Queen's Gambit Declined: Anti-Tartakower Variation

What Is The Anti-Tartakower Variation?

7.Bxf6 looks like a concession, giving up the bishop pair unprovoked, but the point is pure prophylaxis. With the bishop off g5, the Tartakower plan of ...b6 and ...Bb7 that solves the c8 bishop loses much of its point, and Lasker's simplifying ...Ne4 disappears with it. Kasparov used it to squeeze Karpov: after 7...Bxf6 White claims a small, stable edge with more space and the freer game, aiming for Qd2 or Qc2, Rd1 and a well timed e4.

Black's two bishops count for nothing until ...c5 or ...e5 opens the position for them. Play ...dxc4, ...Nd7 and the break, and the f6 bishop turns into a monster on the long diagonal. Sit behind your pawn chain instead and White's space advantage grinds you down move by move.

How Do You Play Against The Queen's Gambit Declined: Anti-Tartakower Variation?

There is no data for this position, so this is understanding rather than a frequency. White has taken on f6 before Black could complete the ...b6 and ...Bb7 plan, damaging the structure and giving up the bishop pair to do it.

Doubled f-pawns are a small price for the bishop pair and the half-open g-file, so the recapture you choose decides which of those matters. Taking with the bishop keeps the structure clean, taking with the queen keeps the file. For White the follow-up is to fix the queenside and target d5 before Black's bishops find open diagonals. Neither side has a forced continuation, which is exactly why the line exists.