Since some people wanted a Philidor thread on it's own, I'll use this one. So it's up to Mnb and company to prove me wrong.
Please keep this thread serious and to the point! AKA 1, no evaluations without backing it up with moves. 2, no pointless ramblings full of smilies signifying nothing.
Leko,P (2722) - Svidler,P (2747) [C41] Amber Rapid Monte Carlo MNC (9), 30.03.2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4
[ 3...Nf6 is often considered more exact as it allows white more options of going wrong. 4.dxe5 is just an invitation to an early draw, for example: 4...Nxe4 5.Qd5 Nc5 6.Bg5 Qd7 7.Nc3 c6 8.Qd2 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Qxd2+ 10.Bxd2 Nbd7 11.Nxd7 Bxd7 12.0-0-0 0-0-0 13.Bc4 Be6 14.Bxe6+ Nxe6 15.Be3 Bc5 ½-½ Cabrera,A-Vescovi,G/I American Continental, Cali COL 2001 (15)]
[b]4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bf4 0-0 7.Qd2 d5!? [/b] the latest trend, though I'm personally still sceptical, still a few weeks of analysis might convince me.
[ Personally, I find the following pawn attacks very appealing:
[u]7...a6!?[/u] 8.0-0-0 b5 9.f3 c5 10.Nf5 Bxf5 11.exf5 Nc6 12.g4 ( 12.Bxd6 Qa5!) 12...b4 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Bg5= 15.Bxg5 Qxg5+ 16.Qd2 Qxd2+ 17.Rxd2 Nd4 18.c3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Nb5 20.Bxb5 axb5 21.Kb1 Rfd8 22.Rhd1 Ra6 23.Rd5 Rc6 24.g5 f6 25.g6 Luther,T-Sedlak,N/Reykjavik ISL 2004 (1-0 41) 25...hxg6= (instead of Kf8??);
[u]7...c6!?[/u] 8.0-0-0 b5 9.f3 b4 10.Nb1! c5 White can win Pd6 but I still like black here, here's a recent game: 11.Nb5 Be6 12.Bxd6 Ne8 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Nd6 Nc6 15.Nxe8 Rfxe8 16.Qd6 Qb7! 17.Nd2 Al Modiahki,M-Belkhodja,S/ch-Arab, Casablanca MAR 2002 (1-0 38) ( 17.Qxc5 Rac8) 17...Red8 18.Qxc5 Rac8 with a lot of play for black, though Fritz says it 0.00 after 19.Nc4.]
[b]8.e5[/b] That Svidler is prepared to play the exchange sacrifice and Leko avoids it, could be an indication that the exchange sac below is at least equal.
8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.Nb5 Qe4+ ( 10...Re8! is probably an improvement, e.g 11.Kd1 Qh5+ 12.Be2 Qg6! 13.Nxc7 Rd8 14.Bd3 Bf5 with good play for black.) 11.Be2 Na6 12.0-0 += Van den Doel,E-Kovacevic,A/EuTCh, Leon ESP 2001 (1-0 54)]
[ 8.Ndb5 c6!?
( 8...Bb4 9.0-0-0 ( 9.Nxc7!? Nxe4 10.Qxd5) 9...Ba5 10.exd5 a6 11.Nd4 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Nxd5 13.Qg3 Nxf4 14.Qxf4 Qd5 15.Nb3 += Istratescu,A-Gelashvili,T/Patras 2001 (1-0 50);
9.Nc7 d4 10.Ne2
( 10.0-0-0 Nh5 11.Be5 Bg5 12.f4 Nxf4!? ( 12...dxc3 13.Qxd8 cxb2+ 14.Kb1 Bxd8 15.Nxa8 Bg4 16.Rd3 Na6 17.h3 +/- Pavasovic,D-Nisipeanu,L/90th LSK Metalka Trgovina, Ljubljana SL 2002 (½-½ 23))
13.Bxf4 Qxc7 14.Bxc7 Bxd2+ 15.Kxd2 dxc3+ 16.Kxc3 should favour white's bishop pair but Pe4 is weak, so it's probably just an academic advantage.;
10...g5 11.Be5 Nbd7 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Qxg5+ Kh8 14.Nxa8 Re8 15.f3? White must have something better than this, which is why I'm not yet convinced about black's sacrifice. 15...Nxe4 16.Qe5+ Kg8 17.Qxd4 Bc5 18.Qxe4 Rxe4 19.fxe4 Be3 20.Rd1 Bf2+ 21.Kxf2 Qxd1 22.c3 Qd2 -/+ since Na8 won't get any further than c7 black was much better in Brodsky,M-Nisipeanu,L Varsity Match, London ENG 2001 (0-1 40); ]
8...Nh5 9.Nf3 Nxf4 10.Qxf4 c6 11.Bd3 Nd7 [ 11...f6!?] 12.0-0 Nc5 13.Bf5 g5 14.Qg4 h5 15.Qh3 g4 16.Qxh5 Bxf5 17.Qxf5 gxf3 18.Qg4+ Kh7 and white has a draw at best. (½-½ in 36)
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