I'm afraid that the much maligned Philidor defence while perhaps not as bad as theory suggests, is certainly not a comfortable opening for Black.
The Phil can be broken down into four main branches for black:
A.)-> Mestel's Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5?! Over the years this line has been sporadically rehabilitated as a surprise weapon by enterprising players. Nevertheless the current thinking is that this line is all but busted beyond repair. For more details just beg
B.)-> Larsen's Variation (Resembles the Dragon, but minus the fire!
: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 ed4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 GM Tony Kosten in his book on the Philidor writes " It is not clear that, with accurate play, White can demonstrate any real advantage. Conversely, the slightest mistake on his part can lead to immediate, catastrophic consequences". LOL!! .....Maybe this might have been true in the pre Database age, but those days are long gone and in fact if white does play accurately Black is in dire straits. Compared to the Dragon, the half open e file in Larsen's line does not offer sufficient counterplay against white's 0-0-0 position. Please do not bother posting a response claiming that some combination of .....Nxd4, followed by....c5, Qa5, a6, b5 and Be6 offers black adequate counter chances. IT DOES NOT!!
C.)-> Antoshin's Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 ed4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 A much underrated system recently championed by the French phenom, GM Etienne Bacrot, however I expect this line to soon drop back out of fashion. The critical line still begins 6.Bf4!, and up untill recently was thought to lead to a clear advantage for White. However the discovery of a surprising Rook sac for Black by GM D Nisipeanu has obscured the issue somewhat. Nevertheless with precise play White can still claim some advantage. Another promising path for White is 6.Nde2!? with the idea of g3 and Bg2 squashing any future central counterplay by Black. This line was recently used by GM Grischuk to defeat Bacrot.
D.)-> Hanham Variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6?! 4.Nc3?! Nd7 This is the starting position for the Hanham, and I think its Black's most reliable choice if he must play the Philidor. Please note however, that the move order given is not an optimum one since white can opt for 4.de5! Ne4 5.Qd5 which is known to lead to a slight but persistent endgame advantage for white. In light of this most Hanham Variation practitioners try other move orders in an attempt to reach their position, such as: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5 or 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 It should be noted that both these alternative move orders have their pros and cons, and even if Black reaches his desired Hanham all is not roses, provided White knows his stuff.
To sum up I don't think that the Philidor is good enough to have as your main defence to 1.e4, but as a surprise weapon it has its uses. I have seen even good White players go under quickly to an aggressive setup sometimes employed by Black in the Hanham line that goes something like this: Defer castling and go h6, Nbd7 to f8, g5, Ng6, Rg8, Nf4 with quite a powerful kingside attack - This particular setup is quite dangerous for White if one does not know how to counter it effectively.
Theory does not consider either The Petroff or Philidor defence very ambitious or combative for black, so I remain puzzled by Ambitious Amateur's continued attraction to these lines. Considering AA's defensive tastes the handle 'Unambitious Amateur' seems much more appropriate.
Till next time, peace n luv.
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C42 C43 1.e4e5 2.Nf3Nf6 what else does black need? (Read 27885 times)
