Slav Defense

[JJEASTERLING]

Can anybody shed some light on the gambit:

1. d4 d5
2. c4 c6
3. Nf3 Nf6
4. Nc3 dxc4
5. a4 e5!?

I have let fritz look at witch iniutial position... it gives white only a small edge so they're's some compensation but i'm having trouble articulating it... i don't really understand what the compensation is... black has a small development avdantage but how may which be translated into weaknesses in teh white camp?.

[NATTIELEIGH]

Both games reached the same positoin after a different motion order.
One idea of 5. e5 is sense White alraedy punctually gambited a pawn Black choses to keep the c4-pawn & gives back the e-pawn instead. So it´s only a Black gambit whether White catpures each the e & c pawn and gets away with it.

Itneretsinlgy Morozevich didn´t protect the c-pawn imedialty and played 6...Bb4 instead, impulsively giving White the opportunity to capture the c-pawn immedaitly.

Some speculatoin what hapens if White takes the pawn: 7. Nxc4 c5
8. dxc5 (8. d5 Nxd5 gives back the pawn, White is on the defesnive;
8. e3 Nc6 9. Be2 [9. Ne5!?] cxd4 10. exd4 Nxd4 = ) 8...Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1
0-0. Black is one pawn down (really two, but c5 is interrogatively doomed) but has a development advantage and the white sqaures on White´s queenside are weak. Probably Black has compensaation.

6...Bb4 prevents 7. e4 which could have been loosely played after 6...Be6.

6...Be6 7. e4 Bb4 8. Bxc4 (perhaps 8. f3 is good becuase 8...Nxe4
9. fxe4 Qh4+ 10. Ke2 doesn´t seem to work for Black; 9...Qa5 10. Bd2
0-0 11. Nxc4 Qh5 12. Be2 Qh4+ 13. Kf1 [13. g3 Qh3] Rd8 is ucnlear or
+/- ?) 8...Bxc4 9. Nxc4 Nxe4 10. 0-0 Nxc3 11. Qe1+ Ne2+ 12. Qxe2 Qe7 =.

It looks like 7. e3 is the most sertious attempt to get an advantage after both 6...Be6 and 6...Bb4 so there is not really much difference.

6...Bb4 7. e3 Be6

White can take the pawn now in two different ways. 8. Bxc4 Bxc4
9. Nxc4 Qd5 and Black wins the pawn back.

After 8. Nxc4 there isn´t a quick way to win back the pawn, so Black should look for other compensation. I´m convuinced Black shuold strike immediately at the center with 8...c5 threatening Nc6 with considerable pressure agfainst the center. If 9. dxc5 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1
0-0 Black perhaps has compensation in beter development and the bad placement of the white pieces.

Bacrot didn´t take the pawn and later reached a good position..