ferdia wrote on 01/18/10 at 00:43:10:


You are lucky... ....John Watson deals with 3...Nd7  in one of his books about French and Watson is now publishing french updates on chesspub...do I really need to quote one his famous books ?

...ok...maybe I post here next week if nobody adds some data

3..Bd7 may not lose by force, but I sure don't like the positions Black gets.  At least the ...e5 variation had a few active lines even if it wasn't sound.

3...e5 4.dxe5 dxe4 5.Qe2 Nc6. In the case of 6.Qxe4 Nge7 7.Bb5 a6 Black has enough compensation. However, 6.Nxe4! Bf5 7.Nf3 Qd5 8.Nc3 Bb4 9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 is more precise, I have to admit that Black hasn't much for the pawn.

3...e5 4. de de 5. Qe2 was recommended in a Chess Digest monograph circa 1973, with a comment like "and it is not clear what Black has for his pawn."

Also 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3(d2) dxe4 4. Nxe4 Qd5!? is  interesting option.

Aber, Stefan, you will surely agree that the Lachmann isn't playable at the 2300 level. When it is tried out there, Black just gets smashed, as in games like this:

[Event "Zagreb Koncar"]
[Site "Zagreb"]
[Date "2001.01.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Krstic, Uros"]
[Black "Pecnik, Leo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2325"]
[BlackElo "2171"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 e5 5. dxe5 {Transposing into the Lachmann} Qxd1+ 6. Kxd1 Nc6 7. f4 Bg4+ 8. Ke1 O-O-O 9. Bd2 f6 10. Nf3 Bxf3 11. gxf3 fxe5 12. fxe5 Nxe5 13. Be2 Nf6 14. Bc3 Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Re8 17. Kd2 Rxe4 18. Rag1 Rg8 19. h4 g6 20. Kd3 Ra4 21. Rf1 Bc5 22. Bf6 Rxa2 23. Kc4 Bd6 24. Bc3 Ra4+ 25. b4 Re8 26. Rf7 Ra3 27. Rxh7 b5+ 0-1

Oh, wait ... 

Like TN, I kept this game in my data...but like many others (I think) I cannot stop thinking "3...a5..what a beginner move !! " and same time quoting a GM saying opening is only good if you get a playable game. 

I don't deny some players CAN play such a lines (and you have many, one being more famous than another 1.e4 a6 ;  1.e4 e5 Qh5 ; Prie attack (joking) )  ... but I dont' believe many mass of players can play like this, without required knowledge and practical play experience, to have any long time good results.

About "exceptions", bad moves against the Tarrash, if you look for, you will find 3..e5 and others. 

Usually "good" books only mentionned "good" moves  (otherwise you deny good teaching is to improve learning to remember good ways and dismissing bad ways).

Recently I discovered that 3...f5 comes very close to equalising for Black against the Tarrasch, and interestingly 3...a6 and 3...h6 also suffice for equality. If such ugly looking moves suffice for equality, then does this mean that Black can do whatever he likes in the Tarrasch, and still equalise or only be marginally worse?

Apparently Black can even spend two tempi advancing his a-pawn to a4 and still win:

[Event "Moscow RGSU-A"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2006.11.15"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Sjugirov, Sanan"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2444"]
[BlackElo "2545"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2006.11.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "8"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.01.10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a5 4. Bd3 a4 5. Ne2 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. exd5 exd5 8.
O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Qe1 Kf8 11. Nf4 Nf6 12. Nxh5 Nxh5 13. Qe5 Nf6 14. Nf3 Nc6
15. Qe2 Qb6 16. c3 Re8 17. Qc2 Ne4 18. b4 axb3 19. axb3 Qc7 20. b4 Bb6 21. Bxe4
dxe4 22. Ng5 Nd4 23. Qa2 Nb5 24. c4 Nc3 25. Qd2 Bd4 26. Kh1 Qxc4 27. Bb2 h6 28.
Rac1 hxg5 29. Bxc3 Bxc3 30. Qxc3 Qxc3 31. Rxc3 g4 32. Rc7 gxh3 33. Rxb7 Rh6 34.
gxh3 Rxh3+ 35. Kg2 Rh5 36. Rc1 e3 37. fxe3 Rxe3 38. b5 g6 39. b6 Rb5 40. Rcc7
Rb2+ 41. Kf1 Rf3+ 42. Ke1 Kg7 43. Rb8 Rh3 0-1

Perhaps I shouldn't be so shocked, though. According to CVO 53 (the first ChessVibes Openings of 2010), White scored 0.5/3 with the Tarrasch in the first week of 2010. Come to think of it, 3...h5 also seems to offer Black some counterplay, since if 4.Ngf3 h4 5.Bd3, then 5...h3 should be about equal. 5.h3 is better but even then White can only count on a small edge. Rybka claims that White has a small edge with 5.ed5, but I think the position is only equal since the d2-knight is badly placed, Black has a space advantage on the kingside and by the time White gets his c1-bishop into the game, Black will have completed his development and achieved equality. 

PS: This post is meant to be mostly tongue in cheek although the question is serious. One Grandmaster made a similar comment highlighting the flexibility of the French (can't remember who now).