Download PGN of June ’23 French games
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Advance 4 c3 Qa5 [C02]
Every month brings a raft of new games with the Advance, and while I intended to take a pause from this variation, I couldn’t resist showing a recent attempt to bypass all the increasingly dense theory that 3 e5 is accumulating. After 3...c5 4 c3, the move in question is 4...Qa5!?:
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This is an obscure move played by Uhlmann back in 1951! The ever-creative GM Aleksandr Shimanov has played several games with 4...Qa5, which pins the c-pawn and prepares ...cxd4. Another feature is that the queen on a5 might support a future ...b5, or perhaps the standard idea ...Bd7-b5. In Shevchenko, K - Shimanov, A, ChessKid Play-In chess.com 2023, White played 5 dxc5, which is the most common response; in the notes I cover what seem to me the four most plausible alternatives.
Advance 5...Nge7 6 Na3 Bd7 [C02]
Nasuta, G - Bluebaum, M, ChessKid Play-In chess.com 2023, is another game featuring a ...Qa5 theme. After the well known sequence 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Nge7 6 Na3, Black plays the flexible 6...Bd7, awaiting events and preparing queenside play. Then on 7 Nc2, he seized the opportunity for 7...Qa5:
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This seems to me a logical move to disrupt White’s buildup and exploit Black’s lead in piece development. The game continued 8 Bd3 Nxd4! 9 Ncxd4 cxd4 10 Nxd4 Nc6 and Black had sufficient play. I look at White’s 9th-move alternatives in the notes.
Tarrasch 3...a6 4 Ngf3 Nf6 5 e5 Nfd7 6 c3 c5 7 Bd3 Nc6 8 0-0 [C06]
Almost any game between Carlsen and So is of interest, even a Blitz game, and So, W - Carlsen, M, Norway Blitz Stavanger 2023 gives us an excuse to look at the move 3...a6 in the Tarrasch, which continues to score reasonably well. After 3 Nd2 a6 4 Ngf3, Carlsen chose the less common 4...Nf6, which was followed by 5 e5 Nfd7 6 c3 c5 7 Bd3 Nc6 8 0-0 and now the bold 8...g5!?:
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We have seem this a few times before and it has held up well in practice. The game proceeded with 9 Nb1 and confirmed earlier experience that both sides have chances here. Alas, another move I could find only one example of in my database poses a real threat to Black’s move order - see the notes.
Tarrasch 3...a6 4 Ngf3 c5 5 exd5 exd5 6 Be2 [C08]
The main line after 3...a6 4 Ngf3 is 4...c5. In Antipov, M - Karas, M, Titled Tue 16th May chess.com 2023, there followed 5 exd5 (5 dxc5 is played about as often and over thousands of games, both moves have given White a normal performance rating advantage) 5...exd5 6 Be2 (6 dxc5 hasn’t been very effective lately) 6...Nf6 7 0-0 Be7 8 dxc5 Bxc5 9 Nb3 Bb6:
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A typical IQP position that has arisen frequently, especially over the past five years. As far as I can tell, Black seems to have full equality.
Classical Variation 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Nbd7 6 Nxf6+ Nxf6 7 Nf3 [C11]
We have seen many examples of the line 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 with the defence 5...Be7 6 Bxf6 Bxf6 and 6...gxf6. Recently there have been a number of games with 5...Nbd7, another well-known traditional line which has been only somewhat less popular because it has no immediate threat and gives White more leeway. Liang, A - Carlsen, M, PRO League Chess.com 2023, continued 6 Nxf6+ Nxf6 7 Nf3:
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We have only one game in the Archives with this position, so I’ve tried to give an overview of the main continuations. The game goes down one of several paths with approximately equal chances; late in the game Carlsen surprisingly blunders but White can’t exploit a completely winning game in time pressure and even loses.
Classical Variation 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Nbd7 6 Nf3 h6 7 Nxf6+ Nxf6 8 Be3 [C11]
There are a number of games with 6 Nf3 in the Archives. This is a position which can arise by various move orders, notably via the Rubinstein 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Nf3 Ngf6 6 Bg5. After 6...h6 7 Nxf6+ Nxf6, 8 Be3 is perhaps the most promising line for White:
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Ibarra Jerez, J - Iskusnyh, S, Chessable Masters Play-In chess.com 2023, saw 8....Bd6 9 Bd3 b6?! 10 Ne5! 0-0 11 Qf3 with some advantage. As time pressure intervened, both sides made major errors; from an opening perspective, 9...0-0 is almost certainly the way to go.
Classical Variation 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Nbd7 6 Nf3 h6 7 Nxf6+ Nxf6 8 Bh4 [C11]
Instead of 8 Be3, White tried 8 Bh4 in Janzelj, T - Svane, R, Team Ch Austria 2023. There are well over 1000 games with this in the database, and the main lesson is that both sides should be prepared for some of the simplified positions that result. One reason that 8 Be3 tends to be preferred to 8 Bh4 is that now Black can play 8...c5:
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Sharp lines can arise from 9 Bb5+ and 9 Bc4, but theory seems to work out well enough for Black. In the game, White stayed flexible with 9 c3, and Black could have played 9...cxd4, but should know how to handle it to completely equalize. Instead he tried 9...a6 and objectively, White’s 10 Ne5!? shouldn’t lead to much, but Black went astray and could have lost the opening battle.
Classical Variation 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Be7 6 Nxf6+ Bxf6 7 Bxf6 Qxf6 8 Nf3 [C11]
I’m going to include a few games with the order 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Be7 6 Nxf6+ Bxf6 7 Bxf6 Qxf6 (or 6 Bxf6 Bxf6 7 Nxf6+ Qxf6) 8 Nf3. This hasn’t been considered challenging for Black, but it is played often enough to demonstrate a few of the options for both sides. Kollars, D - Mekhitarian, K, Titled Tue 9th May chess.com 2023, saw 8...b6 9 Bb5+ c6 10 Bd3:
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I think that this is okay for Black, but it’s not easy, and the alternative 8...0-0 in the notes looks like a better course for the second player.
The most straightforward solution was played in Karttunen, M - Holt, C, Titled Tue 2nd May chess.com 2023, namely 8...c5:
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Here the most threatening line would seem to be what White played, namely, 9 Bb5+ Bd7 10 Bxd7+ Nxd7, trying for quick castling. But the game seems to show that this is harmless at best, so White needs something else here if he is to get anything interesting versus 8...c5.
Till next month, John
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