I didn't know the "Salto Mortale" variation by name until recently. But I've played the Black side and won in correspondence chess against an "operator" simply by following Psakhis' line which he covers in The Complete French. You need not worry about the perceived material deficit.

Stigma wrote on 04/17/11 at 20:07:39:


20.Qh8 Qa6+ 21.Kg2 Re8 22.Rac1 Be7 23.Qh6 Qd6 24.Rhd1 d4 25.Bxf6 Bxf6 26.Qe3 Re7 27.Qb3+ Qe6= Yandemirov-Iliushin,Ishevsk 2005 (Moskalenko) but I prefer Black

15...e4 (Luther-Matamoros Franco,Cienfuefos 1997) 16.Nxd4 Bb4+ 17.Bd2!? (17.Kf1 exd3 18.Bg5 Bxf6 19.Qxf6 gxf6 (Vysochin, S.-Shchukin, D. St Petersburg  2009) 20.Rd1 b6 (Daberit-Kosten,Avon 1985 (MCO)) 21.a3 Bc5 22.Nf3=) Bxd2 18.Kxd2 Qa5+ 19.Kd1 exd3 20.Nb3! Qc7 21.Rc1 Qe5 22.Re1 Bg4+!? (22.Qxb2 23.Qd4 Qxa2 24.Rc7+ Bd7 25.Qxd3 (Anagnostopoulos-Emms,Southampton 1986  (Psakhis Nd2)) and now White has advantage) 23.f3 Qxb2! 24.Rc7+ Kg8 25.Qg5! (25.Ree7 Ne8=) Qb1+ (25..Qxa2 26.Rxg7+) 26.Qc1  (26.Nc1 Qb6=) Qxa2 27.Qc3 Bd7 (27...Qb1+ 28.Nc1 Bd7 29.Re7 Rd8 30.Kd2 Kh8 31.Nxd3 +-) 28.Re7 Rd8 29.Nc5 Qxg2 30.Nxd7 Qxf3+ 31.Rc1 d2+ 32.Kxd2 Ne4+ 33.Rxe4 Qxe4 34.Qe5 Qb4=

My personal preferences at the moment are:

1.) Against 3.Nc3 I play the Winawer with 7. ... 00 (but 3. ...Nf6 looks also very interesting and promising)
2.) Against 3.Nd2 I play 3. ...Nf6 (the ...Qc7 variation) and I really like black
3.) Against the advance variation I play the idea with ...Qb6, ...Bd7, ...Bb5 etc
I have a very good score with that variation, can someone tell me, why this variation is not played by Top GMs?
4.) Against 3.exd5 I like to play  IQP with playing ...c5 (Watsons line in PTF 4.Bd3 Nc6!? looks also interesting)

I agree with MartinC. The currently popular Poisoned Pawn main line with 12...d4 may lead to drawish positions ultimately, but both Black and White has so many ways to deviate earlier that it doesn't really matter, certainly below 2300.

If White is really out for an easy draw against the Winawer, he does better to look closely at 4.Nge2 or 4.exd5 instead.

This has been an interesting thread to read - thanks to all who contributed.  Several posts seem to indicate that against best play the Winawer (while quite challenging and fun to play) seems to tend toward draws (if both players navigate the complications and theory to get that far!)  I guess that could be said of any opening but I was wondering whether or not the alternatives to the Winawer (Classical, MacCutcheon, etc.) can be said to offer Black more opportunity to win with the current state of theory?  I personally enjoy the excitement of the Winawer but was wondering whether or not it was worth the time and investment to really learn an alternative (and if so, what would you suggest?)

Thanks Stigma. Moskalenko spends four pages on the Salto Mortale and has also a few things to say about 7.Nb3. These days I tend to postpone the research of such lines until I meet them in corr. chess.

MNb wrote on 04/17/11 at 17:17:42:

When I said earlier that "White can play for a win without much risk", I was thinking of this line and Watson's 5.f4 c5 6.Ng3 Nc6 7.Nb3!? from DW: French. In both lines Black wins very rarely. Though one recent idea caught my eye against the latter:



Black's 8...h6 and 9...g5 is in John Watson style!

In the 9.Nf4 line, the new-ish idea I'm talking about is 



which has done very well for White. I'm not too confident in Black's alternatives on move 18-19 either, (though 19...Be7 is worth looking at). But I don't understand why more people don't try Kosten's (and Moskalenko's) 15...e4!? 16.Nxd4 Bb4+

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 04/17/11 at 13:37:35:

Maybe on top GM level either 4.exd5 exd5 or 4.exd5 Qxd5 are drawish enough that White should choose something else. In that case I agree with BPaulsen and Dean that things are looking good for the French at the moment since both the Winawer and the Classical are also in good shape!

And still this "drawishness" doesn't prevent strong GMs from playing the opening, like Adams, Tiviakov, Rublevsky etc. I liked Tzermiadianos' recommendations in the 4.exd5 exd5 lines and wouldn't like playing Black against them. It will also be interesting to see what Yevseev comes up with in the upcoming Chess Stars book for White.

From a practical point of view, players below GM/IM level are worse defenders and therefore less likely to play the exd5 exd5 lines, and if they do, to play them well. 

In practice 3...Nf6 is the overwhelmingly most frequent choice against me, and I'm happy with that since White has so many playable and interesting options Yes, including the "Salto Mortale" which is the 9.Nf4!? sideline, where White has found improvements recently. I also often see 3...Nc6 (exciting) and 3...dxe4 (not my favorite opening, but then 3.Nc3 wouldn't avoid it either). 3...c5, while objectively strong, is only the 4th choice!