philidor defence
DESCRIPTION
Passive opening from black side, solid position buildup for white attackTRANSCRIPT
24/11/2015 Philidor Defence Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philidor_Defence 1/5
Philidor Defence
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6
ECO C41
Named after FrançoisAndré Danican Philidor
Parent Open Game
Synonym(s) Philidor's Defence
Contents
1 Use
2 Lines starting 3.d4
2.1 3...exd4
2.2 Hanham Variation
2.3 Alternative move order
2.4 Black experiments to reach the Hanham Variation
2.5 Philidor's original intention: 3...f5
2.6 3...Bg4?!
Philidor DefenceFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterisedby the moves:
1. e4 e52. Nf3 d6
The opening is named after the famous 18thcenturyplayer FrançoisAndré Danican Philidor, who advocatedit as an alternative to the common 2...Nc6. His originalidea was to challenge White's centre by the pawn thrustf7–f5.
Today, the Philidor is known as a solid but passivechoice for Black, and is seldom seen in toplevel playexcept as an alternative to the heavily analysed openingsthat can ensue after the normal 2...Nc6.
The ECO code for Philidor Defence is C41.
24/11/2015 Philidor Defence Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philidor_Defence 2/5
2.6 3...Bg4?!
3 Line starting 3.Bc4
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Use
The Philidor occurred in one of the most famous games ever played, the "Opera Box game" played in 1858between the American chess master Paul Morphy and two strong amateurs, the German noble Duke Karl ofBrunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard. The game continued 3.d4 Bg4, a deviation frommodern standard lines.
As of 2004, there are no top players who employ the Philidor with any regularity, although Étienne Bacrotand LiviuDieter Nisipeanu have occasionally experimented with it. Its popularity in master play hasincreased slightly over the last twenty years, however.[1]
Lines starting 3.d4
With 3.d4 White immediately challenges Black in the centre. In this position, Black has several options.
3...exd4
The most common Black response is 3...exd4 which relieves the central tension, although it gives up thecentre. After 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3, Black normally continues ...Be7 and ...00 (the Antoshin Variation) andachieves a strong defensive position.
In this line Black can also fianchetto his bishop to g7, although this is uncommon. Bent Larsen tried this ina few games, including a draw against Mikhail Tal in 1969.
Instead of 4.Nxd4, White can also play 4. Qxd4, as Paul Morphy favoured, intending 4... Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd76. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Bg5 followed by 000. This line was played in many 19thcentury games.
Hanham Variation
The other main option for Black is to maintain the central tension and adopt a setup with ...Nd7, ...Be7, and...c6. This plan is named the Hanham Variation (after the American chess master James Moore Hanham)and was favoured by Aron Nimzowitsch. A common line is: 3... Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. 00 (6.Ng5is an interesting alternative: after 6...00 7.Bxf7+ Rxf7 8.Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qd8 10.Nxa8, White is material
24/11/2015 Philidor Defence Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philidor_Defence 3/5
a b c d e f g h8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1a b c d e f g h
Black's aim in the HanhamVariation is a strongpoint defence ofe5.
up, but Black can develop a strong initiative after, for example,10...b5 11.Nxb5 Qa5+) 6... 00 7. a4 (to prevent ...b5) 7... c6 (seediagram).
Grandmaster Larry Kaufman, in his book The Chess Advantage inBlack and White, notes that the Hanham Variation aims to maintainBlack's pawn on e5, analogously to closed lines of the Ruy Lopez,and opines that "it would be quite popular and on a par with the majordefenses to 1.e4, except for the annoying detail that Black can'tactually reach the Hanham position by force."[2]
As an alternative to 4.Nc3 in response to Black's 3...Nf6, according toboth Kaufman and Grandmaster Christian Bauer, White retains someadvantage with: 4. dxe5! Nxe4 5. Qd5! Nc5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. exd6Qxd6 8. Nc3.[3][4]
Alternative move order
Black sometimes tries 3... Nd7 intending 4.Nc3 Ngf6, reaching the Hanham Variation. But then 4. Bc4! isawkward for Black to meet, since 4...Ngf6 loses to 5.Ng5, and 4...Be7 loses a pawn to 5.dxe5 Nxe5(5...dxe5?? 6.Qd5! wins) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5![3][5] So 4... c6 is best for Black, but leaves White with theadvantage of the bishop pair after 5. 00 Be7 6. dxe5 dxe5 (6...Nxe5 loses a pawn to 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Qh5) 7.Ng5! Bxg5 8. Qh5! Qe7 and now 9.Bxg5 or 9.Qxg5.[6]
Black experiments to reach the Hanham Variation
In recent years, Black has experimented with other move orders in an attempt to reach the HanhamVariation while avoiding 3...Nf6 4.dxe5! and 3...Nd7 4.Bc4!
One such line is 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 intending 4.Nf3 e5. However, White can deviatewith 4.f4!?[7][8] or even 4.g4!?[9]Another try is 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 which transposes to the Hanham after 4.Nf3 Nbd7, butWhite can instead try to gain a small advantage with 4. dxe5 (Kaufman opines that 4.Nge2 is "alsopromising") 4... dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Bc4.[8] After 4.dxe5, Bauer concludes that "White stands atrifle better" but that "provided he plays accurately, Black doesn't have much to fear following 6.Bc4,by choosing any of the three valid replies, 6...Ke8, 6...Bb4, or 6...Be6. Then 7.Bxe6 fxe6 his positionremains a hard nut to crack."[10]
Philidor's original intention: 3...f5
A more aggressive approach for Black after 3.d4 is 3...f5!? (see diagram), now called the Philidor CounterGambit, a move which Philidor himself recommended. According to Philidor, the move 3...f5 can also beplayed after 3.Bc4, which can lead to unique positions such as 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6, possibly followed by f5–f4, b7–b5, a7–a5, and even g7–g5 and h7–h5, when all Black pawns have moved before any piece.[11]
24/11/2015 Philidor Defence Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philidor_Defence 4/5
a b c d e f g h8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1a b c d e f g h
Philidor's original intent 3...f5!?
In the 19th century, 3...f5 was also played by Paul Morphy. The movecan lead to more open positions than the other lines, but is oftenconsidered dubious.[12][13] Others maintain that 3...f5 is a valid idea.Grandmaster Tony Kosten treats the move with respect in hismonograph on the opening.[14] The move was also played by DavidBronstein and by Teimour Radjabov.
The main alternatives after 3.d4 f5 are:
4. Bc4 after which Black should reply 4... exd44. Nc3 is also best followed by 4... exd4[15]4. dxe5 forces Black to complicate matters further with 4...fxe44. exf5 e4
All of these lead to a small advantage for White with correct play.
3...Bg4?!
Inferior is 3...Bg4?!, in light of 4. dxe5 Bxf3 (alternatively, Black can gambit a pawn with 4...Nd7?!, knownas the Duke of Brunswick Gambit) 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 giving White the advantage of the bishop pair in anopen position. (Now the "natural" 6...Nf6? allows White to win a pawn with 7.Qb3. This was played in thefamous "Opera Box game", when Paul Morphy as White declined to win the pawn but retained a stronginitiative after 7...Qe7 8.Nc3.)
Line starting 3.Bc4
An alternative approach for White is to play 3.Bc4, and either delay d2–d4, or forgo it altogether andinstead play d2–d3. The move 3.Bc4 is also White's route to an attempted Légal Trap. The continuation3...Nc6 brings about the SemiItalian Opening.
See also
List of chess openingsList of chess openings named after people
References1. The Philidor at Chessgames.com (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=C41)2. Kaufman 2004, p. 65.3. Kaufman 2004, p. 69.4. Bauer 2006, p. 32.5. Bauer 2006, p. 16.6. Bauer 2006, pp. 1722.7. Bauer 2006, p. 179.8. Kaufman 2004, p. 199.9. Bauer 2006, pp. 197–206.
24/11/2015 Philidor Defence Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philidor_Defence 5/5
The Wikibook ChessOpening Theory has a pageon the topic of: PhilidorDefence
10. Bauer 2006, p. 174.11. François André Philidor, Analyse du jeu des Échecs, 1749.12. Kaufman 2004, p. 22.13. Bauer 2006, pp. 2232.14. Tony Kosten, Winning with the Philidor, Batsford Chess, 1992.15. Further recent analysis on this line can be found here
(http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1179716701.shtml).
Bibliography
Christian Bauer, The Philidor Files, Everyman Chess, 2006. ISBN 1857444361.Larry Kaufman, The Chess Advantage in Black and White, McKay Chess Library, 2004. ISBN 0812935713.
Further reading
Barsky, Vladimir (2010). The Modern Philidor Defence. Chess Stars. ISBN 9789548782777.
External links
Opening overview (http://www.eudesign.com/chessops/philapp.htm)Shirov's 5.g4!? gambit in the Philidor(http://brooklyn64.com/2010/beatingthephilidorshirovs5g4gambitagainstthephilidordefense/#more736)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philidor_Defence&oldid=681906523"
Categories: Chess openings
This page was last modified on 20 September 2015, at 09:04.Text is available under the Creative Commons AttributionShareAlike License; additional terms mayapply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is aregistered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization.