C41

1
Philidor Defence
3....Nd7
reventing the "freeing" move d6-d5
-maintain the space advantage and
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4
restrict the activity of the minor pieces
White can and must advance in the
with the help of the pawns.
centre, hoping for 3...exd4 when he
7.Qd3 Qg6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Bf4 Nc5
remains with the only central pawn e4
10.Qe3 Be6 11.Be2 Nh6 12.Nd4 a5
and in the absence of Nc6 he may retake
13.Rad1²
with the Nf3xd4 without being afraid of
White has a better cotrol over the
knights exchange. At the same time
center while Black can't find stable
Black hopes for the pawn exchange
positions for for the minor pieces. A
dxe5 which assures him the balance in
possible "to do list":
the center.
-push f2-f3 in order to keep Nh6 out of
play
-once Ra8-d8 played White can chase
[ 3.Bc4 f5
the other knight with b2-b4
Was the original setup for Black
-gradually increse the pressure along
imagined by Andre Philidor. ]
the d-file against the backwarded pawn
d6.
3...Nd7
1-0 Sokolov,I (2655)-Bosboom,M
Right from the first moves Black is trying
(2423)/Hilversum NED 2007 ]
to build a fortress, but Nd7 in fornt of the
[
light squares bishop determines a
4...h6 5.dxe5
temporary weakening of the light
A) 5...Qe7 6.exd6 Qxe4+
squares. White has to pay attention to
Despite the double attack created,
the move orders and to exploit
Black's last move is a commital one.
immediately Black's vulnerabilityon the
White has to take advantage of the
light squares.
open e-file and the exposed black
queen.
[The line starting with 3...exd4 4.Nxd4
7.Be2 Bxd6 8.0-0 Ne7
will be covered on another article. ]
( 8...Ngf6 9.Bd3 Qc6 10.Re1+±
To do list:
4.Bc4 c6
- increase the lead in development
[ 4...exd4 5.Qxd4
chasing the black queen with Nb1-c3
Better than 5.Nxd4 since the it
and Bc1-e3
develops the queen on a safe square
-exchange Bd6 which is the main
as Black's queen side knight is already
defender in Black's camp
on d7.
-create a local foreces superiority
Qf6 6.Nc3 c6
around the black king. )
Black has to defend against Nb5 but
9.Nc3
weakens the d6 pawn. From now on
Black covered e-file but White is
White's "to do list" will involve:
using the CSQ of Black's akward
-gain tempos attacking d6 and
setup threatening to exchange Bd6

with Nc3-e4 or Nc3-b5.
Qe6 10.Re1 0-0 11.Bd3 Qg4
( 11...Qf6 12.Ne4 Qg6 13.b3
Prepares Bc1-a3 which will have a
devastating effect after Nxd6 as
Black is lagging in development and
the dark squares will became
vulnerable.
Nc6 14.Nh4 Qe6 15.Nxd6 Qxd6
16.Nf5 Qf6 17.Ba3± )
12.h3 Qh5 13.Nb5 Nc6 14.Nxd6
cxd6 15.Bf4±
White gains d6, keeps the pair of
bishops and slowly will create a free
pawn on the queen side. ;
B) 5...dxe5 6.Bxf7+
This is a forced line, which can bring
White an easy win. White clears the
"focal point" f7 in order to exploit the
weak light squares around the black
king.
Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6
As a first result White has 2 pawns
for the bishop while the black king is
exposed in the middle of the board.
Black's pieces are still "sleeping" on
the back rank, so White will try to lure
the king on e5 after he brings the
dangerous battery N+Q in attack .
8.Nc3
B1) 8...Bb4 9.Qd4
Threatening a "killer" discovered
check .
Bxc3+
( 9...c5 10.Qd6# )
10.bxc3 Qe8 11.Nxd7+ Kg6
12.Ne5+ Kh7 13.0-0±
White is 2 pawns up and the
presence of the different coloured
bishops favors him as the black
king is more vulnerable. ;
B2) 8...Ne7 9.Qd4 c5 10.Qd6# ;
2
B3) 8...Bc5 9.Qf3+ Kxe5 10.Qf5+
Kd6 11.Bf4+ Ke7 12.Nd5+ Ke8
13.Nxc7+ Qxc7 14.Bxc7+− ;
B4) 8...Kxe5 9.Qd5+ Kf6 10.Qf5+
Ke7 11.Nd5+ Kd6
( 11...Ke8 12.Qg6# This is the
picture imagined by White when he
decided to exploit the CSQ of h7-
h6 , a move which weakens the
light square g6. )
12.Bf4+ Kc6 13.Qe6+ Bd6
14.Nb4+ Kb6 15.Bxd6 cxd6
( 15...Ndf6 16.Bc5+ Kxc5
17.Nd3+ Qxd3 18.Qe5+ Kc6
19.cxd3+− ) 16.Qxd6+ Ka5
17.Nd5+− ]
[
4...Be7?
Black defends the vulnerable pawn f7
against 5.Ng5 , but the text move fails
to prevent the "hidden" threats Qd1-d5
& Qd1-h5 as the standard reply Qd8-
e7 is no longer possible.
5.dxe5 Nxe5 ( 5...dxe5 6.Qd5 Bb4+
7.c3 Qe7 8.cxb4 Ngf6 9.Qd3 Qxb4+
10.Qc3± 1-0 Rogic,D (2586)-Raguz,I
(1921)/Zupanja CRO 2010 (20) )
6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5 g6 8.Qxe5 Nf6
9.Bh6 Qd6 ( 9...Rg8 10.Nc3 Ng4
11.Qf4 Nxh6 12.Qxh6 Qd4
13.Bb3+− ) 10.Qxd6 cxd6 11.Nc3+−
1-0 Stefanova,A (2538)-Paehtz,E
(2449)/Plovdiv BUL 2008 (68) ]
[ 4...Ngf6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Ng5+− ]
5.dxe5
[White can also prepare Qb3 to add
extra pressure on f7 .
5.c3
A) 5...Be7 6.Qb3 d5 7.exd5 e4
8.dxc6 bxc6 9.Bxf7+ Kf8 10.Bxg8
Rxg8 11.Nfd2 Rb8 12.Qc2 Nf6

13.Nc4 Qd5 14.Bf4 Qxc4 15.Bxb8
Ba6 16.b3 Qe6 17.c4 Bb4+
18.Nc3 Kf7 19.Bf4+− ( 19.Bxa7±
½-½ Schneider,D (2502)-
Panchanathan,M (2500)/Richardson
USA 2007/The Week in Chess 684
(48) );
B) 5...b5
With this move Black deflects the
bishop from a2-g8 diagonal but his
advanced pawns from the queen
side will be exposed after a2-a4.
6.Bb3 Be7 7.a4 Ngf6 8.axb5 cxb5
9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 a6 11.Be3 Bb7
12.Nbd2² ;
C) 5...Ngf6
6.dxe5 Nxe4
( 6...dxe5 7.Ng5 Nb6 8.Qxd8+
Kxd8 9.Nxf7+ Ke7 10.Bb3 Rg8
11.Ng5+− ; 6...dxe5 ) 7.0-0 d5 8.Bd3
The pawn structure resemble of a
Ruy Lopez open variation where
Black should have Be7 instead of
Nd7 . White will try to undermine
Black's central pawn with c3-c4
creating a target on d5 and with the
help of the nail pawn e5 to create
dangerous threats against Black's
short castle.
Be7 9.Nbd2 f5
( 9...Nxd2 Is a tempo loss and the
white queen will be directed on the
king side Qd1xd2-f4-g3.
10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Re1 Nc5 12.Bc2
Bg4 13.Nd4² )
10.c4 Ndc5 11.Bc2 0-0 12.cxd5
Qxd5 13.Nb3² ]
5...dxe5
3
[ 5...Nxe5 6.Nxe5 Qa5+ 7.Nd2
A key manover as after c7-c6 which
controlls d5, Nb1 has to head for c4 or
f3, hiting the e5 pawn.
dxe5 8.Qh5 g6 Forcing g7-g6 which
wekens the king side pawn structure
and looses control over f6.
9.Qf3
Now Black can't play Ng8-f6 as if the
pawn was on g7.
Qc7 10.0-0 Bg7 11.a4 Nf6 12.Qa3
Preventing the castle and provoking
further weaknesses in Black's camp.
c5 13.f3 Bd7 14.Nb1
The knight returns to b1-c3 to search
for an outpost on b5 or d5.
0-0 15.Nc3 Rfd8 16.Rd1²
To do list:
-increase pressure on c5 with Bc1-e3
-if Black pushes b7-b6 then a4-a5
aiming to open the a-file
-avoid to exchange Black's "bad
bishop" from g7. ]
[ 5...Qa5+ 6.Nbd2 Nxe5 7.Nxe5 dxe5
8.Qh5
Will transpose the game to the
previous line. ]
6.Ng5 Nh6
Due to this forced move Ng5 gains
stability and White can continue to add
pressure on the light squares.
7.0-0 Bc5
[ 7...Be7?! Now black king lacks
mobility which allows the next tactical
blow.
8.Ne6 fxe6 9.Bxh6
A) 9...gxh6? 10.Qh5+ Kf8 11.Bxe6
Kg7
( 11...Qe8 12.Qxh6# )
12.Qf7# ;

B) 9...Nb6 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qe2
Nxc4 12.Qxc4 Qd4 Deprived of
castle Black will try to exchange the
queens, but it can't save the
vulnerable e5 pawn after Bg7 and
Nb1-d2-f3(c4).
13.Nd2 Qxb2 14.Nb3 Qa3
Only move, otherwise White will
close the queen trap by a2-a4 and
Rf1-b1. 15.Qc3 a5 16.Qxe5 Rg8
17.Rfd1±
Once that White manages to
exchange the dark squares bishops
by Bh5-g5 or Bh6-e3-c5, Black wont
be able to defend all the weak dark
squares around his king. If 17...g5 18.
h4 pinning the pawn due to the threat
Qe5-h5+. ]
8.Qh5
A multi-purpose move attacking f7,
pinning the pawn which makes Ng5-e6 a
threat and at the same time increases
the pressure on Nh6.
0-0
[ 8...Qe7 9.Ne6 Nf6 10.Nxg7+ Kd8
11.Qxh6 Ng4 12.Qg5 f6 13.Qd2+
Kc7 14.Nf5 Bxf5 15.exf5+−
1-0 Inkiov,V (2510)-Debray,C (2278)/
FRA 2007 (52) ]
[
8...Nf6 9.Bxf7+ Ke7 10.Qe2
White sacrifices the bishop in order to
lure the king on f7 for a double attack
with Qe2-c4.
Nxf7 11.Nxf7 Kxf7 12.Qc4+ Kg6
13.Qxc5 Nxe4 14.Qxe5²
To do list:
-keep the queens on the board as
black king is exposed
-try to complete the queen-side
development ( a2-a4 followed by
4
Ra1-a3-e3 could be an idea)
-prevent the enemy counterplay and
defend the focal points g2 and f2. ]
9.Nf3 Nf6
[ 9...Qf6 10.h3
White's main tasks will be to restrict the
activity of Nh6 and to create pressure
against e5. As Nh6 is out of play White
must create a local force superiority on
the queen side and along d-file.
b5 ( 10...Qg6 11.Qxg6 hxg6 12.a4² )
11.Bd3 Re8 12.a4 b4 13.Rd1 Qg6
14.Qxg6 hxg6 15.Nbd2 f6 16.Nb3
Bf8 17.Be3² ]
10.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 11.Rxf2 Nhg4 12.Qd4
Nxf2 13.Kxf2 Qxd4+ 14.Nxd4 Nxe4+
15.Kf3 Nd6 16.Bd3²
We have reached a position with
material equivalence where White has
already an active king.To do list:
-keep the last rook on the board as it is
"the coordinating piece"
-with Bc1-e3, Nb1-d2-b3-c5(a5) , a2-a4
and Ra1-a3-b3 White can create a local
forces superiority on the queen side
aiming to gain a pawn
-restrict the activity of Bc8 which can't
find a stable and active position.
In conclusion, against this passive setup
with 3...Nd7, White has to pay attention
to the light squares and especially to the
focal point f7.
Delaying the castle is a good idea as it
allows White to create pressure in the
center and on the king side and to force
Black to find sometimes the only moves.