USCF Correspondence, 2018
W: Patrick McCartney (1959)
B: John Badger (1808)
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nh6
Despite seeing this move played in the last edition of The French Connection in a game from the late 1980s, this move didn't have its popularity grow exponentially until about 10 years ago, along with the line 5...Qb6 6.a3 Nh6, which is the line I have been playing as Black as of late myself. Ever since the 2006/2007 time period, many ideas in the older main lines, such as 5...Bd7 or 5...Qb6 6.a3 c4, were starting to shift into White's favor. So much so that some of you may recall that back in last August, I recommended 4...Bd7 and 5...a6 against the French Advance, which is another little explored sideline with chances for both sides. Prior to this period, the ...Nh6 ideas were also so rare that this line with 5...Nh6 even made an appearance into the book Dangerous Weapons: The French that came out about a decade ago. If you play the White side of the French Advance, be ready for these ...Nh6 ideas.
6.Bd3
While this move may be the most popular line, it is actually not very good for White. In Moskalenko's excellent book The Even More Flexible French, he points out that White has basically nothing in this line (see the note to Black's 7th move), and that according to both Sveshnikov, an expert on the French Advance, and Korchnoi, a French specialist himself, White's best move is 6.dxc5, when after 6...Bxc5 (6...Ng4? 7.Qa4!) 7.b4 Bb6 8.b5, the position is very unclear after both 8...Ne7 and 8...Ng4 9.bxc6 Nxf2 10.cxb7 Bxb7 10.Qa4+ Kf8. Also, if you go back to The French Connection: Volume 6, published about two weeks prior to this one, you will see Sveshnikov himself playing 6.dxc5!, although he did switch it up and played 8.Bxh6 rather than 8.b5.
6...cxd4 7.cxd4 f6
The line that Moskalenko claims makes 6.Bd3 not very good for White is 7...Nf5 8.Bxf5 exf5 9.Nc3 Be6. To a beginner, this makes no sense, as Black has an Isolated Queen Pawn, doubled f-pawns, and a Bishop on e6 that can be viewed as a "tall pawn". But in reality, Black's Light-Squared Bishop is no worse than Black's Dark-Squared one. Black also has the Bishop pair. Lastly, there is no good way for White to actually proceed against this structure, and as Moskalenko points out, after 10.Ne2 Be7 11.h4 h6 12.Nf4 Qb6 13.Rh3 g6 (13...O-O-O?! 14.h5!) 14.Kf1 O-O-O 15.Kg1 g5! with an attack for Black.
8.Bxh6 gxh6 9.O-O Bg7
This raises an interesting point. Often times, whether or not to take on h6 in these ...Nh6 lines depends on the Black Dark-Squared Bishop. If the Bishop still remains on f8, then Black can play ...Bg7 later on, pressuring the e5-pawn almost to the breaking point where White is going to need to take on f6 and aim to occupy e5 with a piece, presumably a Knight. If there has been a capture on c5 and the Black Bishop is then on c5 or b6, then most of the time ...f6 won't involve White capturing away from the center and using the central blockade theory discussed in the previous French Connection article. None of this is a hard and fast rule, but just something to keep in mind when planning the development of your other pieces, and hence White's decision on his next move.
10.Nbd2
I like this move better than 10.Nc3. From d2, White can occupy e5 with the Knight on f3 and then back it up with the other Knight on d2 going to f3, or that knight can go to b5 and aiming for c5, trying to entice a push of the b-pawn by Black, weakening the c6-square. Note that the only square that can be easier to access with a Knight from c3 than from d2 is the d6-square, but with Black blowing up the White center, White will not maintain control of d6 anyway. Therefore, this move makes more sense.
10...O-O
If Black wants to trade once on e5 via 10...fxe5 11.Nxe5, he can, and it's a matter of taste as it is no better and no worse than the move played. That said, Black cannot win a pawn despite the 3 attackers versus 2 defenders on e5 for tactical reasons. After 11...Nxe5?? (or 11...Bxe5?? 12.Qh5+ winning) 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.Qh5+, White wins.
11.Re1 Bd7
A possible improvement for Black is to take on e5 at this point. After 11...fxe5 12.dxe5 Rf7 13.Qc2 Bf8, White is still better and Black should make the adjustment at move 7, but even here, the position is at least manageable for Black. The pawn on e5 acts as a shield to the weakness on e6, and long term, Black has the Bishop pair if he can crack open the position in a scenario where White's Knights aren't all over the Black King like they will be in this game.
Note that 11...Nxd4 fails as after 12.Nxd4 fxe5 13.N4f3 e4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Rxe4, Black is positionally busted due to the wrecked pawn structure and the severe lagging behind in development.
12.exf6
Seeing how Black takes back before deciding what to do with the d2-Knight.
12...Qxf6
Taking with the Queen is probably Black's best option, but it has its own consequences in that the Bishop on d7 is now loose, and so White is able to gain time.
13.Nb3
With the idea of Nc5, forcing the Bishop to either move again or protect it. Knights are typically slower than Bishops, but if you can re-position Knights in a way that they attack loose pieces on the way to their final destination, they can get from point A to point B at a very rapid pace, even if A and B are on opposite sides of the board.
13...Be8
Now we start to see why Black should have taken on e5 back on move 11, creating the shield on the Black e6 pawn. What was once a shielded weakness is now a backwards pawn on an open file. White will start the process by dominating the square in front of the backwards pawn, and then re-position his pieces until he is ready to go after the weakness on e6 rather than simply controlling e5.
14.Qd2 Rf7
So White's plan is to take over e5 first. How does White do that? Well, the first think to understand is how many pieces from each side can have influence over e5. If White's can outnumber Black's, White can take control barring tactical shots available to Black, which there are none here. Both sides have the three heavy pieces, and White has the two Knights while Black has the Knight and the Dark-Squared Bishop. So that's five apiece. The Light-Squared Bishops, due to their restriction to light squares, are unable to influence the e5-square, right? Or are they? It turns out that only the White Bishop can due to Black's last move, and White pounces on the opportunity.
15.Bb5!
This is the idea! A Bishop on light squares can only attack an object that sits on a light square. For Knights, however, it's the exact opposite. A Knight sitting on a light square only controls dark squares, and a Knight sitting on dark squares only controls light squares. Therefore, if a Light-Squared Bishop captures a Knight sitting on a light square, this capture has influence over the dark squares. It removes one of the Black pieces that can directly control dark-squares in return for a piece that can only control the dark squares indirectly, and it will give White an extra piece that can control e5. Therefore, seeing this idea, we now see the point behind White's previous move. If White had played 14.Bb5, Black could counter with 14...Bh5, since the Rook hadn't moved to f7 yet, blocking the Bishop, and the White Knight on f3 would be in a pin. Of course, Black can spend time here to preserve the Knight, but then it moves away from the e5-square, giving control of it to White in a different manner.
15...Re7
Too little, too late. White is immediately ready to eliminate the Knight, and any time that Black tries to play ...Bh5, White can simply move the Knight to e5.
16.Bxc6 Bxc6 17.Ne5
The first mission is accomplished. White controls and occupies e5 and hence keeping the weak Black pawn stuck on e6 and this is White's next target.
17...Be8 18.Rac1 h6 19.Rc3 Bh6 20.Rg3+ Rg7 21.Rxg7+ Qxg7
So, in essence, the last four moves saw White trading his passive a1-Rook for Black's e7-Rook. Yet another minor detail that enhances White's advantage.
22.Qb4 b6 23.Qd6 Qf6 24.Nf3 Bf7
What is White's worst placed piece?
Where does White want that piece to land?
25.Nc1
With the move 22...b6 played by Black, White can no longer place the Knight on c5, and so it is now misplaced on b3. White would certainly love it if Black were to trade his better Bishop for the Knight on c1, and so White surely shouldn't be worried about that. Provided Black doesn't do White the favor, the Knight is headed for c3. The reasoning is fairly simple. White wants to eliminate the pawn on e6, and once he does, the d5-pawn will be very weak, and a Knight on c3 would be attacking this pawn directly.
25...Bf4 26.Qb4?!
This retreat is too passive and gives Black the opportunity to equalize the position. Stronger is 26.Qc6 when after 26...Qd8, in this case, the Knight should actually go for d3 instead of c3, and after 27.Nd3 Rc8 28.Qa4 Bb8 29.Nfe5, White has the advantage as both Black Bishops are very passive.
26...Bg6 27.Ne2 Bh6 28.Nc3 Bf5 29.Qd6 Qf8?
The only move that equalizes for Black is 29...Rf8! when after 29.Qg3+ Qg7 30.Qxg7+ Kxg7, the position is equal.
30.Rxe6!
Ripping apart the Black center and breaking through.
30...Bg7
The best Black's got is 30...Bxe6 31.Qxe6+ Kh8 32.Qxd5 with a significant advantage for White.
31.Re7 Kh8 32.Ne5 Bf6
At first glance, it appears as though White has just blundered in the last two moves. The Rook is attacked by the Bishop. The Rook appears to be pinned the Queen, and the other Bishop covers both the squares that the Rook can go to in order to keep the Queen protected, thinking that White is about to drop the exchange. At further glance, it can be seen that White can simply move the Rook away, like maybe to b7, since if Black takes the Knight, then the recapture with the Queen is check, and if Black takes the Queen, then there is a Royal Fork with Nf7+, regaining the Queen. The problem with this, however, is that while White is currently up a pawn, the board is open and White does have weaknesses, such as the pawn on d4, and so the two Bishops would be clearly better than the two Knights in an endgame, and so the Knight fork tactic is also undesirable. Therefore, White needs to find a "loud move", or another way to think of it is that White needs action immediately and that quiet moves are going to do nothing but allow Black to get his inactive Rook on a8 into the game and to trade the heavy pieces off, leading to Black's most desirable endgame here, a minor piece ending with the two Bishops against the two Knights on an open board. The good news is, White has such a move, and it is actually fatal to the Black King!
33.Nf7+! Kg7 34.Qg3+ Bg6
34...Bg4 is no better. White will respond with the same move as that played in the game with similar issues dealing with the pins and discoveries.
35.Rb7 Bxd4 36.Nxd5 Qc5??
A blunder in a bad position. Black could safely resign here, but if he isn't going to, about the best move he has is 36...Re8, but even then, White wins another exchange with 37.Nd6+. The game move allows a forced mate in 7.
37.Ne5+! Kh8
This loses even faster, but nothing saves Black.
A) 37...Kf8 prolongs the game the longest, but rather than forking the King and Queen, White can end it with 38.Qf3+ Ke8 (or 38...Kg8 39.Nf6+ Kf8 leading to the same thing) 39.Nf6+ Kf8 (or 39...Kd8 40.Rd7+ Kc8 41.Qxa8#) 40.Nxh7+ Ke8 (or 40...Kg8 41.Nf6+ and 42.Ng6#) 41.Nf6+ Kd8 42.Rd7+ Kc8 43.Qa8#.
B) 37...Kg8 leads to a Queen Sacrifice for mate. 38.Qxg6+!! hxg6 39.Nf6+ and the Rook will deliver mate on the next move depending on which of the two legal moves Black plays.
38.Rxh7+! 1-0
Black resigned as it's mate no matter what he does. 38...Kg8 leads to the double knight mate we saw in the previous note with 39.Nf6+ Kf8 40.Nxg6# while 38...Kxh7 39.Qxg6+ Kh8 40 Nf7# and 38...Bxh7 39.Nf7# are all mate as well.
So what have we learned from this game?
- First off, just like in the 2nd and 6th editions of The French Connection, the other two articles thus far where White has won, White's success has come from domination of the dark squares in the center of the board, and blockading the Black pawns on d5 and e6. Notice that this blockade is not always done with pawns, but sometimes White is willing to trade off the pawns provided Black can't recapture with a pawn, where White keeps control of d4 and e5 with his pieces, usually one or both of the Knights.
- While this game didn't technically reach an endgame like the other two games that White won had, the early focus is still not a direct attack on the King. Unlike say, the King's Gambit or the sacrificial attacks executed in the Najdorf Sicilian, success against the French comes in the form of domination of squares and blockading the Black pieces, paralyzing Black's position. Only after such paralysis or a well prepared breakthrough, such as the pawn capture on e6 in this game, is White ready to go for the kill shot. Trying to blow the Black King off the board immediately will do nothing but blow up in White's face, as we will likely see instances of in future articles where Black wins.
- When everything is under control and all of White's pieces are ideally placed, and White is ready for the kill shot, it is not the time to back off. Once you start, you can't afford to stop, as we saw twice in the game above. White played the wrong move on move 26, giving Black one opportunity to balance the position, but then on move 33, White slammed the door and didn't allow Black back in, and in the case of the latter scenario, despite being up a pawn, there may have been scenarios where Black might even gain the upper hand if White doesn't take action quickly.
- Lastly, we have seen a scenario where even on a fairly open board, the pair of Knights completely dominated the pair of Bishops. While many resources will tell you that the Bishop pair is extremely powerful, even in open positions, there are always exceptions to any rule, and no blanket statement in chess can be taken as gospel. Always look at each game individually and don't let generalities get in the way of the truth on the board in front of you.
This concludes the 7th Edition of The French Connection. Until next time, good luck in all of your French games, whether playing Black or White!
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