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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) C00-C19: Resources for Possible Repertoire (Read 30581 times)
Willempie
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #9 - 01/31/09 at 12:24:00
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Novosibirsk wrote on 01/31/09 at 12:06:08:
Well...one can see it that way...but there will be no dynamic chess at all. And what about if you HAVE to win. I would definitly chose the pirc if I have to win. I have played the french too and find it quite boring facing the exchangevariation. But on the other hand...why would Korchnoi and Uhlman have played the french if they couldnt win with it ?hmm... french is complicated Smiley

I used to feel the same way, until I started looking into it a little with Uhlmanns French book (imo a must-have for any Frenchy) and using the ideas in my own games. Plus there are those who play the exchange with c4 to follow after which it is anything but boring.

Anyway here's a nice game by may favourite player (at age 72! I dont know the age of his opponent):
[Event "7th European Senior Championship"]
[Site "Hockenheim GER"]
[Date "2007.06.10"]
[Round "9"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "E Rotstein"]
[Black "Wolfgang Uhlmann"]
[ECO "C01"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bg5 O-O 7. Ne2 Re8 8. Qc2 h6 9. Bh4 Nbd7 10. Nd2 c5 11. Nf3 c4 12. Bh7+ Kh8 13. Bf5 Qe7 14. Bg3 Bxg3 15. hxg3 Nc5 16. Bxc8 Nd3+ 17. Kf1 Raxc8 18. Nf4 Qe4 19. Nxd3 cxd3 20. Qd2 Qe2+ 21. Qxe2 Rxe2 22. Ne5 Rxb2 23. Nxd3 Rc2 24. Ne5 R8xc3 25. Nxf7+ Kg8 26. Nd6 Ng4 27. Rh4 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxg3 29. Re8+ Kh7 30. Rf4 Nd3 31. Rf3 Rxf3+ 32. gxf3 Rxa2 33. Re7 Rf2+ 34. Kg1 Rxf3 35. Rxb7 Rf6 36. Nc8 a6 37. Rd7 Nb4 38. Kg2 Rf4 39. Rb7 Rxd4 40. Kg3 h5 41. Nd6 Rg4+ 42. Kh3 Nd3 43. Ra7 Nf4+ 44. Kh2 Rg2+ 45. Kh1 Rg6 46. Nf5 h4 47. Kh2 Rg2+ 48. Kh1 Rg5 49. Nd4 Rg6 50. Nf5 h3 51. Kh2 Rg2+ 52. Kh1 Nh5 53. Rxa6 Ng3+ 54. Nxg3 Rxg3 0-1

btw Moskalenko's book doesnt cover any of the lines, but may still be very useful as it covers quite some ground and not only the moves themselves.
  

If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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Novosibirsk
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #8 - 01/31/09 at 12:06:08
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Willempie wrote on 01/31/09 at 11:56:22:
@Novo, I share your questionss on the lines in question, I do however see no problem with the exchange French. Equality after only 3 moves! Even in a must-win situation you can't ask for much more than that.

Well...one can see it that way...but there will be no dynamic chess at all. And what about if you HAVE to win. I would definitly chose the pirc if I have to win. I have played the french too and find it quite boring facing the exchangevariation. But on the other hand...why would Korchnoi and Uhlman have played the french if they couldnt win with it ?hmm... french is complicated Smiley
  

“I don’t play chess anymore, I play Fischer Random. It is a much better game, more challenge. Chess is a dead game, it is played out. Fischer Random is a version of chess that I developed or invented.
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Willempie
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #7 - 01/31/09 at 11:56:22
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@Novo, I share your questionss on the lines in question, I do however see no problem with the exchange French. Equality after only 3 moves! Even in a must-win situation you can't ask for much more than that.
  

If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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Novosibirsk
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #6 - 01/31/09 at 11:37:49
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Nice you have the ambition for a dynamic french repertoire. I see just some problems here. dxe4 french is in general defensive systems. The only way to play dynamic with these lines is the Burn variation with gxf6. The other dxe4 variations lead to quite steril positions where you are hunting for small advantages.

Another thing with the french defence is this darn Exchange variation. If you have the ambition to play dynamic chess your white oponent can make it very difficult for you by just playing this simplyfing variation. Everything will fall apart like a cardhouse. I think Pirc (and modern) defense is probably the only way for black (1.e4) to avoid exchange variations in both french and the Caro,c3-sicilians,Bb5 sicilians,and so on. So you should consider this I think if you want to be "guaranteed" a dynamic fight.

P.S And on 4.Bg5 you should definitly chose 4....Bb4 The MacCutcheon variation if you want dynamic chess. BUT that depends on IF white ALLOWS it (he may be a exchanger vs the french  Smiley ).

I think the french defense could serve very well as your second repertoire choice against 1.e4. And one should play it ONLY when you play for the win with the draw in hand. And when your oponent MUST win and a draw is OK for you. If white must win he should go for more complicated lines and avoid the simplyfying exchange variation. A coward approach ?
  

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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #5 - 01/31/09 at 10:01:15
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Quote:
Edit: I'm particularly curious about what you recommend for the ...gxf6 lines I am interested in.

Some thoughts for you - I once tried this variation following the game Belotti-Radjabov, 2001:

[Event "Valle d'Aosta op 9th"]
[Site "Saint Vincent"]
[Date "2001.02.03"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Bruno Belotti"]
[Black "Teimour Radjabov"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "72"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6
7.Nf3 a6 8.c4 f5 9.Nc3 Bf6 10.Qd2 c5 11.d5 O-O 12.O-O-O e5
13.h4 b5 14.d6 Be6 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Nd7 17.Nd2 Bg7 18.Rh3
Qf6 19.cxb5 Rab8 20.Qc6 e4 21.Rc3 Qd8 22.Rc2 axb5 23.Qc7 Qe8
24.Nb3 Qe6 25.Nxc5 Nxc5 26.Qxc5 Qxa2 27.g4 fxg4 28.Kd2 Qe6
29.Bxb5 g3 30.fxg3 e3+ 31.Ke1 Qh3 32.Bf1 Qxg3+ 33.Ke2 Qf2+
34.Kd3 Rb3+ 35.Rc3 Rxc3+ 36.bxc3 e2 0-1

when my opponent played 15.Rh3! which I answered with (the logical) 15...e4 - then: 16.Ng5 Nc6 17.Nd5 Bd5 18.Qd5 Qd7 19.g4! and I could not solve my problems and finally lost in a rook-endgame.

Perhaps 7...a6 is too slow for Black despite it's apparently idea of counter attack
  
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #4 - 01/31/09 at 07:45:14
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If you are interested in adopting 7...Be7 into your repertoire, then the Yearbook survey 'A Chinese Specialty to Blow Up Statistics' by GM Carlos Matamoros (YB 84) is essential reading. 

I recall one Yearbook survey on the 6...gf6 7.Nf3 a6 Burn, but I cannot remember which Yearbook, although a search on the NIC website should reveal some answers.
  

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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #3 - 01/31/09 at 05:51:19
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With regards to the Burn variation, I recommend Psakhis "French Defence: Steinitz, Classical and Other Systems".

In my opinion, any serious and strong French Defence player can hardly do without the Psakhis Batsford series.

Of course there is also the Pedersen "Mainline French: Nc3" from Gambit. While this book is in my opinion better than Perdersen's other two books on the Advance and the Tarrasch, it is older than the Psakhis book.

Everyman published in 2001 French Classical by Byron Jacobs, which was also well received.

If you like working with CDs, etc instead of books, check out Neven's "French with Nc3" from Chessbase. And although it is a good CD, with of course a comprehensive database, it is also "aged" and I still recommend Psakhis.

Now to the part for connoisseurs. If you have an additional 10 bucks or so, get Andy Soltis "The Fighting French" from Chess Digest. This roughly 100 page book deals with nothing but the Burn variation. Be warned, it is an old book, 1993, but by studying it, you get a very good introduction about the themes and ideas. You can than polish up with Psakhis and a database.

  
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #2 - 01/30/09 at 22:13:33
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Watson’s Play the French covers the 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 line, but not the gxf6 lines. 

I think both the Watson book and Moskalenko’s The Flexible French are very good books to have if you plan to play the French – especially at the expert/master level.

For gxf6 coverage you could look at Psakhis’ book on the classical French or Byron Jacobs’ French Classical.
  

1d4!
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ghenghisclown
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Re: Resources for Possible Repertoire
Reply #1 - 01/30/09 at 22:07:03
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NO. Chapter 14  of PTF only goes over Bxf6 in the Classsical Burn variation. OK, I'm not a fan of this book, but truthfully I think it's best used as a reference. If you're not planning on playing the Winawer, I'd skip it. For me, the useful parts of the book are the "anti" lines like the exchange, KIA, etc...but such is covered by McDonald (in HTPA 1e4) anyway.

Some people rave about Mastering the French (also by McDonald, you may be able to find a copy online).  I sold my copy because I thought the book was fairly discouraging, not very useful, and even lacked specifics. Actually, I think it's a better book for players of the White side. I would suggest Chess Explained: The French by Eingorn. 

From a reference/theoretical side I'd get Steffen Pedersen's The Mainline French: Nc3. Perhaps outdated, and he misses a few improvements, but an excellent place to start with the help of a database. 

I wish you many French victories!
  

"Experience is a dim lamp, which only lights the one who bears it."
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miamisharks
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C00-C19: Resources for Possible Repertoire
01/30/09 at 20:25:42
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Hola,

I'm a FIDE 2100 player interested in taking up the French. I'd like to create a dynamic French repertoire. Having done some exploration, I like the following lines for black:

4. e5 Classical with 7..Be7
4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 gxf6
Guimard vs Tarrasch

At the present I own John Watson's Dangerous Weapons: The French, which treats the Guimard, and Neil McDonald's "how to play against 1. e4", which discusses the 7...Be7 Classical. I also have a chesspublishing.com subscription. I'd like to know which other resources you Frenchies recommend for the lines I find interesting.

Take care!

Edit: I'm particularly curious about what you recommend for the ...gxf6 lines I am interested in.

Further Edit: Does "Play The French" discuss the ...gxf6 lines?

« Last Edit: 07/24/11 at 08:36:47 by dom »  
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