an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 12/29/21 at 11:36:41:


I don’t have this specific course, but I can vouch for the quality of this author’s work in general.

Seems the course by ‘ChessMood’ website may be the resource for a number of people.

3.Bd3 v French is part of their 1.e4 white repertoire.

I notice chessmood.com is recommending 3.Bd3 for white. Like any other opening, if white has looked at it and black has not, white will get chances. If your opponent's name is Watson I don't know how much you will get.

One issue I can see is in some lines white gambits the d4 pawn. Strong players won't accept such a gambit if it's risky, but weak players might assume you just blundered and/or they don't see any problems for black so they just take. If your attacking play is not good, you will just get ground down. On the other hand, if your attacking play is not good then you need to go to school for that anyway, and 3.Bd3 might be as good as any other classroom for that.

Chessmood's approach against 3...Nf6 is I think an improvement for white on the transpositions offered by Watson/McDonald on chesspublishing.com. Here is a trap which black often falls into on the internet:
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Ne2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.a3 Qb6 8.b4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nxd4? 10.Be3 +-
https://www.chess.com/live/game/3833588485
Obviously black doesn't have to fall for that, but otherwise it's not obvious how black can generate play after 4...Nfd7. I haven't seen chessmood's analysis except through example games posted on their forum, but from the tip of the iceberg it's safe to say they have a lot of it.

Chesspublishing has covered four moves for black:

• 3...dxe4 - the main line of this sideline
• 3...c5 - given ! by McDonald
• 3...Nf6 - I think needs strengthening
• 3...Nc6 - obviously playable but not popular

To access the pdf below and the pgn games you need to be a subscriber. But the text descriptions work for non-subscribers. I asked for and received permission to post these links.

All four moves

• (McDonald) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/sep01.htm
• (2020) https://www.chesspublishing.com/p/2/advance.pdf

3...dxe4

• (McDonald) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/dec03.htm
• (McDonald) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/mar06.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/apr11.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/jan12.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/jun17.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/sep17.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/mar18.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/may19.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/nov19.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/oct20.htm
• (2004) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1077272499
• (2007-2008) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1175868325 (this thread)
• (2011) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1175868325 (this thread)
• (2012) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1336169800

3...c5

• (McDonald) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/jan08.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/jun11.htm
• (Watson) https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/2/mar12.htm (transposing from 3.exd5)
• (2004) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1077272499
• (2006) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1161171974
• (2007-2008) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1175868325 (this thread)

3...Nf6

• (2006) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1161171974
• (2007-2008) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1175868325 (this thread)

3...Nc6

• (2007-2008) https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1175868325 (this thread)

How to win a piece.

I found a trap in the Bd3 variation after:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 de4 4.Be4 Nf6 5.Bf3 Bd6!?
6.Ne2 00 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4?? g5 9.Bg3 g4 and the White bishop is in a bad situation:)

What do you think about:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nd7!?

I like this flexible move, Black seems ok.
I will test it in blitz games

Watson probably recommended 3...c5 against 3.Bd3 because the best that White could hope for would be a transposition to Advance Variation lines that Sveshnikov played (see especially his game, Sveshnikov-Razuvaev, Belgrade 1988).  Watson seems to believe that the white Bishop belongs only on e2, and almost any gambit involving Bd3 is unsound for White.

I would avoid 3...c5 against most players and simply make White prove that losing two tempi is worth opening up the b1-h6 diagonal and the e-file.  I have to believe in Black's defensive cause after 3...de4 4.Be4 Nf6.  Black hasn't made any mistakes that I can see, and White is going to be hard pressed to prove an advantage.

Since Black has two distinct lines that lead to interesting play for him, and neither has been refuted, I don't see 3.Bd3 as a major threat to Black.  The ambitious Black player will probably prefer 3...c5, but I am generally content with instant equality with all the play ahead of us.

After the update from January I had a closer look into this line. Can white force black either into a closed variation of his choice or into unusual and interesting positions?

Against the French I play the Tarrasch. I am happy with the Korchnoi gambit after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bd3, and I know that black players don´t like it!

On the downside I don´t like white after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5. Neither 4.exd nor 4.Ngf3 seem to offer comparable chances, if black does not follow with an early Nf6 transposing to the Korchnoi gambit. Likewise I don´t know what to do against the Rubinstein, simply because I haven´t bothered to master the theory so far.

The 3.Bd3 system (is Schlechter variation really the name?) might be a solution:
A) 3…Nf6 and I can transpose to a closed Tarrasch with 4.e5, 5.Nd2 and 6.Ngf3.
B) 3…Nc6 and 3…dxe4: The lines Dom mentions seem to offer good chances for white in a non-french position, that´ll do for me.
C) 3…c5 must be the critical reply. After 4.c3 (if I´d like to play the exchange variaton, why not 3.exd straight away?) black has:

1) 4…Nc6 5.Nf3 and as far as I (and Dom) can see black has nothing better than to transpose to a closed Tarrasch setup.
2) 4…Nf6 leads of course straight away to the closed Tarrasch after 5.e5 etc..
3) This leaves only 4…cxd as a critical option:
I don´t like 5.cxd4 dxe 6.Bxe4 Nf6 and the white bishop has to move again.
5.exd5 exd 6.cxd as given by Dom looks equal to me.
5.exd5 exd 6.Nf3!? could be better. Now 6…Qe7+ does not look good after 7.Be2, followed by 00 and the black queen blocks off Bc8. 6…dxc?! 7.Nxc3 with a promising iqp position for white. 6…Nc6 7.00 and after the natural 7…Nf6 8.00 white can still play against the doubled pawns.
5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.00 Nf6 8.cxd can as well arise via the Alapin Sicilian after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.00 cxd 8.cxd! As I play the Alapin with white myself I don´t mind this at all.

To sum up I could avoid the Rubinstein and the nasty lines without Nf6 in the Tarrasch, which would be a desirable shortcut for me. What snags did I miss?