Advance Variation (French Defense)
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Diagram 1 : The French advance variant after 3. e4 – e5
The Advance Variation of the French Defense is an opening variation in chess . It is classified in the opening system of the ECO codes under the key C02.
The advance variant arises after the moves:
- 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e6 2. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 3. e4 – e5
history
The advance variant was first mentioned in the early 17th century by the Italian chess master Gioacchino Greco in his game collection. Greco himself played the advance variant in 1620 - against an unknown or unnamed opponent - and won after only 18 moves in a mating attack . The end of the game is typical for Greco, who at that time demonstrated tactical motives for attacking the king that are still valid today : Greco manages a decisive attack on the black king position by sacrificing quality .
In the middle of the 19th century the advance variant was introduced into tournament practice by the German chess master Louis Paulsen , towards the end of the 19th century the then world chess champion Wilhelm Steinitz used it in several games. At the beginning of the 20th century, Aaron Nimzowitsch developed the advance variant further and incorporated it into his concepts of the pawn chain , centralization and coverage .
In current tournament practice, the immediate advance of the white king's pawn is less common than the modern main continuation 3. Nb1 – c3, which is considered more demanding. In the current world elite, for example, the Latvian grandmaster Alexei Schirow plays the advance variant comparatively often.
Opening ideas
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Diagram 2 : Queen loss after 9. Bd3 – b5 +
White concludes with third e4 e5 immediately the center , denied the black king Springer access to the field f6 and therefore has a certain space advantage . Black's plan basically consists of two strategies to free himself: in the advance c7 – c5, which attacks the base of White's central position, and the move f7 – f6, in order to question the pawn on e5 directly. According to Nimzowitsch, attacking the “foundation” of White's central position (d4 pawn) is preferable to the latter, since after a possible exchange on e5 with f6xe5, White will hit back with d4xe5 and thus keep his constricting pawn on e5.
After 3.… c7 – c5 Nimzowitsch tried out the Nimzowitsch attack named after him , 4. Qd1 – g4. On 4.… c5xd4 White temporarily sacrifices a pawn and initially covers his outpost on e5 with 5. Ng1 – f3, which he then supports with Bc1 – f4 and - after the short castling - with Rf1 – e1. The queen on g4 puts pressure on Black 's kingside (pawn g7) and takes advantage of the fact that she cannot be driven out with Ng8 – f6.
Opening trap
A well-known opening trap arises after 3.… c7 – c5 4. c2 – c3 , the most common continuation these days. Black increases his pressure on the d4 pawn with 4.… Qd8 – b6 5. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 . With 4.… Nb8 – c6 Wiktar Kuprejtschyk liked to play 5. Bc1 – e3. White continues with 6. Bf1 – d3 and apparently loses a pawn, since the queen on d1 no longer controls the d4-square. But should Black use d4: 6.… c5xd4 7. c3xd4 Nc6xd4 ?? 8. Nf3xd4 Qb6xd4 ??, he loses after the check bid 9. Bd3 – b5 + his queen (see diagram 2). Instead of the faulty Nc6xd4, 7.… Bc8 – d7 is the necessary move, after which a possible check bid on b5 is prevented and thus a pawn loss on d4 actually threatens. 8. Nb1 – c3 Nc6xd4 9. Nf3xd4 Qb6xd4 10. 0–0 is a pawn sacrifice by Philip Stuart Milner-Barry in order not to lose speed by withdrawing bishop or not to have to exchange the good bishop after 8. Bd3 – c2 Nc6 – b4 .
Therefore 6. Bf1 – e2 and above all 6. a2 – a3 are more common. The idea of 6. a2 – a3 lies in the pawn advance b2 – b4, which gains space on the queenside and forces Black to clarify. 6.… c5 – c4 wants to exploit the only weak point of 6. a2 – a3, namely the weakening of the field b3. With a white pawn on a2, White could always play b3 very well and take back with the a-pawn, after which the pawn duo b3 – c3 arises. So Black tries to screw White onto the resulting white-squared weakness on the queenside and continues this positional "attack" with Nc6 – a5 and Bc8 – d7. 7. Bf1 – e2 Bc8 – d7 8. 0–0 Nc6 – a5 9. Nb1 – d2 Ng8 – e7 10. Rf1 – e1 shows how heavy this main line is. The structure 7. g2 – g3 with the intention of h2 – h4 and Bf1 – h3 is more expansive.
The prevention of b2 – b4 after 6. a2 – a3 by 6.… a7 – a5 makes the pawn sacrifice 7. Bf1 – d3 c5xd4 8. c3xd4 Bc8 – d7 9. Nb1 – c3 Nc6xd4 10. Nf3xd4 Qb6xd4 11. 0–0 something makes more sense, since the field b5 was permanently weakened.
swell
- ↑ Greco - NN (1620) Game by Greco for replay. (Java applet)
- ↑ After: M. Euwe (1981)
- ↑ a b See A. Nimzowitsch's Mein System (2002)
literature
- Yevgeny Svezhnikov : French advance variant . Volume 1. Edition Olms, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-283-00512-5 .
- Yevgeny Svezhnikov: French advance variant . Volume 2. Edition Olms, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-283-00513-3 .
- Max Euwe : Theory of Chess Openings, Part VIII, French / Caro-Kann . Rattmann, Hamburg 1981.
- Aaron Nimzowitsch: My system . 3rd edition, Rattmann, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-88086-117-X .