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C03 : Tarrasch 3...h6 (Read 6084 times)

FreeRepublic God Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 1017 Location: Georgia Joined: 06/08/17 Gender:	Re: C03 : Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #8 - 01/19/26 at 03:41:23	Post Tools	Print Post
	Nernstian59 wrote on 01/19/26 at 02:07:00: he Harmonious French Tarrasch - NM Francesco Dunne Francesco Dunne provided a very nice course on Chessable on the Open Ruy Lopez: The Complete Open Spanish for Black


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Nernstian59 Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 296 Joined: 12/15/21	Re: C03 : Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #7 - 01/19/26 at 02:07:00	Post Tools	Print Post
	The Chessable course French Revolution: A Fighting Repertoire for Black by GM Luka Budisavljević also recommends meeting the Tarrasch with 3...h6. The lines are similar to those presented in the Modern Chess database by Jobava/Basso, although less detailed, which is understandable since Budisavljević is trying to cover the entire French Defense in his course rather than just concentrating on the Tarrasch. The following Chessable courses cover 3...h6 from White's point of view: Lifetime Repertoires: Wesley So's 1.e4 - GM Wesley So Trample the French: French Tarrasch Variation - IM Patrick Gong Vanish the French: Tarrasch Variation - GM Daniel Gormally The Harmonious French Tarrasch - NM Francesco Dunne


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FreeRepublic God Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 1017 Location: Georgia Joined: 06/08/17 Gender:	Re: C03 : Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #6 - 01/17/26 at 15:36:53	Post Tools	Print Post
	jp wrote on 07/09/15 at 16:56:13: Does anyone know if 3...h6 is covered anywhere apart from the Dangerous Weapons book and CP site? John Watson covered this in Dangerous Weapons: The French in 2007! The Dangerous Weapons series introduced many interesting and important lines. Coverage of this line is still good, though of course theory has advanced from nearly 20 years ago. A brief excerpt: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 h6!? "What's going on here? How can a non-developing and potentially weakening move like this be taken seriously? Part of the answer to that question is simplicity itself: although White's knight serves an essential defensive function, it is otherwise dubiously placed on d2! Right off, it blocks White's bishop on c1 and the queen on d1 (which otherwise provides protection to the pawn on d4). Furthermore, the knight is passively situated and controls nothing on Black's side of the board. Of course, that's hardly reason to condemn the move 3 Nd2, it just means that White's knight will certainly have to move again in order to justify its existence and 'free' White's game."


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FreeRepublic

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Re: C03 : Tarrasch 3...h6
Reply #5 - 01/17/26 at 14:23:31

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There is a new database devoted to 3...h6 at Modern-chess:

French Defense for Black - 3..h6 against the Tarrasch Variation by GM Baadur Jobava GM Pier Luigi Basso, January 14, 2026. "If you're tired of passive equality in the Tarrasch, this course offers something better: initiative, clarity, and a real fight"

This has also been seen from the White side at Modern-chess:
Positional Repertoire against the French Updated
GM Renier Castellanos December 11, 2017
3.Nd2 - Strategic Repertoire against the French Defense
IM Dejan Marjanovic September 4, 2024

Going back further, another source is John Watson's Play the French (4th Edition, 2012). This variation has been analyzed many times at ChessPublishing.

A key position can be reached after:
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 h6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. O-O g5
or
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ngf3 h6 8. O-O g5
Black should not assume that he will reach this position as white has significant ways to vary.

From this position, 9.dxc5 has been played most often, followed by 9.h3. Marjanovic recommends 9h3. Castellanos recommends 9b3.

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jp YaBB Newbies Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 3 Joined: 07/01/15	Re: Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #4 - 07/13/15 at 07:00:50	Post Tools	Print Post
	Thanks again.


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motörhead Full Member Offline Here comes the bass, thunder in the guts... Posts: 226 Joined: 10/09/08	Re: Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #3 - 07/12/15 at 15:46:13	Post Tools	Print Post
	jp wrote on 07/09/15 at 16:56:13: Hi Does anyone know if 3...h6 is covered anywhere apart from the Dangerous Weapons book and CP site? thanks In Secrets of Opening Surprises, vol. 2, there is a little 8-pages article "Let's wait and see: 3...h6 in the French" against both 3.Nd2 and 3.Nc3 - based on games of eingorn and others. Author is Jeroen Bosch.

	A walk trough the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet.
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jp YaBB Newbies Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 3 Joined: 07/01/15	Re: Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #2 - 07/12/15 at 08:26:33	Post Tools	Print Post
	Thank you


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Fllg God Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 647 Joined: 05/30/09 Gender:	Re: Tarrasch 3...h6 Reply #1 - 07/10/15 at 04:28:57	Post Tools	Print Post
	There is an article by Eingorn in the latest NIC Yearbook.


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jp YaBB Newbies Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 3 Joined: 07/01/15	C03 : Tarrasch 3...h6 07/09/15 at 16:56:13	Post Tools	Print Post
	Hi Does anyone know if 3...h6 is covered anywhere apart from the Dangerous Weapons book and CP site? thanks
	« Last Edit: 03/13/17 at 18:46:53 by dom »

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