black” by Alexander Delchev is expected in December 2010.

    By the way Jacob, why is the author of GM Rep KING’S INDIAN vol. 1 & 2 kept so secretly? And why 2 books? For me the more the better 🙂

  13. splinter22prime

    In July Chess Stars is also publishing a book on the Najdorf/Scheveningen. Are you waiting to see what Khalifman proposes for White, and maybe improve his analysis for Black?

  14. @Al
    Al, I tried your first link (I run a lot of engine-engine tournaments and I’m always interested in good opening books) but was prompted (for the first time in my life, actually) for a password for the enctypted file. WTF?

  15. I was wondering if their is any chance at some point of a 2nd edition of David Vigorito’s (excellent) “Play the Semi-Slav”. There are two main reasons why I think a 2nd edition would be a good idea.

    1) Semi-Slav theory develops fast. Here is a part of Carsten Hansen’s review of this book. “Since this is a repertoire book for Black, it is vulnerable to novelties and ideas that could overturn the recommended lines. For instance, in the Botvinnik Anti-Meran and the Anti-Moscow Gambits, the theory has already moved beyond what is presented in this volume.” I think several examples of this are improvements given for White in Lars Schandorff’s Playing the Queen’s Gambit and Topalov’s 12 Nxf7!? against Kramnik. Boris Avrukh’s Grandmaster Repertorie 1 d4 Volume 1 also has improvements for White over Vigorito’s book. In another part of Hansen’s review he wrote “It contains many ideas that will soon be tested in games at all levels.” A 2nd edition would help us see how Vigorito’s original suggestions have done in practice and if they are truly valid.

    2) There are a number of minor lines that aren’t covered in the book that I think would be worthwile to cover.
    a) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5
    b) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 alternatives to 5 Nf3 such as 5 Bd3
    c) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 g3
    d) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 Nf3 Nc6 alternatives to 6 Bf4
    e) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 e3
    f) 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Bf4
    Lines c-f are all covered In James Vigus’ book “Play the Slav” by Everyman (Lines a-b aren’t applicable to his book as he recommends meeting 3 Nc3 with 3…dxc4 instead of 3…Nf6 ) Graham Burgess’ book “The Slav” by Gambit covers lines a,c-e (Line b isn’t applicable to his book as it is book on the Slav, not the Semi-Slav.

  16. I dont see what is wrong with the move order? Maybe I am just hung over after Denmark actually winning a game of football and Rommedahl scoring!! But yes, it is without …e7-e6.

    A 2nd edition of Play the Semi-Slav is not a bad idea.

    I worry about White’s position in Carlsen-Wang Yue after 8…Qf5, for example 9.d4 Nc6 and it is all pants. But yes, we will make some promotional nonsense out of it, of course :-).

    No, we are not waiting for the Khalifman book. We are going to the printer within a week. The physical process just takes some time.

    About computer stuff – we are currently looking into a lot of ways to improve our work in that direction – constant improvement is what we attempt and at times achieve.

  17. @Jacob: Oh of course. No wonder I’m not finding the games!

    @Al: I’ll try not to blame you for the strange password. 🙂 and thanks to both.

  18. I agree with M.A.S. on the Semi-Slav 2nd edition, as well as the missing lines he mentions. My first edition has been worn to pieces and I would gladly buy a 2nd edition.

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