Play the Barry Attack

The Barry Attack is a highly aggressive system that arises after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4. Although the concept of the Barry Attack has been known for a century or so, the modern interpretation (as with a number of other dynamic white systems) has mainly been developed by English grandmasters over the past couple of decades.

This “modern interpretation” is often not very subtle. If Black provides a target by castling early on the kingside, White will often let rip with moves such as ...