Download PGN of March ’25 French games
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Advance Variation 5 Nf3 Nge7 6 Bd3 [C02]
In recent years, playing an early ...Nge7 against the Advance Variation has gained a respectable following. It used to be thought that waiting to develop this knight would keep open the possibility of...Nh6 and thus be more flexible. Now players are often using ...Nge7 to get to f5 quickly without committing the queen until it can be determined whether or not b6 is a good square for that piece, and often delaying ...Bd7 as well. The most direct line is 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Nge7. Then 6 Be2 cxd4 7 cxd4 Nf5 is the line we see next, but White can also try to exploit Black’s order by 6 Bd3, anticipating 6...cxd4 7 cxd4 Nf5:
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Here White has a few interesting ideas. Adams, M - Hong, A, London Classic Superblitz 2024, saw 8 Bxf5 (the normal move, but the gambit move 8 0-0 and 8 Bc2 are both possible) 8...exf5 9 Nc3 Be7 with a familiar structure in which it seems to be a matter of taste which side strong players are comfortable with.
Advance Variation 5...cxd4 6 cxd4 Nge7 7 Nc3 [C02]
Still less subtly, Black can play 5...cxd4 6 cxd4 Nge7. Traditionally, Black waits with the exchange on d4 because that opens up a square for White’s queen knight on c3, but in recent practice players don’t seem too worried. Shirov, A - Xiong, J, Titled Tue Feb 4th 2025, continued 7 Nc3 Nf5 8 h4!? (in order to prevent ...Nh4 after White plays g4; I examine 8 a3 in the notes).
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A lively game followed 8...Qb6 9 Bb5 (9 Na4 also leads to complications) 9...Bd7 10 Bxc6 Bxc6 (10...Qxc6 may be better) 11 h5. An original variation that we may see more of.
Advance Variation 5...cxd4 6 cxd4 Nge7 7 Na3 Nf5 8 Nc2 [C02]
Instead of 7 Nc3, White often plays 7 Na3 Nf5 8 Nc2. Then Firouzja, A - Xiong, J, Titled Tuesday Jan 14th 2025, continued 8...Qb6 9 Be2 Be7 10 0-0 Bd7:
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White developed slowly by 11 b3, but in other games the dynamic 11 b4 has been played and creates more difficulties for Black. As a very general observation, I wonder if a drawback to an early ...cxd4/cxd4 comes in these Na3 lines. For example, we have seen in the archives that variations without ...cxd4 offer Black some extra flexibility after ....Ne7-f5. If White is committed to Na3, the ...Nge7-g6 variations may also be easier to play.
Advance Variation 5...Nge7 6 Na3 Bd7 7 Nc2 Qa5 [C02]
Another Na3 variation arises from 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Nge7 6 Na3 Bd7 7 Nc2. Because Be2 hasn’t been played and 0-0 isn’t available, Black has the extra option 7...Qa5(!), threatening capture on d4 to break up White’s center:
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This has been used in several high-level games that I have combined in Duda, J - Bluebaum, M, Chessable Masters Play 2025. White’s most ambitious line is the game’s 8 Bd3 Nxd4 9 Ncxd4 cxd4 10 Nxd4, when 10...Nc6 11 Nxc6 Bxc6 12 0-0 d4! has been tested several times and will doubtless be further explored.
Advance Variation 5 Nf3 Bd7 6 Be2 Nge7 7 Na3 [C02]
These days, Black increasingly interposes 5...Bd7 before ...Qb6 and ...Nge7. Then after 6 Be2, 6...Nge7 might follow, when a variation we’ve looked at before is 7 Na3 cxd4 8 cxd4 Nf5 9 Nc2. In the Archives you can find many games with 9...Qb6 and quite a few with 9...Be7 10 0-0 0-0:
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It’s hard to resist showing Magnus Carlsen on the Black side of two games with this position, even if they are both Blitz games mangled by time pressure. The recent game Gabrielian, A - Carlsen, M, Titled Tuesday Jan 14 Chess.com 2025 sees the interesting move 11 Rb1, and a 2003 Blitz game in the notes, Firouzja-Carlsen, illustrates 11 Bd3.
Advance Variation 5...Bd7 6 Be2 Nge7 7 0-0 [C02]
After 5...Bd7 6 Be2 Nge7, White plays 7 0-0 just about as often as 7 Na3 (about 2500 times each in my database). In Gukesh, D - Harikrishna, P, Tata Steel-A Wijk aan Zee 2025, Black chose the above setup by 7...cxd4 8 cxd4 Nf5 9 Nc3 a6 10 Kh1 Rc8:
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Gukesh played 11 Rb1, deviating from the usual 11 a3 and 11 g4, which led to some unusually tense opening play in which Black missed a tactic and White came out with a solid advantage.
Advance Variation 5...Bd7 6 Bd3 cxd4 7 0-0 gambit [C02]
Finally, we have seen the gambit line 5 Nf3 Bd7 6 Bd3 cxd4 7 0-0 quite a lot (see the Archives). Then 7...dxc3 8 Nxc3 Nge7 9 Bg5 is a sort of main line:
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Sliwicka, A - Abrahamyan, T, Wch Blitz (Women) New 2024, continued 9...Qb8 10 Re1 Ng6, which has been holding up well for Black. After a couple of inaccuracies, White grabbed the initiative and prevailed, but Black’s opening continues to look quite sound.
Tarrasch with 3...Nf6: Korchnoi Gambit 11 Nf3 Qb6 12 Qa4 Qb4 13 Qc2 Nc5 [C06]
The Universal system in the Tarrasch arises after 3 Nd2 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Bd3 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Ngf3. White is generally relying on the well-established gambit that follows 7...Qb6 8 0-0 cxd4 9 cxd4 Nxd4 10 Nxd4 Qxd4 11 Nf3:
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This gambit, used by Korchnoi ages ago, has been recommended in many repertoires for White over the years. I have always considered White to have somewhat more than enough compensation and good practical chances, as indicated by over-the-board results, whereas Black seems to have few winning chances. Looking over actual practice for the first time in a few years, however, I am surprised to find that as present theory stands (reflected in correspondence games), a player well-prepared with the Black pieces can achieve a position that is satisfactory and relatively easy to play, although admittedly the game can become drawish. In Nihal, S - Akobian, V, Titled Tuesday January 7 2025, both sides followed well-known theory until Black mixed up move orders and committed a losing blunder, but it’s interesting that this gambit, White’s original basis for playing the Universal System, is less attractive than I realized.
Tarrasch 3...c5 4 exd5 Qxd5, 6...Qd7 7 0-0 Nc6 8 Nb3 Nf6 9 Nbxd4 [C07]
After 3 Nd2 c5 4 exd5 Qxd5 5 Ngf3 cxd4 6 Bc4, all of 6...Qd6, 6...Qd8, and 6...Qd7 are holding up well for Black, and fortunately, there’s just enough play in the resulting positions for both sides to play for a win. In Gurel, E - Praggnanandhaa, R, Prague 2025, 6...Qd7 led to 7 0-0 Nc6 8 Nb3 Nf6 9 Nbxd4 Nxd4 10 Nxd4 Bc5 (10...Qc7 and 10...b5 are alternatives).
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Chances are balanced, but as the notes show, the game can go in various interesting directions.
Till next month, John
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