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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) C00-C19: McDonald's book: How to Play against 1.e4 (Read 101893 times)
Gorath
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #142 - 06/25/11 at 00:51:15
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You can safely assume that the other book (The Wonderful Winawer) has a nearly 100% overlap with some of the stuff you want to play. Wink


There have been several good books on the French in the last couple of years by Moskalenko, Vitiugov, McDonald, Williams and that Tsermo guy from Greece. All are interesting but none is perfect, maybe because the French is a notoriously complex and flexible opening. Each author brings a lot of his personality to the table.

I'm not sure where you can find recent coverage of the Tarrasch with Nf6. Everybody recommends either Be7 or c5 nowadays.

Fort Knox isn't taken seriously by most authors. Most get done with it on a few pages.

Maybe you should decide whether your main focus is stability or attacking chances. In the latter case Williams' book can be recommended - but be aware that this often means chances for both sides.

Regarding the Advance:
Everything is equal or unclear. Just pick the variation which suits you best.
Exchange is also just equal, as well as the 2-Knights. Most players choose these variations to avoid theory. So it should be okay if you know one recipe against each.
  
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Arcticmonkey
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #141 - 06/24/11 at 17:38:18
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Mmmm the one i have 'Flexible French' is pretty awesome. But there doesn't seem to be much overlap between his book and Mcdonalds (at least the systems im looking for - Advance - Mcdonalds systems, Fort Knox (which i really dont think is as bad as people say it is, its just an easy to learn option where white has a slight space advantage!) and the General Minor lines) which is why i was wondering if there were any recent games in this department.

Perhaps the chesspublishing French section??? Although im not a subscriber.... (yet!)
  
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MNb
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #140 - 06/24/11 at 16:14:36
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Buy the two Moskalenko books. There you will even find some developments of the future.
  

The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged.
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Arcticmonkey
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #139 - 06/24/11 at 15:36:07
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Hi i'm just picking this book up now as my sort of introduction to the french (since im sick of the sicilian (and especially all the sidelines!)).

I was wondering are there any latest developments in the FK, Advance, and Odds and Ends chapters which are important and have occured over the last few years!? (Probably the advance is more important than the other two, but im looking to play Winawer and 3...Nf6 in response to 3.Nd2 so don't worry about those mainlines as they are different to Mcdonalds recommendations)

Cheers for any help!
  
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ghenghisclown
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #138 - 09/19/09 at 22:34:08
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Well, it doesn't seem to me that Black can get e5 in at all. The pawn on c4 may obstruct White's light squared, but the space advantage it confers makes it difficult for Black. I thought Black's plan here should be to play Nf6 and aim for Ne4 to start trading pieces...
  

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TN
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #137 - 09/19/09 at 22:05:49
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ghenghisclown wrote on 09/19/09 at 13:38:37:
Did anybody figure out what was best against 5.c4 in the FK?


According to the latest edition of ECO C, 5.c4 Bc6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nge2 is slightly better for White. I find this hard to believe, but Black should be able to improve with 6...Bb4 7.Nge2 Ne7 followed by taking on c3 and preparing ...e5 or even ...c5 at a timely moment.
  

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ghenghisclown
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #136 - 09/19/09 at 13:38:37
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Did anybody figure out what was best against 5.c4 in the FK?
  

"Experience is a dim lamp, which only lights the one who bears it."
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saubhikr
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #135 - 06/11/09 at 01:17:36
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Littlewing wrote on 06/08/09 at 08:16:14:
I like McDonald's repertoirebook, but my favourite book to get started with the french defense is still Winning with the French by Uhlmann. If you see it, buy it!


I see it every week but can not buy as I already own the book ! Embarrassed
Having said that, I echo you - its THE book to learn French.
  
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Littlewing
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #134 - 06/08/09 at 08:16:14
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I like McDonald's repertoirebook, but my favourite book to get started with the french defense is still Winning with the French by Uhlmann. If you see it, buy it!
  
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bigbelly
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #133 - 05/31/09 at 14:02:57
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Hakkenbar wrote on 04/12/09 at 21:57:01:
Just to summarize this 9 pages thread: Is this a good book for an 1800 player who wants to learn the French, even if he doesn't want to play the Fort Knox? (My impression is "yes")
I more or less understood that Play the French by Watson might be a bit too advanced for my level and Starting out the French by Jacobs gets bad reviews .
I always have problems playing against the French, so now I want to join the dark side  Wink.  I plan to supplement this book with "Dangerous weapons, the French"


This would likely be a great book for you.
If you give it a try, and decide you like French, you might also look at Mosklenko’s Flexible French.
  

1d4!
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #132 - 05/30/09 at 19:38:00
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I just received the book yesterday.  So far, I’m impressed and think I’ll profit from it.

However, I did notice one minor mistake.  On pages 13-15, GM McDonald has the game Kasparov v. Ivanchuck, Horgen 1995.  At the end of it he states that this was the only game Kasparov lost against the French but for a simul game a year later.  Kasparov v. Radjabov, Linares 2003 (and the meltdown by the great man that followed it) may have slipped his mind or is missing from his database.   Wink

« Last Edit: 05/30/09 at 20:42:59 by Falkland »  
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #131 - 05/20/09 at 10:57:51
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My 2ct

- Having read the 9 pages of this thread I haven't found why 3...b6 is not a good option for black. I think it is. I think it offers good wining chances.

- I don't like the recomendation against the Exchange. I prefer to develop the king's side first trying to play a quick ...c5 in good conditions and putting the pieces in the correct squares. Kn's on c6-f6, bishops on g5 and c5 and 0-0 would be my ideal setup. I like to play this kind of IQP position.

- I like very much his recomendations against both the KIA and the WG.

- I don't like the FK. To play in this way I would prefer a ...Qd5 Scandinavian game.

- 3..Be7 against the Tarrasch is something that, at the moment,  I don't fully understand.





  

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saubhikr
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #130 - 05/20/09 at 02:05:46
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Will this come as eBook in near future.....any clue/news ?
  
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #129 - 04/12/09 at 21:57:01
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Just to summarize this 9 pages thread: Is this a good book for an 1800 player who wants to learn the French, even if he doesn't want to play the Fort Knox? (My impression is "yes")
I more or less understood that Play the French by Watson might be a bit too advanced for my level and Starting out the French by Jacobs gets bad reviews .
I always have problems playing against the French, so now I want to join the dark side  Wink.  I plan to supplement this book with "Dangerous weapons, the French"
  
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alexbertonix
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Re: McDonald's new French book: How to Play against 1
Reply #128 - 03/19/09 at 21:56:47
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Thank you for the game Paddy. Looks interesting! Smiley
  
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