Download PGN of December ’25 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games
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Queen’s Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation 5...Be7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Bg4 [D35]
This line is not new, but Carlsen’s adoption of it has brought it into the limelight. White has many playable replies and at this point it’s difficult to know which is best.
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In this update we’ll look at 7(!) of them in 8.Be2, 8.Qa4+, 8.Nge2, 8.Nf3, 8.f3, 8.Qb3 and 8.Qc2.
The simplest of these is probably 8.Be2:
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as in Onischuk, A - Nogerbek, K. White was pressing for much of the game but without anything in the way of an advantage. In the end he over pressed and lost in what looked like time trouble.
Parham Maghsoodloo’s choices are always interesting, and he chose 8.Qa4+:
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in his encounter with Carlen (Maghsoodloo, P - Carlsen, M). White was OK until he lost his way in an endgame.
In another Carlsen game, Dudin, G - Carlsen, M, White played 8.Nge2:
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hoping that Black’s bishop on g4 will have nothing better to do than exchange itself. Black is OK, but Carlsen overplayed his hand with the wild 9...g5 which White could have exploited with 11.f3. By move 16 Black had comfortably equalized, but he then came close to losing a complex endgame.
The move that seems the favourite to be a main line is 8.Nf3:
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when 8...c6 (Praggnanandhaa, R - Eljanov, P) introduces the possibility of a quick ...Nf6-e4 whereas 8...Nbd7 (Aronian, L - So, W) can see Black play a quick ...c7-c5. Which is best? It’s too soon to say, but both moves look eminently playable.
In the big Armageddon game, Nakamura, H - Carlsen, M, Nakamura chose the natural 8.f3:
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the only drawback of which is that Black can hit back with ...c7-c5 and ...Nb8-c6. The positions that arise might be slightly better for White because the activity of Black’s knight on f6 is frustrated by the pawn on f3, but it’s certainly not much.
The attempt to menace the b7 pawn with 8.Qb3:
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was seen in Mamedov, E - Nogerbek, K. White blundered with 18.f3 but then Black missed ...Nc4 on both his next move and the one after! Later Black won a pawn but failed to convert in the rook endgame. Overall, this was a strange game.
Finally, there’s the sensible 8.Qc2:
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as in Abdusattorov, N - Caruana, F. Black’s 10...Ne8 is worth noting as it sets about exchanging the dark square bishops whilst possibly routing the knight towards the important d6 square. The weird pawn structure that was obtained, when White recaptured on g3 with the pawn, is anathema to old-timers like me. Engines are OK with it and that’s why such moves are now played.
That’s all for now, see you next time! Nigel
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