The Swiss Defence gets its name from Henneberger, a Swiss player who, among other games, tried it in a smul against Alekhin in 1925. He played strongly, and that may have alerted Alekhin to its potential:

[Event "Basel sim"]
[Site "Basel"]
[Date "1925.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Henneberger, Walter"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D63"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "1925.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.10"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Rc1 a6 8. c5
c6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 axb4 11. axb4 b6 12. Bf4 bxc5 13. bxc5 Ra3 14. Bd3 Qa5 15.
Qd2 Ba6 16. Bxa6 Qxa6
{Black stands well, and won a pawn, although not, perhaps the game.  The result is given as 1-0 on my database, but Black is winning in the final position.}
17. Qb2 Ra8 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Nd7 20. Bc7 Bf6 21. f4
Qd3 22. Qd2 Nxc5 23. Bd6 Rxc3 24. Rxc3 Ra1+ 25. Rc1 Qxd2+ 26. Kxd2 Nb3+ 27. Kc2
Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Nxc1 29. Kxc1 Bd8 30. Kc2 f6 31. Bb4 Kf7 32. g4 Be7 33. Kb3 Bxb4
34. Kxb4 Ke7 35. Ka5 Kd6 36. Kb6 Kd7 37. Kb7 g5 38. fxg5 fxg5 39. Ka6 Kc7 40.
Ka5 Kb7 41. Ka4 Ka6 42. Kb4 Kb6 43. Ka4 c5 44. Kb3 c4+ 45. Kb4 Kc6 46. Ka4 Kd6
47. Kb4 e5 48. Ka4 exd4 49. exd4 Kc6 50. Kb4 Kb6 51. Ka4 c3 52. Kb3 Kb5 53.
Kxc3 Ka4 *

Alekhin made use of this uncommon move order (alongside the Cambridge Springs Defence) in his match against Capablanca. All but two games were Queen's Gambits! Alekhin got to 3-2 ahead, and Capa fought like fury to level the match, but Alekhin used the Swiss Defence throughout this stage, drawing games 13, 15, 17 and 19... then winning game 21. Alekhin used the defence too in games 23, 25 and 27. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this was a defence that won the World Championship -- it resisted everything Capa threw at it, and it gave a win at an important moment. I've stuffed the notes with all the variations you might need to play this defence.

[Event "World Championship Match"]
[Site "Buenos Aires ARG"]
[Date "1927.10.26"]
[Round "21"]
[White "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Black "Alexander Alekhin"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D63"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1927.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 (2. Nf3 Nf6) (2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 Nc6) 2... e6 (2... c6 3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Nf3 Bf5 (4... dxc4 5. a4 Bf5) 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 Qd7 (6... Qc8 7. Nxd5) (
6... Qb6 7. Qxb6 axb6) (6... b6 7. e4 dxe4 8. Ne5) (6... Bc8) 7. Ne5) 3. Nc3
Nf6 (3... c5) 4. Bg5 Nbd7 (4... Be7) 5. e3 (5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nxd5 Nxd5 7. Bxd8
Bb4+ 8. Qd2 Bxd2+ 9. Kxd2 Kxd8) 5... Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Rc1 (7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4
) (7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 c6 9. Qc2 a6 10. O-O Re8 11. Rab1 Ne4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13.
b4 Ndf6 14. a4 h6 15. b5 axb5 16. axb5 Ra3 17. Ne2 c5) (7. Qc2) 7... a6 (7...
dxc4 8. Bxc4) (7... b6) (7... c6) 8. a3 (8. c5 c6 9. b4 (9. Bd3 e5 10. dxe5 Ne8
11. h4 (11. Bf4 Nxc5 12. Bb1 Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. g4 $6 Bg6 15. Bf5 Nc7 (15...
Qb6 $1 {Rizzitano} 16. b3 Nc7 $11) 16. h4 {1/2-1/2 (59) Vaganian,R (2630)
-Speelman,J (2495) London 1984}) (11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Qc2 h6 13. e4 Nxe5 14. Nxe5
Qxe5 15. O-O Nf6 16. exd5 Ng4 17. g3 Qh5 18. h4 cxd5 19. Qe2 Be6 $11 {1-0 (40)
Kotronias,V (2475)-Goldin,A (2525) Sochi 1989 CBM 016 [Ftacnik,L]}) 11... Nxc5
12. Bb1 f6 $1 13. Qc2 g6 14. Bh6 Bf5 15. Qe2 Bxb1 16. Rxb1 Ng7 17. h5 g5 $1 {
Rizzitano} 18. O-O fxe5 19. Nxe5 Qd6 20. Ng4 Rae8 21. b4 Nd7 22. e4 Bd8 23. Qb2
d4 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Rfd1 Qe6 26. h6+ Kg6 27. Rxd4 Qxg4 28. Rbd1 Ne5 29. Rd6+
Bf6 30. Qc2 Rd8 31. Na4 Rxd6 32. Rxd6 Rd8 33. Rxd8 Bxd8 34. Nc5 Nf3+ 35. Kf1
Qxg2+ {0-1 (35) Popov,V (2547)-Ziatdinov,R (2424) Voronezh 2004}) 9... a5 10.
a3 axb4 11. axb4 b6 12. Bd3 (12. Bf4 bxc5 13. bxc5 Ra3 14. Bd3 Qa5 15. Qd2 Ba6
16. Bxa6 Qxa6 $17 17. Qb2 (17. Qe2 $2 Rxc3 $1 {Polugaevsky}) 17... Ra8 18. Ne5
Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Nd7 20. Bc7 Bf6 21. f4 Qd3 22. Qd2 Nxc5 23. Bd6 Rxc3 24. Rxc3
Ra1+ 25. Rc1 Qxd2+ 26. Kxd2 Nb3+ 27. Kc2 Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Nxc1 29. Kxc1 Bd8 30.
Kc2 f6 31. Bb4 Kf7 32. g4 Be7 33. Kb3 Bxb4 34. Kxb4 Ke7 35. Ka5 Kd6 36. Kb6 Kd7
37. Kb7 g5 38. fxg5 fxg5 39. Ka6 Kc7 40. Ka5 Kb7 41. Ka4 Ka6 42. Kb4 Kb6 43.
Ka4 c5 44. Kb3 c4+ 45. Kb4 Kc6 46. Ka4 Kd6 47. Kb4 e5 48. Ka4 exd4 49. exd4 Kc6
50. Kb4 Kb6 51. Ka4 c3 52. Kb3 Kb5 53. Kxc3 Ka4 {0-1(?)(53) Alekhine,
A-Henneberger,W Basel 1925}) 12... bxc5 13. bxc5 e5 $1 14. dxe5 (14. Nxe5 Nxe5
15. dxe5 Nd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Qc2 Qh4 $1 {Polugaevsky} 18. O-O Nxe5 19. Be2
Ba6 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21. Ra1 Qc4 22. Rxa6 Qxa6 23. Rb1 Qc4 $11 {Polugaevsky} 24.
h3 Qxc5 25. Rc1 f5 26. Qb1 Nc4 27. Ne2 Qe7 28. Nd4 f4 29. exf4 Qf6 30. Ne2 Re8
31. Qd3 Qb2 32. Re1 Qd2 33. Qxd2 Nxd2 34. f3 d4 35. Kf2 c5 36. Nxd4 Rd8 37. Ne6
Rd5 38. Re5 Rxe5 39. fxe5 Nb3 40. Ke3 Kf7 41. Ng5+ Ke7 42. Kd3 {1-0 (42)
Gibaud,A-Cheron,A Biarritz 1926}) (14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. dxe5 Nxe5 (15... Be7 16.
O-O Nxc5 17. Nd4 Qe8 18. Bb1 $11 f6 $2 {1-0 (42) Panczyk,K (2375)-Begovac,F 
(2375) Graz 1981} (18... Ba6) (18... g6)) 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Qh5+
Kg8 19. Qxe5 Ba6 $44 (19... Qa5 $2 $16 {1-0 (25) Riester,G-Huxdorff,E ICCF
corr 1928}) 20. f3 Qa5 21. Qd4 Rfb8 {Polugaevsky}) 14... Ne8 $11 15. Bxe7 (15.
Bf4 Nxc5 16. Be2 Ne6 17. Bg3 N8c7 18. O-O c5 19. Bd3 $6 Ba6 20. Qc2 Bxd3 21.
Qxd3 Ra3 22. Qf5 $6 Qa8 23. Rfd1 $6 $17 {0-1 (64) Krishilovsky,A (2150)
-Balashov,Y (2530) St Petersburg 1996}) 15... Qxe7 16. Qc2 g6 (16... h6) 17.
Ne2 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Qxe5 19. O-O Ng7 20. Nd4 Bd7 21. Rb1 Ne6 22. Qc3 h5 23. Rfe1
Ra2 24. Ra1 Rfa8 25. Rxa2 Rxa2 $11 26. Ra1 $2 $17 {0-1 (44) Cisneros Belenguer,
L (2305)-Gil Capape,J (2435) Oropesa del Mar 1996}) (8. a4 c6 (8... h6 9. Bh4
c6 (9... b6)) 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. O-O Nxc3 13. Rxc3 $11
(13. bxc3 $5 b5 14. Be2 $14 {Polugaevsky} Bb7 $11 {Stockfish})) (8. Qc2 c6 9.
cxd5 exd5 10. Bf4 $1 {Polugaevsky} Nh5 $1 {Stockfish}) (8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3) (
8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 c5 11. O-O Bb7 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 14. Bb1
Rac8 {1-0 (61) Gregory,B-Daniuszewski,D St Petersburg 1909}) 8... h6 (8... dxc4
9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O b5 11. Ba2 Bb7 12. Bb1 Rc8 13. Qd3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 cxd4 15.
Ne4 Rxc1 16. Rxc1 dxe3 17. Bxf6 exf2+ 18. Kf1 Bxf6 19. Nc5 g6 20. Nxd7 Bxb2 21.
Rd1 Re8 22. Kxf2 Qh4+ 23. Kg2 Rc8 24. Qe3 Qe7 25. Be4 Kg7 26. a4 bxa4 27. Nb6
Rc3 28. Qd4+ e5 29. Qd2 Rb3 30. Nd5 Qh4 31. Bc2 Rb7 32. Re1 a3 33. Re4 Qd8 34.
Ra4 Rb6 35. Be4 Rd6 36. f4 exf4 37. Bf3 Qg5+ 38. Kf1 Qe5 39. Kg2 Qf5 40. Qd1
Qg5+ 41. Kf2 Qh4+ {0-1 (41) Beliavsky,A (2545)-Tal, M (2625) Tbilisi 1978}) 9.
Bh4 dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 (11... c5 $1) 12. O-O (12. b4 $1 a5 13. Qb3
axb4 14. axb4 g5 15. Bg3 Nd5 {Alekhin} 16. O-O $1 $16 {Kasparov}) 12... c5 13.
dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nd4 Rc8 15. b4 Ncd7 $1 (15... Nce4 $11 16. Bf3 Qb6 17. Nxe4 (17.
Bg3 Rfd8 18. Qe2) 17... Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Bxe4 $1 (18... Rc8) 19. Bxe4 g5) 16. Bg3
(16. Nb3 {idea Na5! (Capablanca, although Kasparov credits Kotov)}) (16. Bf3
Qb6 17. Ne4 $2 (17. Bg3 Rfd8 18. Qe2 {Kasparov}) 17... Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Bxe4 $1 {
Nunn, Kasparov} (18... Rc8 {Alekhin}) 19. Bxe4 g5 $19) 16... Nb6 17. Qb3 Nfd5
18. Bf3 Rc4 {'=/+'} (18... Nc4 19. a4) 19. Ne4 Qc8 20. Rxc4 $2 {"The decisive
positional error." Alekhine.} (20. Qb1 $1 {Alekhine} Rd8 (20... Rxc1 21. Rxc1
Nc4 22. Qa2 Rd8 $15 {Kasparov}) 21. Nd2 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qa8 23. Bc7 {Alekhin} (
23. N4b3 $11 {Kasparov})) 20... Nxc4 {This swap is generally considered an
error by White, but Capa in his notes ignores it.} 21. Rc1 Qa8 $1 22. Nc3 Rc8
23. Nxd5 Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Qxd5 25. a4 Bf6 26. Nf3 Bb2 $1 (26... e5) 27. Re1 (27.
Rb1 Na3 28. Qxb2 Nxb1 29. Qxb1 Qb3 30. Qf1 (30. Qe1 Qa3 31. Qd2 Qc1+ {Kasparov}
) (30. Qa1 Qxa4 31. Qe1 Qa3 32. Qd2 Rc1+ 33. Ne1 Qb2 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Qd3+ f5
36. f3 Qxb4 {Kasparov}) 30... bxa4 31. h3 a3 {Alekhin}) (27. Rd1 bxa4 28. Qxa4
Nb6 29. Rxd5 Nxa4 30. Rd1 Nc3 31. Re1 Rc4 32. Bd6 Ne4 33. Be7 f6 34. Rb1 Kf7
35. Kf1 Bc3 {Alekhin}) 27... Rd8 28. axb5 axb5 29. h3 e5 $1 30. Rb1 e4 31. Nd4
$6 Bxd4 32. Rd1 $2 Nxe3 $1 *

There is a fine brisk commentary on this game by Kasparov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY5Pco_6wjQ" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY5Pco_6wjQ">YouTube

Is this line any good now, and for club players?

I think the first 'theory' book I bought was Queen's Gambit by Chess Digest, where I first plunged into the maze of variations of the Orthodox Defence, and felt a bit overwhelmed... but on page 3 there was a helpful hint, pointing to deviations from the main line on move 7 for Black, which included the Swiss Defence. Black's chances weren't obviously worse in that line than in the more popular lines.

Many years later, Tony Dempsey floated through Exeter Chess Club, and he recommended the defence to club players as being easy to remember and to understand, and if White played 'natural' moves, then Black would get a great position.

[Event "All Russian-ch06 Amateur"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "1909.03.08"]
[Round "16"]
[White "Gregory, Bernhard"]
[Black "Daniuszewski, Dawid"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D63"]
[PlyCount "26"]
[EventDate "1909.02.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 a6 8. Rc1
Nbd7 9. Nf3 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. O-O c5 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 *

Not much wrong with that, eh?

And I think the first 'match' book I bought was Robert Byrne's account of the 1974 Candidate's Tournament. He annotated the crushing 10th game of the Portisch-Petrosian match with an intriguing note, reading something like: "At the time if the present match, these players were not familiar with the rehabilitation of the line by William Lombardy and myself".

[Event "Candidates qf2"]
[Site "Palma de Mallorca"]
[Date "1974.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Portisch, Lajos"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D63"]
[WhiteElo "2645"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "1974.??.??"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7
4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 a6 8. c5 (8. a3 dxc4 (8... h6 9. Bh4
dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 (11... c5 $1) 12. O-O (12. b4 a5 13. Qb3 axb4 14.
axb4 g5 15. Bg3 Nd5 {Alekhin} 16. O-O $1 $16 {Kasparov}) 12... c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5
14. Nd4 Rc8 15. b4 Ncd7 16. Bg3 Nb6 17. Qb3 Nfd5 18. Bf3 Rc4 $15 19. Ne4 Qc8
20. Rxc4 (20. Qb1 $1 {Kasparov}) 20... Nxc4 21. Rc1 Qa8 22. Nc3 Rc8 23. Nxd5
Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Qxd5 25. a4 Bf6 26. Nf3 Bb2 27. Re1 Rd8 28. axb5 axb5 29. h3 e5
30. Rb1 e4 31. Nd4 Bxd4 32. Rd1 Nxe3 {0-1 (32) Capablanca,J-Alekhine,A Buenos
Aires 1927 MainBase [ChessBase]}) 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O b5 11. Ba2 Bb7 12. Bb1 Rc8
13. Qd3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 cxd4 15. Ne4 Rxc1 16. Rxc1 dxe3 17. Bxf6 exf2+ 18. Kf1
Bxf6 19. Nc5 g6 20. Nxd7 Bxb2 21. Rd1 Re8 22. Kxf2 Qh4+ 23. Kg2 Rc8 24. Qe3 Qe7
25. Be4 Kg7 26. a4 bxa4 27. Nb6 Rc3 28. Qd4+ e5 29. Qd2 Rb3 30. Nd5 Qh4 31. Bc2
Rb7 32. Re1 a3 33. Re4 Qd8 34. Ra4 Rb6 35. Be4 Rd6 36. f4 exf4 37. Bf3 Qg5+ 38.
Kf1 Qe5 39. Kg2 Qf5 40. Qd1 Qg5+ 41. Kf2 Qh4+ {0-1 (41) Beliavsky,A (2545)-Tal,
M (2625) Tbilisi 1978}) (8. a4 c6 (8... h6 9. Bh4 c6 (9... b6)) 9. Bd3 dxc4 10.
Bxc4 Nd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. O-O Nxc3 13. Rxc3 $11 (13. bxc3 $5 b5 14. Be2 $14 {
Polugaevsky} Bb7 $11 {Stockfish})) (8. Qc2 c6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bf4 $1 {
Polugaevsky} Nh5 $1 {Stockfish}) 8... c6 9. Bd3 (9. b4 a5 10. a3 axb4 11. axb4
b6 12. Bd3 (12. Bf4 bxc5 13. bxc5 Ra3 14. Bd3 Qa5 15. Qd2 Ba6 16. Bxa6 Qxa6 $17
17. Qb2 (17. Qe2 $2 Rxc3 $1 {Polugaevsky}) 17... Ra8 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Nd7
20. Bc7 Bf6 21. f4 Qd3 22. Qd2 Nxc5 23. Bd6 Rxc3 24. Rxc3 Ra1+ 25. Rc1 Qxd2+
26. Kxd2 Nb3+ 27. Kc2 Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Nxc1 29. Kxc1 Bd8 30. Kc2 f6 31. Bb4 Kf7
32. g4 Be7 33. Kb3 Bxb4 34. Kxb4 Ke7 35. Ka5 Kd6 36. Kb6 Kd7 37. Kb7 g5 38.
fxg5 fxg5 39. Ka6 Kc7 40. Ka5 Kb7 41. Ka4 Ka6 42. Kb4 Kb6 43. Ka4 c5 44. Kb3
c4+ 45. Kb4 Kc6 46. Ka4 Kd6 47. Kb4 e5 48. Ka4 exd4 49. exd4 Kc6 50. Kb4 Kb6
51. Ka4 c3 52. Kb3 Kb5 53. Kxc3 Ka4 {0-1(?)(53) Alekhine,A-Henneberger,W Basel
1925}) 12... bxc5 13. bxc5 e5 $1 14. dxe5 (14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Nd7 16. Bxe7
Qxe7 17. Qc2 Qh4 $1 {Polugaevsky} 18. O-O Nxe5 19. Be2 Ba6 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21.
Ra1 Qc4 22. Rxa6 Qxa6 23. Rb1 Qc4 $11 {Polugaevsky} 24. h3 Qxc5 25. Rc1 f5 26.
Qb1 Nc4 27. Ne2 Qe7 28. Nd4 f4 29. exf4 Qf6 30. Ne2 Re8 31. Qd3 Qb2 32. Re1 Qd2
33. Qxd2 Nxd2 34. f3 d4 35. Kf2 c5 36. Nxd4 Rd8 37. Ne6 Rd5 38. Re5 Rxe5 39.
fxe5 Nb3 40. Ke3 Kf7 41. Ng5+ Ke7 42. Kd3 {1-0 (42) Gibaud,A-Cheron,A Biarritz
1926}) (14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. dxe5 Nxe5 (15... Be7 16. O-O Nxc5 17. Nd4 Qe8 18. Bb1
$11 f6 $2 {1-0 (42) Panczyk,K (2375)-Begovac,F (2375) Graz 1981} (18... Ba6) (
18... g6)) 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Qxe5 Ba6 $44 (19...
Qa5 $2 $16 {1-0 (25) Riester,G-Huxdorff,E ICCF corr 1928}) 20. f3 Qa5 21. Qd4
Rfb8 {Polugaevsky}) 14... Ne8 $11 15. Bxe7 (15. Bf4 Nxc5 16. Be2 Ne6 17. Bg3
N8c7 18. O-O c5 19. Bd3 $6 Ba6 20. Qc2 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Ra3 22. Qf5 $6 Qa8 23.
Rfd1 $6 $17 {0-1 (64) Krishilovsky,A (2150)-Balashov,Y (2530) St Petersburg
1996}) 15... Qxe7 16. Qc2 g6 (16... h6) 17. Ne2 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Qxe5 19. O-O Ng7
20. Nd4 Bd7 21. Rb1 Ne6 22. Qc3 h5 23. Rfe1 Ra2 24. Ra1 Rfa8 25. Rxa2 Rxa2 $11
26. Ra1 $2 $17 {0-1 (44) Cisneros Belenguer,L (2305)-Gil Capape,J (2435)
Oropesa del Mar 1996}) 9... b6 $6 {Byrne} (9... e5 $1 {Byrne/Lombardy} 10. Bxf6
(10. dxe5 Ne8 11. Bf4 Nxc5 12. Bb1 f5 (12... Bg4 13. h3 (13. Qc2 g6 14. Nd4 Ne6
(14... Ng7) 15. Bh6 N8g7 16. O-O Re8 $14 {1/2-1/2 (64) Reshevsky,S-Lombardy,W
Oberlin 1975} (16... f6 $11)) 13... Bh5 14. g4 Bg6 15. Bf5 Ne6 (15... Nc7 16.
h4 h5 17. Nd4 $14 {1/2-1/2 (59) Vaganian,R (2630)-Speelman,J (2495) London 1984
}) 16. Qc2 Nxf4 17. exf4 d4 18. Rd1 c5 19. Ne4 $2 Qa5+ (19... Qd5 $1 $15) 20.
Kf1 Nc7 21. h4 Nd5 22. Qc1 $2 {0-1 (38) Savina,A (1984)-Yudin,I (2080) Moscow
2005}) 13. exf6 Nxf6 $11 {Gligoric-Marovic, Yugoslavia 1977 (Polugaevsky)})
10... Bxf6 11. dxe5 Be7 12. Qc2 (12. b4 Qc7 $11 {Byrne}) 12... h6 13. Na4 Qa5+
14. Ke2 Qc7 15. Qc3 Re8 16. Rhe1 Bf8 17. Kf1 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Rxe5 $11 {0-1 (78)
Visier Segovia,F-Lombardy,W Nice 1974}) 10. cxb6 c5 11. O-O c4 12. Bc2 Nxb6 (12...Qxb6!?) 13.
Ne5 Bb7 14. f4 {Pillsbury's famous attacking set-up} Rb8 $6 (14...Nfd7!?) 15. f5 $1 Nbd7 16.
Bf4 Rc8 17. Qf3 exf5 18. Bxf5 Nxe5 {Offering an exchange, but the Bf5 looks
more valuable than the Rc8} 19. dxe5 Ne4 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qh3 (21. Qg4 $1 $18)
21... g6 22. Rcd1 Qb6 23. Rd7 Rce8 24. e6 gxf5 25. Rxe7 Rxe7 26. Qg3+ Kh8 27.
Bh6 fxe6 28. Bxf8 Rd7 $2 29. Bh6 Qa5 30. Qb8+ Qd8 31. Qe5+ Kg8 32. Qxe6+ Rf7
33. Rxf5 1-0

All looks OK, doesn't it?

The trouble with the Swiss Defence, I thought, might be the swap on d5. This was Capa's preferred approach in the second half of the match.

The swap leads to a characteristic pawn structure, now often called the Karlsbad structure.

Why Karlsbad? In Starting Out, 1.d4!, John Cox recommends the Exchange Variation to players of White, adding "(or 'Karlsbad': no-one knows why)". Ah, kids these days... No-one should call the Exchange Variation the 'Karlsbad', it's the name of the structure, but we really do know why that got its name. It's because at the Karlsbad tournament of 1923, during which there was a lot of exploration of cxd5 for White. (If anything should be called the Karlsbad Variation, it's 8.cxd5 against 7...a6.; as far as I can see, no-one actually played 7...a6 in 1923, so no-one could reply 8.cxd5 in that exact position, but the structure with half-open c- and e-files is the same.)

White has a few plans here, but the most common is to pin down the Black c-pawn, and advance the b-pawn, hoping to make a weakness on c6, or d5, or both. This is the minority attack, where White advances on the side where they have fewer pawns -- a minority.

I mentioned this Exchange approach to Tony, knowing that many Queen's Gambit players earn their living with this approach in the Queen's Gambit (Petrosian, Kasparov and Karpov all used it heavily, and closer to home Keith Arkell), but he was quite sanguine about it. He suggested (1) it's actually hard for White to keep control over the position for the whole game, and there is likely to be some accident along the way; (2) if there is an accident, it might happen while White's King is facing an attack! And lo and behold, Devon faced Cornwall one weekend, and Andrew Greet exchanged against John Wheeler, and John showed the dangers White faced by winning with a convincing King's-side attack. (I can find the result http://www.cornwallchess.org.uk/html/archive-county/county-1998.shtml but not the game!) Also, ...a6 is a useful move in several plans for Black in the minority attack: it forces White to play a4 before playing b5, which means Black can get either an open a-file (b5 axb5) or a passed a-pawn (b5 cxb5; axb5 a5) or an outpost on c4 (...b5).

Also, I think if White has got as far as move 8 without taking on d5, they probably won't do so on move 8 either; cxd5 may be the best approach against 7...a6, but if White is happy to play the Exchange, they are better advised to go for it earlier, excluding many ways that Black can choose to avoid it earlier.

So, I am happy to recommend this as a way for Black to approach the defence when faced with the Queen's Gambit.

---

P.S. I was amused, having explained all this to my recent student, Leif Hafstad, to find Leif had explained it to Neil McDonald, and Neil had a go with it a couple of times:

[Event "4NCL 2016-17"]
[Site "Reading ENG"]
[Date "2016.11.20"]
[Round "2.82"]
[White "Moreby, James"]
[Black "McDonald, N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "2192"]
[BlackElo "2423"]
[PlyCount "176"]
[EventDate "2016.11.19"]
[WhiteTeam "North East England"]
[BlackTeam "Wood Green"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 a6 8. Rc1
Nbd7 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. a3 c5 14. dxc5 Bxc5
15. O-O Rc8 16. Qe2 Qe7 17. Rfd1 Rfd8 18. Nd2 Bb6 19. Nde4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Rxc1
21. Rxc1 Qd7 22. Bb1 Qd5 23. f3 Qe5 24. Re1 f5 25. Nf2 Bd5 26. Kh1 Bc4 27. Bd3
Qd5 28. Rd1 Bb3 29. Bc2 Qc4 30. Rxd8+ Bxd8 31. Qxc4 Bxc4 32. e4 fxe4 33. Nxe4
Bb6 34. g3 Kf8 35. Kg2 Ke7 36. b3 Bd5 37. Kf1 Kd7 38. Ke2 Bd4 39. Kd3 Bg1 40.
h3 Kc6 41. Bd1 Bh2 42. g4 e5 43. Nc3 Bf7 44. Ne2 a5 45. Bc2 b4 46. a4 Kc5 47.
Ke3 Bf4+ 48. Kf2 Bd5 49. Kg2 Kd6 50. Kf2 Ke6 51. Ng3 Bxg3+ 52. Kxg3 g5 53. Kf2
Kd6 54. Ke3 Kc5 55. Bd1 Kd6 56. Bc2 Bf7 57. Bd1 h5 58. Bc2 h4 59. Bd1 Be6 60.
Bc2 Bc8 61. Bd3 Be6 62. Bc2 Bg8 63. Bd1 Bh7 64. Be2 Bc2 65. Bc4 Bd1 66. Bf7 Bc2
67. Bc4 Kc5 68. Bf7 Bh7 69. Bc4 Kd6 70. Bd3 Bg8 71. Bc2 Bf7 72. Bd1 Bd5 73. Bc2
Ke6 74. Bd1 Kf6 75. Bc2 Bf7 76. Bd1 Be8 77. Bc2 Ke6 78. Bd1 Bc6 79. Bc2 Kd6 80.
Bd1 e4 81. fxe4 Ke5 82. Bc2 Bb7 83. Bd3 Ba8 84. Bc2 Bc6 85. Bd3 Bb7 86. Bc2 Ba6
87. Bd3 Bb7 88. Bc2 Bc6 1/2-1/2



[Event "4NCL 2018-19"]
[Site "England ENG"]
[Date "2019.03.16"]
[Round "7.35"]
[White "Blackburn, J."]
[Black "McDonald, N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "2199"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[PlyCount "139"]
[EventDate "2018.11.10"]
[WhiteTeam "West is Best"]
[BlackTeam "Wood Green"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 a6 8. Rc1
dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nbd7 10. Be2 c5 11. O-O b5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. Nd4 Bb7 14. Bf3 Qb6
15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. b4 Nd7 17. a4 Bxf3 18. Nxf3 Rfd8 19. Qb3 bxa4 20. Qxa4 Ne5
21. Nxe5 Bxe5 22. Ne4 Rd5 23. Rc5 Rb8 24. Rc6 Qxb4 25. Rxa6 Qb2 26. Ra8 Rxa8
27. Qxa8+ Kh7 28. Qa6 Qc2 29. Ng3 Bxg3 30. hxg3 Rf5 31. Qb7 Qe2 32. Qe4 h5 33.
Qh4 Kh6 34. Qe4 Rf6 35. Qe5 Qd3 36. e4 Qe2 37. f3 Rf5 38. Qc3 Rb5 39. Qe1 Qa2
40. Qa1 Qxa1 41. Rxa1 Kg5 42. Ra7 Kf6 43. Rc7 g5 44. Ra7 g4 45. Kh2 Rb2 46. f4
Rb4 47. e5+ Kg6 48. Ra8 Kg7 49. Ra7 Re4 50. Ra2 Re3 51. Ra4 Re1 52. Rb4 Kg6 53.
Rb8 Rd1 54. Rg8+ Kh7 55. Rg5 Kh6 56. Rg8 Rd2 57. Rh8+ Kg6 58. Rg8+ Kh7 59. Rg5
Kh6 60. Rg8 Rd7 61. Rh8+ Kg6 62. Rg8+ Kh7 63. Rg5 Kh6 64. Rg8 Re7 65. Rh8+ Kg6
66. Rg8+ Kh7 67. Rg5 Kh6 68. Rg8 f6 69. Rf8 fxe5 70. Rf6+ 1/2-1/2