It quickly became established that the lines to be feared by Black were those in which White went for a Minority Attack.
One of the earliest and most successful exponents of this was former child-prodigy Samuel Reshevsky.
Reshevksy - George Treysman
US Biennial (New York) 1936
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5
It took a little while for this to become the standard move - 5.Nf3 also being popular - but today it is almost automatic. The bishop puts pressure on Black, practically ensuring that ...c6 will become necessary at some point. Meanwhile there seems no way for Black to take advantage, as can happen in other openings, of White unprotecting b2.
5...Nbd7!?
Today Black usually plays 5...Be7, but ...Nbd7 nearly always follows at some point, even though it blocks the black light-square bishop. One reason for playing ...Nbd7 is to set a trap that has claimed 527 victims in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
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| White to play and lose |
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
6.e3
The losing line runs 6.Nxd5? Nxd5 (45 players in Mega20 failed to play this) 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8, after which Black is up a knight for a pawn, as in J Foster (no grade) - Spanton (151 BCF), Highbury (London) Rapidplay 1989 (0-1, 28 moves) and many other games.
6...Be7 7.Qc2 c6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nf3 Re8
More than 10,000 games in Mega20 reach this standard position by various move-orders. White scores +4,658=4,013-2,134, which works out at a very healthy 62%.
More than 10,000 games in Mega20 reach this standard position by various move-orders. White scores +4,658=4,013-2,134, which works out at a very healthy 62%.
10.h3!?
This move first appears in Mega20 in a 1928 win of Sämisch's against Berthold Koch. Its ideas include taking the g4 square away from Black's pieces, particularly the king's knight and queen's bishop, and leaving open the option of castling long.
10...Nf8
This opens a diagonal for Black's light-square bishop and unties the king's knight from protecting h7.
11.Bf4!?
This move, which is the most popular in the position (at least in Mega20), seems to have been first played by Reshevsky in a 1934 win against Mario Monticelli. The arguably more-natural 11.0-0 occurred in Sämisch - Koch, Berliner SG 100th Anniversary (Berlin) 1928. That game continued 11...Ne4 (a standard way for Black to seek simplifying exchanges) 12.Bf4 Nxc3 13.bxc3, when the analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 give White a slight edge (1-0, 51 moves).
11...Bd6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6
Black has simplified to a certain extent, but in doing so he has given up his good bishop.
13.0-0
Overwhelmingly more popular in Mega20 is 13.0-0-0!? (229 examples compared with 75 for the text). Reshevsky preferred short castling all seven times he reached the position after 12...Qxd6.
13...Be6
Other moves faced by Reshevsky were ...g6, ...Qe7, ...Ng6 and ...b6. Overall he scored +5=2-0. For what it is worth, the text is Stockfish12's choice, while Komodo11.01 prefers 13...Qe7.
14.Rfb1!?
Making it starkly clear a Minority Attack is on the cards. White's plan is to advance his a and b pawns, seeking pawn-exchanges that will leave Black with a weak pawn or pawns.
14...Re7?!
Treysman has played standard moves up to this point, but the text, makes it difficult to coordinate the black pieces. Black often seeks kingside counterplay in the QGD Exchange, but here there does not seem a promising way of achieving that. Stockfish12 suggests 14...a5, which is normal in such positions. The idea is that when the white b pawn advances to b4, after a preparatory a3, Black plays ...axb4 so as not to later end up with an isolated a pawn, as happens in the game.
15.b4 Rc7 16.Qd2!? Qe7 17.Qc2!?
This was almost certainly not a tacit draw-offer by Reshevsky. I suspect he had come to the conclusion that at move 16 he could he could have successfully played a4, or even an immediate b5.
17...Ne8
The engines prefer this to repeating with 17...Qd6.
18.a4 Nd6
If Black can engineer an exchange of light-square bishops, this knight could take up a useful outpost at c4 or e4, but that will not be easy.
19.Rc1!?
Reshevsky decides, and the engines agree, that the king's rook is best-placed on the c file. This is why, going back to the position after 13...Be6, it is more usual for White to play 14.Rab1, with Rfc1 to follow. Karpov has played the immediate 14.Rfc1.
It should be remembered the Minority Attack was still in its infancy in 1936, so allowances must be made. Even so, the overall impression of the game, at least to me, is strikingly modern.
19...Rac8 20.Qb2 Ng6 21.b5
Reshevsky's dithering with his queen has given Black time to prepare his defences, but I think it fair to say White's position is easier to play.
21...Qf6?!
21...Qf6?!
The engines prefer 21...c5!?, when 22.dxc5 Rxc5 leaves Black with one weak pawn (d5).
22.bxc6 bxc6
Possibly better is 22...Rxc6!?, although then d5 is weak and White has pressure against the black a and b pawns.
23.Ba6 Rd8 24.Nb5! Nxb5 25.axb5 Rb8?!
The engines give 25...c5 26.b6! Rb8 27.bxa7! Rxb2 28.a8=Q+ Nf8 29.Rxc5 Rxc5 30.dxc5 Rc2 31.Rb1, when 31...Rxc5 restores material equality, but White has the upper hand after 32.Rb8.
26.Qa3 Bf5 27.Rc5 Qd6 28.Qa5 Be6?!
Best, according to the engines, is 28...Ne7, but Black remains under intense pressure.
29.Rac1 Rb6 30.bxc6 Rbxc6 31.Bb7 Rxc5 32.dxc5 Qe7 33.c6 Bc8 34.Bxc8 Rxc8 35.Qxd5
Not only has Black lost a pawn, but he has a weak a pawn and is hardly in position to cope with White's passer.
35...Qe6 36.Qc5 Rc7 37.Nd4 Qe7 38.Nb5 1-0
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