ChessBase Magazine 150

The move of the rook pawn may be markedly less played than 3.Bf4, but as Martin Breutigam shows in his article, much can be said in favour of 3.h4: in addition to objective factors there is also the fact that it wrenches opponents away from their accustomed variations.

The surrender of the centre at first looks harmless, but White will soon spread his wings on the queenside with a3, b4 and c4. According to Mihail Marin a future e3-e4 is even an option, whereas Black does not find it easy to develop a clear plan.

In the first section Arkadij Rotstein examines the attempt at refutation with 6.e4 0-0 7.f4 and also the possible deviations 6...Qe7 and 6...Be5. Then the author turns to the modern treatment with 6.Nf3 0-0 7.Bg5 Re8 8.e3 Bf8.

In the final part of his series on 7...c6 Boris Schipkov analyses continuations other than 8.d5 or 8.b3, for example this time he deals with 8.Qb3 and 8.Rb1. But as our Russian author concludes, White does not have a single variation with which he can achieve an advantage.

3.Nc3 may no longer be considered the main variation nowadays (now it is 3.e5), but nevertheless theory continues to develop and in some lines Black faces problems. But according to Evgeny Postny he should be in a position to be able to solve them.

As the practice of this variation shows, players with White commit a lot of inaccuracies. Leonid Kritz straightens out matters somewhat and also shows how the best moves for both sides lead to a slight advantage for White.

In the second part of this (for Black) unpleasant version of a French Exchange, Hannes Langrock shows variations in which after 5...Nc6 6.a3 Black does not take on c3. In addition the solid line 5...Nf6 is also up for discussion.

This is another variation in which players with Black do not manage to reach the sort of positions with which they are familiar. But that is White’s main aim, because Knut Neven is not absolutely looking to achieve an opening advantage with his repertoire suggestion.

Both after the more flexible 8...Nbd7 and after 8...0-0 the move 9.Nh4 is White’s most ambitious try. Igor Stohl examines the latest developments, but cannot see a way for White to achieve a secure advantage.

From the practical point of view, the queen move is not a bad one, since the best move 4...dxc4 is played only in a minority of games. But after 5.Qxc4 Nf6 the analyses of Michal Krasenkow show that in this case White has good prospects.

The move of the white queen represents a promising way of nevertheless getting in e4 in a single move. The results of the analysis of Efstratios Grivas hint that White always possesses at least a mini-advantage.

This pawn sacrifice can be recommended to those players with Black who want to be active right from the opening. White is well advised not to hang on to the pawn. But even when he returns it, according to Tibor Karolyi he has few prospects of achieving an advantage.

Vassily Smyslov liked to play 4.Bg5 and so did Mikhail Gurevich later. In the first part of his contribution Alexey Kuzmin investigates lines in which Black has already played ...d6. White can then harbour justified hopes of an advantage.