MacCutcheon variant

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Starting position of the MacCutcheon Variation after 4.… Bf8 – b4

The MacCutcheon variant is a chess opening or a variant of the French defense .

It arises after moves 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e6 2. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 3. Nb1 – c3 Ng8 – f6 4. Bc1 – g5 Bf8 – b4 and thus belongs to ECO code C12.

Unlike in other variants of the classic system , Black answers the shackling of his knight with a direct counterattack. The tactical justification for this is that attacking the tied piece after 5. e4 – e5 h7 – h6 does not lead to White winning the piece.

history

The variant was named after the American chess player John Lindsay McCutcheon (born May 28, 1857 , † July 17, 1905 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania), who first played it in 1885 in a simultaneous game against Wilhelm Steinitz in New York . McCutcheon won the game in 28 moves. He used his variant several times later, for example at the tournament in Saratoga Springs in 1899 against Samuel Lipschütz and in two correspondence chess games against Kenneth S. Howard in 1903. The latter were commented on by William Ewart Napier in his chess column in the Pittsburg Dispatch , with Napier commenting, that Emanuel Lasker was also interested in these games. Lasker himself was first confronted with the variant in a game against Jackson Whipps Showalter in 1899 . In 1907 Frank James Marshall applied it in the 4th game of the world championship match against Lasker and thus achieved a draw .

Later world champions had different experiences with the variant: While José Raúl Capablanca suffered one of his extremely rare defeats with white against Oscar Chajes in New York in 1916 , Alexander Alekhine won with black at the championship of the Moscow chess club in 1915 against Nikolai Dmitrijewitsch Grigoryev . In the analysis Alekhine discovered an improvement for White, which he published in 1927 as Alekhine - Grigoryev (i.e. with swapped colors) instead of the actual course of the game. Along with Adams - Torre, New Orleans 1920, it is the most famous constructed game in chess history. It was also known under the name Alekhin's five-queens game :

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6 hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 8. h4 gxh4 9. Qg4 Be7 10. g3 c5 11. gxh4 (drew in the game actually played Grigoryev as white here instead 11. 0–0–0) cxd4 12. h5 dxc3 13. h6 cxb2 14. Rb1 Q5 + 15. Ke2 Qxa2 16. h7 Qxb1 17. hxg8D + Kd7 18. Qxf7 Qxc2 + 19. Kf3 Nc6 20. Qgxe6 + Kc7 21 Df4 + KB6 22 Dee3 + Lc5 23 G8D B1D in this complicated position in which by several farmers conversions are five queens on the board, gave Alekhine 24 T6 as winning move. This threatens Qd8 matt , and Black loses, for example, after 24 ... 25 DXF1 Db4 + Db5 26 Qd8 + Ka6 27 Dea3 + together with Matt. However, many years later it was found out that Black could probably save himself by moving 24.… Bg4 +.

Bobby Fischer played two games with white in this variant: he lost to Tigran Petrosjan in Curaçao in 1962, and three years later he won the USA championship against Nicolas Rossolimo . He took up this game in his book My 60 Memorable Games .

After the variant was considered dubious for black for a long time and was hardly used at a high level, this changed in the 1990s, mainly due to new ideas from Grand Master Igor Glek . The opening is now part of the repertoire of many world-class players (including Alexander Morosewitsch , Viktor Korchnoi , Teymur Rəcəbov ) and is an important and popular variant of the French defense.

variants

The MacCutcheon variant usually results in very complicated, tactical positions in which Black by no means only fights for a draw, but has to take a certain risk.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4

• 5. Bf1 – d3 is an old-fashioned sequel that was played by Emanuel Lasker in 1908 in the world championship match against Siegbert Tarrasch . The same position was by diverter ever in 1873 on the board (4 Bd3, 5. Bg5), ie 12 years before McCutcheon applied them against Steinitz, namely in the match against Karl Josef Pitschel Heral, played in Vienna.
• 5. e4xd5 Qd8xd5 6. Bg5xf6 Bb4xc3 + (g7xf6 7. Ng1 – e2 Nb8 – c6 8. a2 – a3 Bb4xc3 + 9. Ne2xc3 Qd5xd4 10. Dd1xd4 Nc6xd4 11. 0–0–0 c7 – c5 12. Nc3 – e4 –0 c7 – c5 12 13. c2 – c3 with an unclear position.) 7. b2xc3 g7xf6 is more open than the main line 5. e5
• 5. e4 – e5 h7 – h6 and now
  • 6. e5xf6 h6xg5 7. f6xg7 Rh8 – g8 8. Qd1 – h5 Qd8 – f6! (not Rxg7 ?? 9. Qh8 +). Black wins back the pawn, has swapped his edge pawn h7 for the important white central pawn e5 and has the pair of bishops ( Salwe - Blumenfeld , St. Petersburg 1905, 0-1 after 57 moves).
  • 6. Bg5 – e3 was introduced by Dawid Janowski and has become a modern variant in recent years with complicated positions after 6.… Nf6 – e4 7. Qd1 – g4 Ke8 – f8 8. a2 – a3 Bb4xc3 + 9. b2xc3 Ne4xc3 has White compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
  • 6. Bg5 – d2 Bb4xc3 with the variants:
    • 7. Bd2xc3 ?! Nf6 – e4 8. Ng1 – e2 (8. Bc3 – a5 ?! (Fischer - Petrosjan, Curaçao 1962 , 0: 1 after 43 moves)) 0–0 9. Bc3 – b4 c7 – c5! with an unclear position or 8. Qd1 – g4 g7 – g6 (or 8.… Ke8 – f8) with very complicated positions.
    • 7. b2xc3 stabilizes the pawn center and is more common. In addition, after 7.… Nf6 – e4 8. Qd1 – g4, short castling is prevented because of 9. Bd2xh6. Now there is the actual main variant of the MacCutcheon variant. 7. b2xc3 and 8. Qd1 – g4 force a black concession.
      • 8.… Ke8 – f8 loses castling right. Another 9. Bf1 – d3 Ne4xd2 10. Ke1xd2 c7 – c5 11. h2 – h4 Nb8 – c6 12. Rh1 – h3 gives White a chance to attack.
      • In the case of 8.… g7 – g6, the f6-square was weakened. 9. Bf1 – d3 Ne4xd2 10. Ke1xd2 c7 – c5 11. Qg4 – f4 puts your finger in this wound. The result is a sharp game with chances on both sides.

swell

1. ↑ Steinitz - McCutcheon for replay (Java applet)
2. ^ John Hilbert: Essays in American chess history . Yorklyn 2002, pp. 266-268.
3. ^ Tim Krabbé: Alekhine's five queen game
4. ↑ Pitschel - Heral to replay (Java applet)

literature

• TD Harding: French: MacCutcheon and Advance Lines. Batsford, 1979. ISBN 0-7134-2026-X .
• James Eade: Remember the MacCutcheon. Chess Enterprises, Coraopolis 1991. ISBN 0-945470-10-X .