| Back to Back Issues Page |
 |
|
LCB, Issue #099 --, Combat the French Defense in the Tarrasch September 01, 2023 |
Combat the French Defense in the TarraschLapoc Chess Board, Issue #099 -- GOTM #69 learn and play online chess How do you feel when you go online to play a game of chess and your opponent plays the French Defense (1.e4 e6, usually followed by 2.d4 d5)? You're hoping he's not an expert on the French. There are a few variations you can try, the Exchange Variation (3.exd5), the Advance Variation (3.e5) and the Paulsen Variation (3.Nc3 where the game might go into the Winawer Variation (3...Bb4)) are good options. But the option we're going to talk about today is the Tarrasch Variation (3.Nd2). This month's game features such an opening. Per Ofstad of Norway took on Wolfgang Uhlmann in Saalfeld Saale in 1963. Combat the French Defense in the TarraschOfstad, Per - Uhlmann, Wolfgang [C07]GotM #69, Saalfeld Saale, 1963 [Connaughton, Ken] 1.e4 King's Pawn Game 1...e6 French Defense 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Tarrasch Variation 3...c5 Open Variation 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4
After the exchanges Black has a Queen in the center. He also has two pawns in the d and e-files while White has none. White is leading in development however and he will win further tempi against the vulnerable Black Queen. 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Re1 a6 9.a4 Qc7
Black releases some of his grip on d4 so as to give his dark square Bishop some room. 10.Ne4 Bd7 11.Nxd4 Be7 Black is still well behind in development and now White is ready to exploit his advantage. 12.Nf5!
Sacrificing the Knight to tear open the cover in front of Black's still central King. 12...exf5 The sacrifice is accepted and now White can subject Black to real pressure through a number of tactical ideas. 13.Nd6+ The Bishop is pinned of course and does not pose a threat to the Knight. 13...Kf8 14.Nxf7
Not only is the King compromized but the Rook is trapped. 14...Be8 15.Qd5 White wants much more than the Rook. 15...Qa5 16.Qe6 Nd4 Black is scrambling well, he tries to chase the Queen off the light diagonal before White has a chance to get her to f7. 17.Ng5!?
An interesting continuation 17...Bxg5?? Black supposes he can afford to take the material but this moves loses quickly. (17...Nxe6 18.Nxe6+ Kf7 19.Nf4+ Kf8=) 18.Qd6+ Be7 19.Rxe7
And with the end inevitable, Black surrenders. (19.Rxe7 Nxe7 20.Qf6+ gxf6 (20...Bf7 21.Qxf7#)21.Bh6#) 1-0 Ofstad, Per - Uhlmann, Wolfgang P.S. If you do not have html based email software and you're using a text only system, you may find that the links are only partially highlighted and may not work. If this is the case, simply copy and paste the entire link into the browser and hit Enter. That should get you where you want to go. Comments, ideas, feedback? I'd be stoked to hear from you. Get in touch See you next month. Ken 
|
| Back to Back Issues Page |
