Download PGN of February ’25 French games
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Tarrasch Variation 3...Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Ndf3 Qb6 8 a3 a5 [C05]
Black’s use of 3...Nf6 after 3 Nd2 has somewhat declined because 3...c5 has proven so sound and easy to play. Nevertheless, the knight development tends to lead to semi-closed positions that many French players prefer. After 4 e5 Nfd7, 5 Bd3 c5 6 c3 is extremely well worked out, and more attention is being paid to the 5 f4 lines (as well as 5 Nce2). In the main line with 5...c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Ndf3 Qb6, White can play the traditional 8 g3, but recently quite a few strong players have chosen 8 a3, preventing ...Bb4+ and preparing 9 b4. In last month’s engine championship, LCZero0.31 - Stockfish dev, TCEC 27 tcec-chess.com 2025, saw Black choose 8...a5:
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Indeed, LCZero and Stockfish tested 8 a3 from both sides in this event, the with the engines alternating colors. The resulting middlegames are fascinating and unresolved.
Tarrasch Variation 3...Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 c3 c5 6 f4 Nc6 7 Ndf3 Be7 8 g3 [C05]
7...Be7 8 g3 was played in Budnikov, O - Dehtiarov, R, Ukranian Rapid Ch Lvov 2024. Black chose 8...Qa5, pinning the c3 pawn in anticipation of ...cxd4.
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There followed 9 Kf2 0-0 (9...b5 was an option) and White should have chosen 10 Kg2 or 10 Bd3 with complex play.
Winawer Main with 6...Nc6 7 Qg4 g6 8 h4 h6 9 h5 [C18]
We have covered the popular Winawer sideline 4 e5 c5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 Nc6 many times. Most variations are very fluid and play remains flexible until the early middlegame. But the variation 7 Qg4 g6 (or 7...Qa5) 8 h4 h6 9 h5 g5 10 f4 f5 11 Qg3 g4 12 dxc5 Qa5, as played in some high-level games (including Carlsen’s) limits both sides’ options and has become a sort of main line:
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In several Archives games, this has held up so far but is still unresolved. In the World Rapid Championship at the end of December, two games on the same day tested the move 13 a4 , as shown in Suleymanli, A - Hungaski, R, World Rapid New York 2024.
MacCutcheon 4 Bg5 Bb4 5 e5 h6 6 Bd2 Nfd7 [C12]
In the traditional main line of the with 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Bb4 5 e5 h6 6 Bd2, Black has almost always played 6...Bxc3 7 bxc3 Ne4. But the move 6...Nfd7!? is not ridiculous:
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This was played 100 years ago by Bogoljubow, but soon abandoned at the top levels, only to reappear in the past few years. It resembles other lines such as 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Nge2 Nf6 5 e5 Nfd7, for example, one of Black’s ideas is to answer a3 with ...Bf8 and ...c5. The TCEC engine championship in December included an instructive game LCZero 0.31 (3648) - Stockfish dev (3677), TCEC 27 Premier 2024, full of complex ideas and ultimately drawn.
Classical Steinitz 4 e5 Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 Ngf3 Nc6 7 Be3 h6 [C11]
In the main line of the Steinitz, 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 Ngf3 Nc6 7 Be3, Firouzja, A - Erigaisi, A, World Rapid New York 2024, saw the sideline 7....h6!?:
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We’ve seen this only once in the Archives and it hasn’t been a popular choice, but just in the last few years it has played more frequently. Black intends ...g5 weakening White’s center, and Erigaisi’s use indicates that the idea is sound enough to employ at elite levels.
Classical Steinitz 6 Nce2 Nc6 7 c3 Be7 8 a3 0-0 9 Nf4 Qa5 [C11]
Another Steinitz position can arise by 5 Nf3 c5, but often occurs via the order 1 e4 e6 2 Nf3 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 d4 c5, as happened in Sindarov, J - Sevian, S, Wch Rapid New York 2024. Here we have usually seen 6 dxc5, but Sindarov tried 6 Nce2, a move that has gained in popularity since White started playing the order 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Nce2 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Nf3 with increasing frequency. After Sindarov’s 6 Nce2, 6...Nc6 7 c3 transposes to that line and was played in the game (6...cxd4 is analysed in the notes). Sevian continued 7...Be7 8 a3 0-0 9 Nf4 Qa5, arriving at a position that we have analysed several times in the Archives:
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Sindarov played 10 b4!? cxb4 11 Bd3!, Harikrishna’s gambit (introduced versus Carlsen). This leads to a dangerous attack and great complications, although in the end I think Black should be happy with his prospects.
Exchange Variation 4 h3 [C01]
After 3 exd5 exd5, Ntirlis captured the chess public’s imagination with the recommendation of the ‘high-class waiting move’ 4 h3:
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He called it 'Stockfish's top move', although my version has it exactly tied with 4 Nf3 and 4 Bd3, with a vanishingly small advantage, which unfortunately indicates how punchless the Exchange Variation tends to be.. At any rate, the h-pawn advance attracted attention, especially after Magnus Carlsen tried it, and I’ve been asked about it. As of this month, 4 h3 is still being played fairly often, with mediocre results that are at least partially to blame upon the relative strength of the opponents.
I first show Grandelius, N - Sjugirov, S, Classic Play In Chess.com 2024, a game from last summer which illustrates some of the appeal of this line for White. Black plays 4...Bd6 5 Nf3 Ne7 6 c4 c6 7 Nc3 0-0:
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In the game, White plays 8 c5 and Black equalizes, but White is able to build up some pressure. In the notes I show a well-known game where Carlsen plays 8 Bd3 dxc4 9 Bxc4 and in spite of objective equality manages to achieve good piece activity and win.
Karamsetty, J - Yezhel, V, Titled Tuesday 14th Jan Chess.com 2025, saw 4...Nf6 5 Nf3 (Black has won some nice games after 5 Bd3 c5!, as shown in the notes) 5...c5 (5....Bd6 is fine and was Erigaisi’s choice versus Carlsen, a game I analyse in some detail)
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This is a position with enough imbalance to produce interesting play. An instructive back-and-forth contest resulted.
Black can also counter the idea of Bd3 with simply 4...Bf5:
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Rasulov, V - Soo, K, Wch Blitz New York 2024, saw the response 5 c4?! (5 Nf3 and 5 Bd3 are analysed in the notes), which was rather loose and could have been met by 5...Nc6! with the idea of ...Nb4 as well as pressuring White’s d-pawn. Instead, 5...c6?! 6 Nc3 Nf6 7 Qb3!? followed. My general feeling is that Black can play any logical order, but needs to know what he’s doing (as should White!).
Till next month, John
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