New Chapter Added: Introduction to 13.Bg5

This chapter covers several different minor lines after 13.Bg5 Rc5!.  The one with the best reputation is 14.Rhe1, where I advocate 14…Qa5! 15.Kb1! Re8! as the smoothest equalizer, rather than the more complicated 14…b5!?.  After the line 14.Kb1 Re8! 15.Rhe1 of the Karpov Variation, we’re going to follow Kasparov and play 15…Qa5!, reaching the same position, so from an efficiency standpoint our choice is forced.  (The Karpov Variation will be covered in a later chapter.)  The part of the new chapter that most interested me was the move 14.Rdg1!?, which I think is severely underrated.  I’ve included some improvements on old analysis and games to show that White appears to get real chances at an advantage after the standard move 14…b5 (recommended by Dearing and played the most frequently).  Instead I suggest the rare 14…Qa5!, and best play seems to lead to one forced draw or another, or an even but kind of unclear endgame if Black wants.  Perhaps 14.Rdg1!? would be a good surprise weapon if prepared well.  It may be just a draw, but I doubt that any other 14th move wins by force, so why not give it a shot?

Also, I’ve updated a couple random things in other chapters.  The one significant thing I remember is in the ultra-trendy and critical 10.Kb1!? main line.  (Well, it’s the main line now that Radjabov and Carlsen have endorsed it.)  In the Nisipeanu-Radjabov game, there’s a new try 18…Be6!? that recently came to my attention.  Though it didn’t fare so well in its one outing, it looks like Black gets pretty decent play for the exchange, and there are no forced draws to worry about.  It’s a hard one to evaluate, though.  We’ll need some more high-quality games to see if the idea stands up.  I’ve included some preliminary analysis.

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