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October '00 Update

Advance

Winawer

Tarrasch 3...Nf6

Tarrasch 3...Be7

Classical

Welcome to this month's French update. I've been commentating on the Kasparov-Kramnik match in London, and so far there hasn't been a French Defence in sight, which I guess explains the long series of draws...


OK, I'm saying that half jokingly, but did you notice the difference between the dull Linares 2000 when everyone played the Petroff and the enthralling Bosnia 2000, where there were a lot of French Defence 'agitants' to stir things up? Maybe 1...e5 should be banned at the highest level. What do subscribers think? Send me an email if you want to start a crusade.

Meanwhile here is this month's update, which is full of exciting new ideas.

Advance

In the two games we investigate this month Black chooses to delay developing his queen's bishop in favour of a rapid ...Nge7 and ...Nf5. This has the good point that if White quickly plays Bd3 and Bxf5 then after the recapture ....e6xf5, the more or less forced ...Be6 in effect saves a tempo- there is no intermediate Bd7 move. This turns out very well for Black in our first game after White chooses an inferior plan. Have a look at Agdestein - Bunzmann.

In the second game, the World's leading exponent of the Advance Variation avoids an early Bd3 and instead directs play into channels familiar to subscribers to this site. This is a pretty, well controlled game by White who keeps a steely grip despite all Black's attempts to land a combinative blow. Click on Movsesian - Lyrberg.

Advance

Winawer

Tarrasch 3...Nf6

Tarrasch 3...Be7

Classical

Winawer

Here we look again at 5...Ba5 in the mainline, which continues to give Black excellent results after the standard response 6 b4. If White plays the sharpest variation then a contentious position arises after Black sacrifices the exchange. Khalifman has succeeded in strengthening the line for Black in a very recent game. For the full story, which includes a game by Shirov, click on Galkin - Khalifman.

After the usual 5...Bxc3+ 6 bxc3, the immediate 6...Qa5 has its supporters, including our own Chris Ward when he is having a day off from the Dragon! The idea is to reduce White's options by attacking c3 at once. Psakhis is the world's leading expert on this line and he has played it many times with success. Have a look at Gunnarsson - Psakhis. in which the Russian Grandmaster outflanks his opponent in beautiful style.

This might be just the line for you if you want to dodge the mainline theory.

Finally in the Winawer we examine the positional mainline with 7 h4, in this case reached through an opening transposition. Nigel Short has played this variation as both colours so it is interesting to analyse his recent ideas. In his latest forray he scores a convincing victory after his opponent plays too passively. Have a look at Milos - Short. for a model handling of the black pieces.

Advance

Winawer

Tarrasch 3...Nf6

Tarrasch 3...Be7

Classical

Tarrasch 3...Nf6

Firstly, in the mainline 3...Nf6/5 f4 we look at a sharp variation which had its heyday about 12 years ago- I can remember having some battles in this line in rapid play tournaments and doing quite well, apart from a couple of losses against the young Michael Adams!

Theoretically it is watertight for Black, but in the game given here he comes to grief when he makes a slight inaccuracy and then decides he wants a quiet life by avoiding snatching a pawn. This was the wrong variation to choose if Black doesn't want a fight, as the game HariKrishna - Berg. proves.

The next game is a tragedy for GM Jim Plaskett. He applies his pet anti-Tarrasch system which he used to beat Nigel Short after 3...Be7- see Plaskett - Short MAY00- except this time he is taking on 3...Nf6. All the same he achieves a winning attack, just as he did in the game Plaskett - Knott FEB00 given earlier. But then he overlooks a tactical nuance and it all goes down the drain. How often has that happened to us? Take a look at Plaskett - Reinaldo Castineira. Despite the outcome of the game, this remains a problematical line for Black- how many of us are happy at being dragged from our French pawn structure into an Isolated Queen's Pawn position?

Advance

Winawer

Tarrasch 3...Nf6

Tarrasch 3...Be7

Classical

Tarrasch 3...Be7

Regarding 3...Be7, this month there is another convincing win for Black. All White's attacking attempts crumble against his opponent's solid centre. This game indicates that even if he sidesteps the sharpest variations Black can hope to win against an overaggressive opponent. Click on Stefansson - Antonsen.

Classical

After 4 e5 I have often remarked on the solidity of the line in which Black goes for a quick queenside expansion with ...a7-a6 and ...b7-b5 and delays castling. Recently White has tried to upset Black's idea with a surprising pawn sacrifice. This has worked well, but while I was coaching at the European Junior recently a very interesting response for Black was discovered. This was investigated in analysis with GM Mark Hebden and seems to offer Black good chances. Have a look at Skrzypnik - Hanley.

Anand continues to have great results with his pet 5 Nce2 system in the Classical. We have already seen him beat Shirov [twice!] and Morozevich. You can find these games on the Classical 4.e5 subpage, as well as the important game Lalic - Speelman FEB00.

Anand's latest victim in this line is Bareev. The Russian Grandmaster tries an early attack on White's centre, but he soon ends up under pressure. White decides the game with a fine positonal exchange sacrifice. Enjoy Anand - Bareev.

Advance

Winawer

Tarrasch 3...Nf6

Tarrasch 3...Be7

Classical

Emailbag

Thanks to everyone who has emailed me over the last month. I'll try to deal with some of the queries next month. Meanwhile keep on talking to me!

Best Wishes,

Neil McDonald.