Keres Attack

Originally posted by rubberjaw30
Bg5 isn't that bad.
6. ... e6
7. f4 Be7 should be equal.
it's not TOO complicated.
but if you are afraid of potential complications, you should not be playing 1. ... c5 to begin with.

Maybe I need to explain myself!!

After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6

The majority of White's moves i.e. 6.Be2, 6.Be3, 6.f4 This systems Black plays are of a very similar nature.

However 6.Bg5 set very different problems that are quite different to the majority of other typical Scheveneingen type positions.

Hence a Scheveningen player would probably not be as comfortable playing against 6.Bg5 as against other 6th moves.

It'snot about being complicated, its about the positions you feel comfortable in. The English attack has it's fair share of complications!!

Originally posted by jonrothwell
I don't play it but to quote MCO14th ed.

'6...e5?! has confused many white players, but a clear solution has been found- 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.Nf5 h5 10.gxh5 Nxh5 11.Bh6! Nc6 12.Qxh5 Ne7 13.Qg5 Nxf5 14.exf5 Rxh6 15.Nd5 is a plus for white but may confuse them over the board.

Other alternatives are 6...Be7 and 6...Nc6.

Thanks for the comments so far. They've been thought provoking.

6...e5 could be a good viable alternative for black to meet the Keres.
After the line quoted by jonrothwell, black can continue 15...Qa4 16. Nc7+ Kd7 17. Nxa8 Qe4+ 18. Kd2 Qd5+ 19. Ke2 Qc4+ 20. Kd2 with a draw (Hamdouchi-Relange 2007).
There main alternative in this line is 11. Nd5.

Steffen Pedersen in his book on the Scheveningen (1998) seems to favour white after 6...e5. Kasparov and Nikitin in 1983 covers 6...e5 only in passing stating that it 'deserves the careful attention of the reader'.

I agree with NorthernLad about the fact there must be a good reason why grandmasters tend to avoid the Keres. The database I have doesn't favour 6...a6 at all, but I suspect that is partly because of the quality of the database. Kasparov covers 6..a6 and concludes that after 6...a6 7. g5 Nfd7 8. Bg2 or Be3 that black is best to transpose into the 6...Nc6 lines with 8...Nc6.

With regards to rubberjaw30's comment about not playing 1...c5 if you are afraid of complications, I would point out that there is the practical issue of the time and effort in learning how to play a particular opening. The vast majority of chess players are amateurs with limited time to devote to chess. I am currently happy to play the Sicilian as black but wish to limit the time I spend studying this opening as much as is practical. Therefore, I wish to choose a repertoire that I can keep up with and the active choice that I am trying to make is to limit the variations that occur in my games. I am not afraid of complications but it is careless to enter a line that you haven't the time to prepare properly with the hope that you can deal with issues as they arise over the board. Playing a Najdorf or Taimanov move order may end up being the viable alternative to the Keres.

Originally posted by tapestry
I recently got squashed OTB as black in a Keres Attack (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. g4). I chose to play 6... h6, and admittedly forgot the exact line. I just wondered what other people would recommend as black after 6. g4?

First, to answer your question, 6... h6 is considered the most reliable line. The positions reached are quite dynamic (as are most Sicilians), but with a decent amount of study of the line, you should be able to reach playable middlegames. 6... a6 and 6... Nc6 are also considered playable. All the other sixth move responses have very poor reputations.

I've been playing the Scheveningen variation for most of my tournament career. My results (against other Experts and Masters) vs. the Keres Attack have been comparable with my results vs. other variations at White's disposal. Perhaps at the GM level, it is preferable to avoid the Keres Attack, but at lower levels, it should be respected, but not feared.

I felt it was important to quote the original post since it specifically mentions OTB. If one is too succeed in OTB (unlike correspondence chess), a fair amount of rote memorization is necessary. Of course, some variations require far more than others. The Dragon and Najdorf variations both require a lot of memorization whereas with the Paulsen and Taimanov variations, a good player could get by just by understanding the main themes. The Scheveningen is somewhere in between the extremes. So, if you do go with the suggestion of playing the Najdorf (in order to avoid the Keres Attack), expect to have to spend a lot more time on opening study, because facing Bg5 or Bc4 or the English Attack unprepared is no picnic either.