Saint George Defense

This post is primarily for mikeviking, but of course anyone interested in the Saint George may enjoy this collection of games. Most feature IM Michael Basman with the black pieces, but I've also included the famous Karpov-Miles of 1980 and the two 1868 games with the system's apparent originator as Black.
My source is The New St. George by Michael Basman, Cadogan Books 1993, which I highly recommend. I have included none of Basman's comments or analysis, and the game scores themselves are of course a matter of public record.
Cut, paste, enjoy.

[Event Blindfold Simultaneous]
[Site London]
[Date 1868.12.11]
[Round ?]
[White Steinitz]
[Black Baker, J.]
[Result 0-1]
1. e4 a6 2. d4 b5 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Bd3 e6 5. Nc3 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. a4 b4 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. O-O Nge7 10. Ng3 Qc7 11. Qe2 h5 12. Be3 Bd6 13. Rfe1 f6 14. Nd2 h4 15. Ngf1 Na5 16. Nb3 g5 17. Bd4 e5 18. Be3 Ng6 19. Nxa5 Qxa5 20. Nd2 Nf4 21. Bxf4 gxf4 22. Nc4 Qc5 23. Nxd6+ Qxd6 24. Rad1 Qe7 25. h3 Qg7 26. Bc4 Rc8 27. Rd2 f3 28. Qxf3 Rxc4 29. Qf5 Rg8 30. f3 Rd4 31. Rde2 Ke7 32. Rf2 Qg3 33. Qh7+ Rg7 0-1


[Event Blindfold Simultaneous]
[Site London]
[Date 1868.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Blackburne]
[Black Baker, J.]
[Result 0-1]
1. e4 a6 2. d4 b5 3. Bd3 Bb7 4. Nh3 e6 5. O-O c5 6. c3 d5 7. e5 f5 8. f4 Nh6 9. Nd2 Nf7 10. Nf3 h6 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Be3 c4 13. Bc2 Be7 14. Kh1 Kd7 15. Qd2 Qc7 16. Nf2 Rag8 17. g3 Qd8 18. a4 g5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Rg1 g4 21. Ne1 h5 22. Kg2 h4 23. Kf1 hxg3 24. hxg3 Rh2 25. Ke2 Qb6 26. Kd1 b4 27. Ng2 b3 28. Kc1 bxc2 29. Qxc2 Kc7 30. Kd2 Na5 0-1

[Event Ch Europe (team) (1/2 final)]
[Site Scara (Sweden)]
[Date 1980.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Karpov Anatoly]
[Black Miles Anthony J]
[Result 0-1]
1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Qe2 e6 6.a4 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Nbd2 b4 9.e5 Nd5 10.Ne4 Be7 11.O-O Nc6 12.Bd2 Qc7 13.c4 bxc3 14.Nxc3 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 Nb4 16.Bxb4 Bxb4 17.Rac1 Qb6 18.Be4 O-O 19.Ng5 h6 20.Bh7+ Kh8 21.Bb1 Be7 22.Ne4 Rac8 23.Qd3 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Qxb2 25.Re1 Qxe5 26.Qxd7 Bb4 27.Re3 Qd5 28.Qxd5 Bxd5 29.Nc3 Rc8 30.Ne2 g5 31.h4 Kg7 32.hxg5 hxg5 33.Bd3 a5 34.Rg3 Kf6 35.Rg4 Bd6 36.Kf1 Be5 37.Ke1 Rh8 38.f4 gxf4 39.Nxf4 Bc6 40.Ne2 Rh1+ 41.Kd2 Rh2 42.g3 Bf3 43.Rg8 Rg2 44.Ke1 Bxe2 45.Bxe2 Rxg3 46.Ra8 Bc7 0-1

[Event Surrey Open]
[Site ?]
[Date 1980.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Abayasekera]
[Black Basman]
[Result 0-1]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Bd3 b5 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Bb7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Re1 Qb6 8. Bf4 Be7 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Rxe3 Ng4 12. Re2 Nc6 13. Nbd2 Rd8 14. Nf1 O-O 15. Rc1 Nce5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Bb1 d5 18. exd5 Rxd5 19. Qe1 Qd6 20. Ne3 Nf3+ 21. gxf3 Rg5+ 22. Ng4 Bxf3 23. h3 Bxg4 24. hxg4 Rxg4+ 25. Kf1 Qh2 0-1

[Event ?]
[Site Borehamwood]
[Date 1980.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Bradbury]
[Black Basman]
[Result 0-1]
1. d4 b5 2. e4 a6 3. Bd3 Bb7 4. Nf3 e6 5. O-O c5 6. c3 Nf6 7. Re1 Be7 8. Nbd2 Nc6 9. Nf1 Qb6 10. d5 exd5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Ng3 Nc7 13. Nf5 Ne6 14. Ng5 g6 15. Nh6 Ncd8 16. Be4 f6 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. Ne4 Qc6 19. a4 bxa4 20. Ng3 Nf7 21. h4 d5 22. Qe2 Nxh6 23. Qxe6 Qxe6 24. Rxe6 Nf7 25. Rxa4 a5 26. b4 cxb4 27. cxb4 Kd7 28. Rb6 axb4 29. Rb7+ Ke6 30. Raa7 Rxa7 31. Rxa7 Bc5 32. Ra6+ Nd6 33. Kf1 Rb8 34. Ke2 Rb6 35. Ra4 Bd4 36. Nf1 Ne4 0-1

[Event ?]
[Site Edinburgh]
[Date 1980.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Hodgson, Julian]
[Black Basman]
[Result 1-0]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Bb7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Re1 h6 8. Nbd2 Be7 9. a4 b4 10. Qe2 bxc3 11. bxc3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nc6 13. Rb1 Nb4 14. d5 exd5 15. e5 Nh7 16. Nd4 Ng5 17. Nf5 Ne6 18. Nf1 a5 19. N1g3 g6 20. Nd6+ Bxd6 21. exd6 Qh4 22. Bb5 Ba6 23. Bxa6 Rxa6 24. f4 Rxd6 25. Qe5 O-O 26. Qxd6 d4 27. Bd2 Nc2 28. Rf1 Ne3 29. Bxe3 dxe3 30. Rb8 Rxb8 31. Qxb8+ Kh7 32. Qe5 1-0

[Event ?]
[Site Lara]
[Date 1979.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Dixon]
[Black Basman]
[Result 0-1]
1. d4 b5 2. e4 Bb7 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 e6 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nf6 7. O-O h6 8. e5 Nd5 9. Ne4 c4 10. Bb1 Qc7 11. Bd2 Be7 12. Qe2 Nc6 13. Ne1 O-O-O 14. a4 f5 15. exf6 gxf6 16. axb5 axb5 17. b3 Na5 18. bxc4 Nxc4 19. Nd3 Rhg8 20. f3 Rg7 21. Nec5 Rdg8 22. Rf2 Bc6 23. Ba2 Bd6 24. Bxc4 bxc4 25. Nb4 Bxh2+ 26. Kf1 Nxb4 27. cxb4 Bg3 28. b5 Bd5 29. Ba5 Qf4 30. b6 Qxd4 31. b7+ Bxb7 0-1

[Event ?]
[Site Ramsgate]
[Date 1979.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White van der Sterren]
[Black Basman]
[Result 1-0]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Bb7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Nbd2 Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. e5 Nd5 10. Ne4 Be7 11. a4 Qb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. exd6 O-O 16. b3 f5 17. Bb2 Nf4 18. Re1 Rf6 19. Bf1 Rg6 20. g3 Qb6 21. Qd2 Rg4 22. Ra1 Qb7 23. h3 Na7 24. Rxa7 Qxa7 25. hxg4 Ng6 26. gxf5 Qb7 27. Bg2 Ne5 28. Qg5 1-0

[Event ?]
[Site Biel]
[Date 1979.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Afek]
[Black Basman]
[Result 0-1]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Bb7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Qe2 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. d6 Ng6 10. e5 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nd5 12. Kh1 f6 13. Bxg6+ hxg6 14. Qd3 Kf7 15. Rg1 g5 16. Nd2 Bxd6 17. f4 Nxf4 0-1

[Event club match]
[Site ?]
[Date 1980.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Lewis, A.]
[Black Basman]
[Result 0-1]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Bb7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Re1 Be7 8. Nbd2 Nc6 9. e5 Nd5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Ne4 Be7 12. a4 Qb8 13. Bg5 f6 14. exf6 gxf6 15. Bh4 O-O 16. Bg3 Qd8 17. Nd6 Bxd6 18. Bxd6 Rf7 19. axb5 axb5 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Nh4 Rg7 22. Qh5 Nce7 23. g3 Bc6 24. h3 Qf8 25. Kh2 f5 26. Be5 Nf6 27. Qh6 Ng6 28. Nxg6 Rxg6 29. Qxf8+ Kxf8 30. Ra1 Ng4+ 0-1

[Event ?]
[Site Aaronson International]
[Date 1979.??.??]
[Round ?]
[White Borm]
[Black Basman]
[Result 0-1]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. O-O Bb7 7. a4 bxa4 8. Rxa4 Ne7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Qe2 Ng6 11. e5 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nc6 13. Qh5 Bd4 14. Ne4 Qh4 15. Qxh4 Nxh4 16. c3 Bb6 17. Nf6+ gxf6 18. Rxh4 f5 19. Re1 Bc7 20. f4 Ne7 21. g4 Ng6 22. Rh5 fxg4 23. Kg2 f5 24. h3 gxh3+ 25. Kf3 Rf7 26. Rxh3 Rg7 27. Be3 a5 28. Bc5 Rb8 29. Rh2 a4 30. Ba3 Bd8 31. Bc2 Nh4+ 32. Ke2 Rg4 33. Rf1 Ra8 34. Bc5 Ng6 35.
Be3 a3 36. bxa3 Rxa3 37. Rb1 Rxc3 38. Bd1 Bc7 39. Kd2 Rxe3 40. Kxe3 Rxf4 41. Bf3 Bxe5 42. Ra2 Bd4+ 43. Ke2 Ne5 44. Rf1 Rh4 45. Ra8+ Kg7 46. Kd1 Nc4 47. Rh1 Rxh1+ 48. Bxh1 h5 49. Ke2 d5 50. Kd3 Bf6 51. Ra6 Kf7 52. Ra7+ Be7 53. Ke2 h4 54. Bg2 Kf6 55. Kd3 Ne5+ 56. Ke2 Ng6 57. Kf1 Nf4 58. Bf3 d4 59. Rb7 e5 60. Rb6+ Kg5 61. Rb5 Bf6 62. Kf2 Kg6 0-1

Someone played the St George against me in a club match the other day. I felt cramped from the start and was soundly beaten. Before I look through the games on this thread, any general ideas on good strategies for white.

I played a game in the Ohio HIgh School Chess Championships as white against the St. George....I just played solid and didn't try anything stupid and got a good position and then won the game. I will try to find it and post it here. 😀

I'd love to see both games.
As White, get your e4 and d4 first, your Nf3, your O-O, your c3 when Black plays ...c5, defend e4 with Bd3 (since Nc3 can be driven off with ...b4) and later with Qe2 or Re1 or Nbd2 (whichever is possible and seems best) when e4 is attacked twice (...Bb7 and ...Nf6). Consider e5 after ...Nf6 but understand that d5 can be a good home for the knight, and consider a4 to challenge the b5 pawn. It's usually a good idea not to let Black get his g-file half-open, as the combination of ...Rg8 and ...Bb7 can lead to nasty attacks and Black is generally in no hurry to ...O-O.
Other strategies are quite playable for White, but I think the scheme above is strongest.
As Tony suggests, sensible development is the key. Don't underestimate your opponent, but understand that his defense is inferior. Still, he probably knows the territory better than White, so caution and confidence should go hand in hand when attacking the St. George Defense.

I just noticed that the quotation mark bug damaged the PGN in my initial post in this thread. Sorry folks 🙁

Good advice Hunting Bear. I think perhaps the mistake I made in my club game was playing Nc3 early on, which stopped me from playing c3 after ...c5.

Just looking back on the games on this thread, Nc3 is sometimes played, although ...c5 is then met by dxc5. I didn't want to play this in my OTB game as it gives black's bishop a strong square on c5.