After:
[fen ""]
[Startply "12"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bf5
How does 7. e3 e6 8. Qb3 benefit white as opposed to the immediate 7. Qb3?
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1I think it might have something do with the fact that upon 7. Qb3 black has 7... Na5 and moves like 8. Qa4+ or 8. Qb5+ don't work because black has 8... Bd7 winning a tempo. After 7. e3 e6 8. Qb3, 8... Na5 isn't as powerful because white has 9. Qb5+ forcing 9... Nd7, and then white has a lot of pressure after something like 10. Ne5– PranavCommented Jun 22 at 8:04
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2 Answers
That is a good question, it is shocking that 7.e3 is the most played move (8589 games in chessbase) when 7.Qb3 (490 games) looks like a double threat.
Let me look first at what can we obtain from 7.Qb3
[Title "7.Qb3"]
[FEN ""]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bf5 7. Qb3 Na5 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qc2 e6 10. e3 Rc8 11. Bd3 Bb4 12. O-O O-O 13. Ne5
Notice that all moves given are the most testing moves by black, and only for white to maintain the advantage. After 13.Ne5 white enjoys more space, better coordination and attackings possibilities to the black king. As stated white will try to accumulate pieces on kingside while black will try to create weakness on the queenside. A good example of good play by White is "Le-Kollars 2021".
Let analyze now 7.e3 e6 8.Qb3
[Title "7.e3 e6 8.Qb3"]
[FEN ""]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bf4 Bf5 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. e3 e6 8. Qb3 Bb4 (8... Na5 9. Bb5+ Nd7 10. Qa4 Nc6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Qxc6) 9. Ne5 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 O-O (11... Qb6 12. Bb5+) 12. Qxb7
Observe that now 8...Na5 idea doesn't work any longer. Black is forced to find new ideas with 8...Bb4. And after playing the best moves with black, white ends up winning a pawn. To see an example take a look to "Gajewski-Matlakov 2018".
To sum up, I think the main difference is that black's play is more difficult after the move Bd7 is no longer available. Therefore, white should exploit the white squares weaknesses on the queenside after 7...e6 is played. The line 7.Qb3 is also playable but is not as good because black doesn't have any liabilities.
I hope I helped. Best regards!
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Thank you for your analysis. In the 7. Qb3 line, after 7. Qb3 Na5 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qc2 e6 10. e3, black appears to have a bad light-squared bishop and a misplaced knight on a5. What are black's main ideas to remedy these issues? Commented Jun 23 at 3:56
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As black lacks coordination his short term ideas is to trade a couple of pieces, that's why 10...Na5 and 10...Bb4 are moves seen nearly in every game. Long term ideas of black are after Bxc3 bxc3 enjoy an outpost for the knight on c4. Another try is ...Rc8-b4-b5-Nc4 and placing the bishop on the a6-f1 diagonal. Although you don't have to worry too much about the bad bishop, he will enjoy more protanism in a futher stage of the game, even you can just castle and if the bishop disturbs let him control a long diagonal from e8. Commented Jun 23 at 12:42
You don't have to. For example, Stockfish 16 gives 7.Qb3 (depth 30) as the best move (with the staggering +0.1 more that compared to 7.e3). The line Pyzard already gave as a comment is probably the reason why most prefer 7.e3. After 7.e3 e6 8.Qb3, Black doesn't have the option of playing ...Na5 and ...Bd7 anymore.
