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Thread: Exchange Slav: easy draw for White?

  1. #1
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    Default Exchange Slav: easy draw for White?

    Numerous chess books, etc., note that Black should not play the Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6) if he wants to win at all costs (especially at elite level), due to the Exchange Slav (3.cxd5 cxd5). However, there are some exceptions, e.g. see the Starting Out series book on the Slav and Semi-Slav (Flear), and The Slav move by move (Lakdawala); in such cases often only one winning attempt is offered for Black as a scheme to try when confronted with this variation (though I have seen various such schemes offered, somewhat comfortingly, from Black's point of view). The question remains whether the Exchange Slav is a (relatively) easy draw for White the huge bulk of the time when played with such a result in mind by skilled hands.

    Fwiw, here's the sub-wiki on the Exchange Slav; what is not mentioned is that a huge portion of most database draws are very short affairs where Black does not seem to try to win at all:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slav_D...e_Slav:_3.cxd5
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 06-27-2019 at 09:06 AM. Reason: Adding content
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  2. #2
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    Fwiw, here's a discussion thread about the Exchange Slav on reddit, from just a few years back, largely involving class or master-level players, it seems:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comme...slav_exchange/

    Aside from the Black early opening ideas of ...a6 (perhaps hoping to play ...Bg4) or ...Nh5 (attacking the White B/f4) that are mentioned, another idea that's been used on occasion, when Nc3 and Nf3 have both been played by White, is to play ...g6 and ...Ne4 early on - Canadian GM Sambuev likes this last double-edged idea as a winning attempt for Black. Then there's the thought of creating slight asymmetry by playing ...e6 before developing the light squared bishop outside the pawn chain from f7 to d5. Another idea that often is possible is to play ...Qb6 at some point, threatening or intending to play ...Qxb2 if allowed (though there may be a degree of risk involved if White actually gambits the pawn and Black accepts).
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 06-27-2019 at 11:52 PM. Reason: Adding content
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

  3. #3
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    Here's a link to a relatively famous win for Black against the Exchange Slav, albeit back in 1988 between Seirawan and Beliavsky:

    http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1329012

    Note that if White had played 8.Bd3, to trade light squared bishops (and hoping Black would soon play ...Bd6, trading off the remaining bishops to reach a really drawish position that has been soon agreed drawn countless times), Black can try playing ...Be7 to avoid excessive simplification, though whether White can render the position quite drawish sooner or later remains to be seen.
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 06-27-2019 at 11:56 PM. Reason: Adding content
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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