ChessPub Forum - C02: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999

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C02: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999 (Read 2983 times)

JonathanB Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 449 Location: London Joined: 11/17/07 Gender:	Re: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999 Reply #4 - 09/13/08 at 19:53:17	Post Tools	Print Post
	Thanks guys, I knew the chesspub-ers wouldn't let me down.

	www.streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com "I don't call you f**k face" - GM Nigel Short.
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Phil Adams Full Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 163 Joined: 04/04/08	Re: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999 Reply #3 - 09/12/08 at 10:45:29	Post Tools	Print Post
	I can find no games with 18...fxe5. In his book(s), after 10. g4 Nh6 (he considers 10...Nfe7 better) 11 Rg1 f6 12 exf6 gxf6 13 Nc3 Nf7 14 Na4 Qc7 15 Rc1 Qf4 Sveshnikov's comment was "A critical position, in which White stands better, in my judgement. " After the game continuation 16 Nc5 Bxc5 17 dxc5 Ncxe5 18 N×e5 N×e5 19 Rg3! he commented: "Now it is clear that White has held on to his opening advantage." He did not mention the possibility of 18...fxe5, but it might be significant that he examined in some detail an earlier possible diversion by White: 17 dxc5 "A logical move which opens the way for the bishop, but 17 Rxc5!? is also interesting, e.g. 17...e5 18 dxe5 Bxg4 19 Be2 fxe5 20 Qxd5 Rd8 21 Qc4± or 17...Nd6 18 Bc1 Qe4+ 19 Be3 Qg6 20 Bd3 Qf7±." I know the Sveshnikov books quite well, since I translated them into English for Edition Olms - by the way, I receive no royalties on sales, so any opinion I express is financially disinterested. The English edition is an updated version of the German edition (also published by Olms), but I also made use of the original Russian edition and the later Spanish (good) and French (less good) translations; the latter three are each in one volume; the German and English editions are in two volumes. Whilst they reflect Sveshnikov's well-known bias towards the White side of the French Advance, IMHO these are very good books, into which the author put a lot of effort. Sveshnikov's views might be controversial, but my impression is not only of an original thinker but also of a very sincere writer who holds little back - however, he is still an active professional player, so it should not be surprising if just occasionally he is "economical with the truth".
	« Last Edit: 09/12/08 at 13:22:33 by Phil Adams »

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MartinC God Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 2073 Joined: 07/24/06	Re: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999 Reply #2 - 09/12/08 at 09:40:36	Post Tools	Print Post
	Well since you asked so nicely I'm afraid that I know nothing about whether this has been played and my database of TWIC's is unlikely to help much. It certainly looks like a logical enough idea and the position certainly looks interesting enough to play....


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JonathanB Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 449 Location: London Joined: 11/17/07 Gender:	Re: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999 Reply #1 - 09/11/08 at 16:07:22	Post Tools	Print Post
	This post has just made it to 100 views so I thought it might be time to bump it back to the top. Doesn't anybody know anything? Can I take it that nobody has played ... fxe5 at a high level after all? Any replies appreciated even if it's just so I don't feel lonely

	www.streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com "I don't call you f**k face" - GM Nigel Short.
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JonathanB

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C02: McDonald's improvement on Short-Lputian, 1999
09/03/08 at 18:20:52

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Short-Lputian, Bantumi 1999

1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. e5 c5, 4. c3 Nc6, 5. Nf3 Qb6, 6. a3 Nh6, 7. b4 cxd4, 8. cxd4 Nf5, 9. Bb2 Bd7, 10. g4 Nh6, 11. Rg1 f6, 12. exf6 gxf6, 13. Nc3 Nf7, 14. Na4 Qc7, 15. Rc1 Qf4, 16. Nc5 Bxc5, 17. dxc5 Ncxe5, 18. Nxe5

and now instead of 18. ... Nxe5 as in the game, McDonald (on here I think but I could be wrong) apparently suggested 18. ... fxe5 leading to this position.

I first saw the idea in PtF3 (2003). Watson just notes that McDonald gives the pawn capture a "!" and that he says it's "quite strong".

At the start of 2008 I got the chance to play 18. ... fxe5 in an email game and was very surprised not to be able to find any previous games with it in my usual sources.

(e.g. in megabase 2007 the closest match is a 2006 Sveshnikov game but in that one Black had played 17. ... Nfxe5)

A couple of weeks ago I got hold of Moskalenko's Flexible French and was very curious to see what he had on the move.

He just gives it a "!?" - not so definite as McDonald or Watson it seems - without further analysis or quoting any games.
That's more, incidentally, that Sam Collins' book on the Advance French (2006) which doesn't seem to mention the pawn capture at all.

I'm sure I can't have been the first person to have played 18. ... fxe5 - there must have been many who got the chance to give it a whirl in the same sort of circumstances as my game - but has it really not cropped up in the games of any serious players?

If 18. ... fxe5 hasn't been played at any meaningful level would anybody like to take a punt at why that should be the case? I know the French itself is not overly fashionable towards the top these days - and that the Advance is probably not the most popular response to it either - but it seems strange to me that nobody's played it.

Last question ... does anybody know of any published analysis on the move? E.g. I don't have Sveshnikov's books yet (I fear I may have to wait for Santa for those) - is it mentioned in them?

[Edit: Just to clarify... I don't want you to tell me what Sveshnikov's analysis is - I'm not anonymous you know Wink