Leningrad Nimzo-Indian & Snake Benoni lines compared

Often having a wide repertoire (or at least an education re: many chess openings) has advantages. Something about the Snake Benoni suggested to me comparing a certain line of it to a [sometimes recommended Black] line of the Leningrad Variation of the Nimzo-Indian (the latter I've played as White several times over the years). It occurred to me that in the Leningrad, the Black bishop reaches the a5-e1 diagonal in just one move, and if Black desires, it can capture a knight on c3 thus in just 2 moves. That's unlike in the Snake Benoni, where Black goes ...Bd6, often followed by ...Bc7 and maybe later ...Ba5, or sometimes followed by ...Be5, spending a noticeable amount of time in either case [another idea is ...Re8, after ...0-0, and later ...Bf8, which can sometimes also happen in other Nimzo-Indian lines, but this isn't too inspiring here, it seems to me].

Here's the line of the Leningrad Nimzo-Indian I refer to:


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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 {The Leningrad Variation.} h6 {If Black intends to soon trade pawns on d5, it may be more accurate not to slip this move in. After 4...c5 5.d5 exd5 6.cxd5 d6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 most critical is 8...Qa5 9.Ne2 Nxd5 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 c4 12.Bc2 0-0 when White might do best IMHO to try 13.Bh4 with hope of compensation [13.Ng3 is the main move traditionally, but after 13...Nxc3 14.Qh5 White has been getting less than nothing in case of 14...f5 (or even 14...g6)]. Also, it seems little known that 4...b6 is a decent move here, when White may have little better than 5.Nf3 [the QID-Nimzo Hybrid; at least Black is committed to ...Bb4 and ...b6, though many Blacks would be content to include them both here] or maybe 5.e3 with the idea of Qb3, with similar [or same, if Black wishes] lines to the 4.Qb3 Nimzo, depending on how both sides play. Edit: after 4...b6, 5.f3 may not be so bad, as long as if 5...h6 6.Bd2 - CA16. That means 4...h6 5.Bh4 b6 could be seen as a slightly more accurate move order for Black's purposes.} 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 d6 {Black can opt for the wilder 6...b5 here.} 7.e3 exd5 {It's also possible to trade on c3 first, followed by ...Qe7 or ...e5, or to play 7...Qe7 - after which one interesting option is 8.Ne2, a square the knight doesn't always choose to go to; another interesting option is 8.Bd3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nbd7 10.Ne2 Ne5 11.0-0.} 8.cxd5 Nbd7 9.Bd3 Bxc3 {Another major line starts with 9...Qa5 10.Ne2 Nxd5 11.0-0 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nxc3.}10.bxc3 {Now 10...Ne5 is one interesting move, when after 11.Nf3 Nxf3+ 12.gxf3 my engines disagree on which side they like; it's either + or - 0.11, each say, which is roughly equal. The idea of trading on d5 is thought just one way to largely de-fang the Leningrad, but it still seems debatable to me whether things are that clear [though White, at best, doesn't have much].}


Having seen & recalled all that, the line that thus occurred to me that White might choose to play vs. the Snake Benoni (though not even necessarily the most incisive one(!)) would be:


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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 Bd6 {The Snake Benoni.} 6.Bg5 {Possibly stronger objectively is 6.Nf3, but White is secretly hoping to gain a tempo or two over some of the Leningrad Nimzo-Indian stuff given above - although I would guess even then he may not have too much of an edge, if any of significance, as the Leningrad doesn't give White a ton of pressure normally. Another line is 6.Nf3 0-0 7.Bg5 [ECO4 prefers 7.g3] when it seems according to the database Chess Assistant 16 that with best play it shouldn't profit Black much to delay moving his B/d6 for a long time.} h6 {6...Be5 7.Nf3 Bxc3+ and 6...Bc7 [0.29 says CA16], for example, have been tried - I think I'd be a little bit happy as White [against the latter maneuver one idea is d5-d6!?].} 7.Bh4 g5 {Other moves have been tried, including 7...Be5 8.Nf3 Bxc3+ and 7...Bc7 [0.44 says CA16]. Again I'd be a bit happy as White.} 8.Bg3 Bxg3 9.hxg3 d6 10.e3 a6 11.Nf3 Bg4 12.Qc2 Bxf3 13.gxf3 {With a slight edge for White - ECO 4th edition [Sakeav-Ovetchkin, Russia 2000], which is all ECO gives after 6.Bg5.}