What are the ideas and plans in the Boor Attack in the Exchange Slav?

Question

In Friday morning's round (31st March 2023) in the Reyjkavik Open Simon Williams played the Boor Attack in the Exchange Slav, characterized by 5. f3 [Ben Finegold: "Never play f3"], as white against Anastasiya Rakhmangulova:

[Title "Simon Williams - Anastasiya Rakhmangulova, Reyjkavik 2023"]
[fen ""]
[Startply "9"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.f3 e6 6.e4 dxe4 7.fxe4 Nc6 8.Nf3 Bb4 9.Bd3 Ba5 10.e5 Nd5 11.O-O Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bxc3 13.Rb1 h6 14.Ba3 a5 15.Qa4 Bd7 16.Rxb7 Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Bxa4 18.Nxe6 Qh4 19.Rfxf7 Bb4 20.Rf8+ {20... Rxf8 21. Bg6+ Rf7 22. Bxf7#}

I've never heard of this or seen it before. What are the plans and ideas?

I'm looking for answers with concrete lines not general, boilerplate platitudes.

Answer 1

Icelandic FM and FIDE Trainer, Ingvar Johannesson, has just posted a YouTube video with his analysis of this game. What makes this special is that Williams played this game after conversation with Johannesson down the pub before the tournament where Johannesson shared his analysis of this opening.

He explains some of the tactical ideas behind the move 5. f3 which he shared with Simon Williams. Significantly he doesn't say much about the reply 5... Bf5 apart from to mention white ideas like Qb3. So, he keeps some secrets.

Let's look at the replies Johannesson covers in the video.

5... Nc6

[fen "r1bqkb1r/pp2pppp/2n2n2/3p4/3P4/2N2P2/PP2P1PP/R1BQKBNR w - - 0 6"]

6. e4 dxe4 7. d5 Ne5 8. fxe4 e6 9. Nf3 Nxf3 10. Qxf3 exd5 11. e5 Ne4 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Rf1 {avoiding Qb6+ after O-O and with a massive attack for white} 

5... Qb6

[fen "rnb1kb1r/pp2pppp/1q3n2/3p4/3P4/2N2P2/PP2P1PP/R1BQKBNR w - - 0 6"]

6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 e5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. d5 Bb4 10. Qd3 a6 11. Ba4 Qa5 12. Bd1 Nd4 13. Ne2 Nxe2 14. Bxe2 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Bxc3+ 16. bxc3 Qxc3+ 17. Kf2 Qxa1 18. Be3! Qxh1 19. Qxe5+ Be6 {only move to avoid immediate checkmate} 20. dxe6 O-O 21. e7 Rfe8 22. Bd4 f6 23. Bc4+ Kh8 24. Qxf6! {and mate in another move or two}

5... e6

[fen "rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/4pn2/3p4/3P4/2N2P2/PP2P1PP/R1BQKBNR w - - 0 6"]

6. e4 dxe4 (6... Nc6 7. e5 Nd7 8. f4 {with a good version of the French for White} ) 7. fxe4 Nc6? (7... Bb4 8. Qd3 (8. Bd3? Nxe4! 9. Bxe4 Qh4+ 10. Kf1 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qxe4)) 8. Nf3 Bb4 9. Bd3! Ba5 (9... O-O 10. e5 Nd5 11. Bxh7+) {aiming to play Bb6 and increase pressure on the d pawn} 10. e5 Nd5 11. O-O

Update 12/4/23: Simon Williams has now published his own YouTube video giving his thoughts from the game. He doesn't give the same depth of analysis as Ingvar but he does give his brief thoughts on ...

5... Bf5

[fen "rn1qkb1r/pp2pppp/5n2/3p1b2/3P4/2N2P2/PP2P1PP/R1BQKBNR w - - 0 6"]

6. g4 Bg6 7. g5 Nh5 8. e4