After 40 years of playing the Sicilian I decided I needed a change and switched to the Paris Variation. As far as I know
it was only dealt with properly in Kaissiber magazine. I never lost with it even against much higher rated players until I tried it in correspondence.

The line is a part of the Moller Archangel complex which is a line of the Ruy Lopez I suggest for black. "Archangel and
New Archangel" by Krzysztof Panxzyk and John Emms is a good book on this line.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6 (Grandmaster Rogers recently played a newish line
          against the Exchange Variation which I will post
          when I get time. It was shown be by a double IM
          both FIDE and ICCF who was impressed).
4. Ba4 Nf6
5. 0-0 Bc5 The Moller Defence
Now there are several moves which you can check out in books.
6. c3 probably best and usually played by persons who do not
   know the theory.
6....d5 This is the Paris variation. (The standard book move is 6..d6.)Do not play this variation unless you obtain the Kaissiber articles. If you know the theory then you will score well as black provided that you like positions where
you must use your pieces very actively and love attacking.
This is a great line for improving club players as it will help you improve your skills in attack and using your pieces.

There is one small problem. Attached is the game where I lost in IECG. Of course in due course this will
wind up on the next version of Tim Harding's Correspondence
Chess CD. (Hint - Megacorr3 CD is just the place to find opening lines that will surpride your opponents)


[Event "IECG-CUP, Preliminary, CP-2003-p-00050"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2003.09.28"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Doblas Francisco Javier, Rubio"]
[Black "Flude, David"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5
6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Re1 Ng4 8.Rf1 Nf6 9.c3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5
11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.d4 O-O 13.dxe5 Bb7 14.Nd2 (this move was not covered in the article) Nf4 15.Nf3 Qxd1
16.Rxd1 Nh3+ 17.gxh3 Bxf3 18.Rd7 Rae8 19.Bf4 Bb6 20.Re1 Bc6
21.Rd2 h6 22.h4 Re7 23.Kf1 Rfe8 24.h5 Kf8 25.Bc2 Bf3
26.Bd1 Bc6 27.Bg4 a5 28.Bg3 b4 29.f4 bxc3 30.bxc3  1-0

If anyone can find an improvement for black I will be very pleased.


     

Those are some interesting suggestions, but the Bird's is not really so bad.  Many have named the "Offbeat Spanish" (by Glenn Flear, published by Everyman) which states, "The Bird's Defence has the advantage of creating unusual problems for White, but the loss of time for Black's development is an important factor...all in all the Bird's Defence is a useful weapon as it gives winning chances and (even if White is booked-up) gets close to fully equalising."  I'm certainly no expert on the Spanish, but I like this book too.

There's a good book published by Everyman (can't remember who wrote it) called "offbeat spanish" which might be worth it. As to not being able to play the Zaitsev at 1450 USCF, I have to disagree. Real chess is good at any level. I'm not even 1200 USCF and I know some Dragon Yugoslav variations 12-16 moves deep, or even more. Jerry, I would recommend the Zaitsev or Arkhangelsk Variation. Bird and Steinitz are interesting tries, but not really too strong. Zaitsev and Arkhangelsk are fierce, counter-attacking variations (and if you like such fierce chess, you should probably be playing a Sicilian Dragon or Najdorf instead because w/ e5 you have to deal with KG, Italian Game, etc.). Hope that helps.

Quote:

I think the Zaitsev and even the open are too complicated for a 1450 player.  But since the original poster is contemplating the Neo-Steinitz, they might also want to consider it's cousin the Fianchetto Variation, 3....g6, championed by former world champion Smyslov.  When you play a slightly offbeat variation like this, you can get the double advantage of psychology plus being better prepared if you know the lines.  Plus it is a completely logical follow up to the Spanish.  White is undermining the defence of Black's e5, so Black prepares to lend it additional defence.

I want to start playing 1...e5 more frequently when confronted by 1.e4, and am trying to figure out what I should play if hit by the Spanish.  For background purposes, I play at about 1450 USCF and have been mucking around with the Scandinavian and French for some time but have never buckled down and studied those lines (mostly because 1.d4 if far more popular with my usual circle of opponents).  I'm looking for something that's solid, provides relative active play and counter-chances, but that is strategically straight-forward as befits my hacker rating.

Unfortunately, the e-books here are little help in my quest.  At the moment, I'm thinking about exploring Bird's Defense or the neo-Steinitz.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Admonitions?  Recommendations?  Warnings?