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Qc7 looks convincing, as Black's queen seems to need to stay on the queenside.  After White moves his QB, then Qb6 can be difficult to counter.  Mind you, what I particularly like about Black's positions after Bd7 is its flexibility.  I don't think Black needs to be dogmatic about the Black queen, and can leave that decision in order to respond to White's play.  Qc7 appears to be the most principled move, if only because it exerts pressure on White's center without being too far removed from kingside defense if needed...

Exchange: i am ready for...
Just about Qe7!? (old game for J.Watson is Perrin-Knott,NewYork 1857) to stay into the topic: if White wants to get an advantage, I believe he must play the gambit 6.Be2!? (I have "chesskids and Rhode" as reference and some analysis might be found on www.chesskids.com ..don't know ?!)
The gambit has the same background idea as  given in the game Petrow-Szymansky,Varsovie 1847 (Kuligowski Encyclopaedia of Chess Games, or Watson & ECO): 4.c4 Bb4 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 dxc4 8.Bxf3? which gives the c4-pawn and get it back some moves later. Black can't afford to keep the material advantage. Comparing Qe7 vs Ne7 one can say that it's has the same (Nf6/Ng4/Nxe3 vs Ne7/Nf5/Nxe3) value but in some moves queen will have to leave e-file. 
Example of position to reach: 5...Qe7!? 6.Be2 dxc4 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.oo and now A) 8...oo 9.Bxc4 small advantage to White (?) B) 8...Nbd7? 9.Re1 oo 10.Bxc4 Qd6 11.Qd3 big advantage to White (?) C) 8...Be6 9.d5! Bg4 10.Bxc4 improve on A) D) 8...Bxc3 9.bxc3 oo 10.Bxc4 or 9...Be6 10.Re1 oo 11.Bxc4  small advantage to White

Thanks for replying Dom, you're really the Man in the french!

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I also reached this conclusion, Qc7 and f6 and 0-0-0, sometimes h6 and g5 too or c5-c4 and Bc5, is a set up I also like, as it is so full of dynamic energy!

Perhaps it could be useful to exchange opinions on the value of different sidelines given by Watson? 

Some I really like, for example the inclusion of 3...Be7 (former sideline now a main line!) against the Tarrasch especially 4.e5 Nh6!? which is discussed in another thread.

Another idea I first liked and then got suspicious off, is 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 Qe7+?!/!? 
Here, JW only gives 6.Be3 and 6.Qe2?! along with a game from the 1850s! 
But surely 6.Be2 is best, as played several times by latvian GM Miezis. 6...Bg4 7.Kf1!? or 7.cxd5 have both been played by him, (but not with much luck admittedly). But despite Tyomkin's low opinion of 7.Kf1 I'm not so sure I'd like to play the "equal" position after 7...dxc4 8.Qa4+ c6 9.Nd5(!) b5 10.Nxe7 bxa5.

I'm going thru Watson's latest Play the French book, and like Dom, I like many of the off-beat ideas suggested, but it seems important to check up on him in some lines. 

On page 27, Watson writes: 

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However, in my base there are 3 games with 9...Qh4 and white wins them all! To me it seems like ...Qh4 is dubious, because after Nf3 Qh5 the queen is in the way for Be8-h5. The games below see black playing it like Watson suggests, but despite a promising start the queen ends up on the retreat and white takes over the show on the kingside.

In Watson's variation above, white spends a lot of time chasing the queen to g8, where it's no longer in the way of Be8-g6/h5, (so 12.Be2!? should probably be 12.Be2?!).

Does any of the french experts here have any suggestions of how black should get counter play or do you agrre that  9...Qh4 is inferior? 


Skytte,R (2404) - Johnson,B (2256) [C02]
Politiken Cup København (10), 24.07.2003

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.a3 f6 7.Bd3 fxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Qh4 

10.0-0 

[ 10.b4 c4 11.Bc2 Be7 12.Nd2 Nh6 13.Nf3 Qh5 14.0-0 0-0-0 15.Qd4 Rhf8 16.Bd1 Qf5 17.Qxa7 Ng4 18.Nd4 Qg6 19.Bxg4 Qxg4 20.b5 Bh4 21.Qa8+ Kc7 mit Matt in 4 Zuegen.. 1-0 Kabisch,T-Steinwachs,C/Leinfelden 2000/EXT 2003 (21)] 

10...Nh6 

[ 10...c4 11.Bc2 Bc5 12.Nd2 Ne7 13.Nf3 Qh5 14.h3 0-0 15.Kh2 Nc6 16.g4 Qe8 17.Kg2 Rxf3 18.Qxf3 ( 18.Kxf3 Nxe5+ 19.Kg3 Ng6 20.Be3 Be7 21.Bd4 Qf7 22.Bxg6 Qxg6) 18...Nxe5 19.Qg3 Ng6 20.Be3 Be7 21.Bd4 Qf7 22.Bxg6 Qxg6 23.Rae1 Rf8 24.Qc7 Qe8 25.Re2 Bc8 26.Bxa7 Rf7 27.Bd4 Bxa3 28.Qb8 Bf8 29.Ra1 Qc6 30.Ra8 Rc7 31.Rxe6 Qxe6 32.Qxc7 Qe4+ 33.Kh2 1-0 Haba,P-Steinwachs,C/Leinfelden 2000/EXT 2003 (33)] 

11.Nd2 Be7 12.f4 c4 13.Nf3 Bc5+ 14.Kh1 Qh5 15.Bc2 Nf5 16.Qe1 0-0 17.h3 Qe8 18.g4 Ne7 19.Qh4 h6 20.Qg3 Rd8 21.Bd2 b6 22.Rae1 Bc6 23.Nd4 Bd7 24.Re2 a5 25.Ref2 b5 26.Be3 Nc6 27.g5 h5 28.g6 Ne7 29.Qg5 Bxd4 30.Bxd4 Nf5 31.Rg1 Rc8 32.Qxh5 Nh6 33.Be3 Qe7 34.f5 exf5 35.Bxh6 gxh6 36.g7 Rfe8 37.Rxf5 Qe6 38.Rg6 Qe7 39.Rf8+ Rxf8 40.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 41.Qxh6+ 1-0


By the way, I found one interesting similar idea, that is, 9...Qe7!? in the following game. Black is clearly the stronger player in rating so I don't know how much this is worth, but if the queen is ending up on f7 anyway, why not go Qe7-f7 instead of Qh4-h5-f7  ???

Laurent,B (2190) - Kern,G (2395) [C02]
BEL-chT9798 Antwerp (7), 1998

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.a3 f6 7.Bd3 fxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Qe7 10.0-0 Nh6 11.b4 Qf7 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Qh5+ Qf7 15.Qg5 0-0 16.Nd2 Rac8 17.c4 Qf4 18.Qxf4 Rxf4 19.Rfd1 Ba4 20.Rdc1 Rd4 21.Rc3 b5 22.cxb5 c4 23.Rac1 Rd8 24.Bc2 Rxd2 25.Bxa4 Rf8 26.b6 axb6 27.Bd7 Kf7 28.Rf3+ Nf5 29.g4 Ke7 30.gxf5 Kxd7 31.fxe6+ Ke7 32.Rxf8 Kxf8 33.f4 g6 0-1

Does anyone know of a good line for white against Watson's suggestion of the following line in the advance French:

1.e4 e6  2.d4 d5  3.e5 c5  4.c3 Nc6  5.Nf3 Bd7  6.Be2 f6  7.0-0 cd  8.cd fe  9.Nxe5  Nxe5  10.de Bc5?

What is the best move and plan for white in this position?  Many thanks