The Killer French Defence! Part 1
May 12th, 2010 | Author: I am very pleased to announce that we have just finished filming the first stages of Ginger GM’s next DVD!
As you may have guessed by the title of this post the DVD is going to concentrate on the French Defence.
Originally I wanted to get all the relevant material onto one DVD but after a couple of days of full filming we realised that this would not be possible.
The edited version of the DVD is going to be roughly 10 hours long. Technically it might be possible to get everything onto one DVD but the quality of the picture would be of such a low standard that I would not be happy selling the product.
For this reason we are going to go for 2 DVD’s. When I get back to England I will decide exactly what will go into each DVD, my rough thoughts are:
DVD 1:
Chapter 1: Advance Variation – 5…Bd7 followed by …Nge7 and …Nf5.
Chapter 2: Tarrasch – 3…Nf6 White plays 5 f4. An early …a5.
Chapter 3: Tarrasch – 3…Nf6 White plays 5 Bd3 and 7 Ne2. Black replies 11…Qc7.
Chapter 4: Tarrasch – The Universal System. Black replies 8…a5.
DVD 2:
Chapter 1: French Winawer – Various 4th Move Alternatives for White.
Chapter 2: French Winawer – Various 5th Move Alternatives for White.
Chapter 3: French Winawer – White Avoids 7 Qg4 – 7 Nf3, 7 a4 and 7 h4!?
Chapter 4: French Winawer – The Main Line – 7 Qg4… 12…d4!? :
Interesting and new: 3…Bb4 4 e5 c5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 Ne7 7 Qg4 Qc7 8 Qxg7 Rg8 9 Qxh7 cxd4 10 Ne2 dxc3 11 f4 Nbc6 12 Qd3 d4!?
Chapter 5: Exchange Variation
Chapter 6: Kings Indian Attack (with …d5 …c5 and …g6)
Chapter 7: Other Possibilities that White might try: Wing Gambit, 2 b3 etc
I will have to check the running time if we go for above option but I am very happy with the material that we have filmed.
The aim of the DVD’s is to make them useful to a range of players. Hopefully beginners will be able to play the opening after watching the DVD’s and even IM’s and GM’s will find some interesting novelties.
I will shortly show one game which I had recently, where I was able to unless a novelty that I cover in the DVD. This game will be covered in another post that I will put up shortly.
The French has been my main opening for all my life, I have experimented with other set ups but after doing this DVD my love of the opening has been rekindled. I have played it 3 times since filming (all games will be shown on this site soon!) with a score of 3/3. The opening has been a success in all 3 cases!
Other extra’s and things that we have changed on this DVD are:
Bullet points: In critical position where it is important to remember a certain idea. That idea will be displayed across the bottom of the screen. This will appear in text form and hopefully this text will reinforce what the viewer is trying to learn.
![black_dog_jaggery_ale_gruen_thumb[4]](http://www.gingergm.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/black_dog_jaggery_ale_gruen_thumb4.png "black_dog_jaggery_ale_gruen_thumb[4]")
Extras: One interesting extra will be the ‘Black Dog Day’ look out for this it will be something worth watching…
One camera angle: Some people commented that the camera angle from above (in the Killer Dutch) was confusing, so listening to what the customer has said we have simplified this to one camera angle of me. This will hopefully make it easier for the viewer to follow what is going on.
New camera footage: To break up the action between filming, new stings have been made.
If anyone out there can think of anything else that they would like to see then please let me know as quickly as possible, I will try to include anything that will add to the quality of the DVD. This is the most important thing, we want to keep the quality as high as possible, offering a better standard of DVD compared to anything else out there.
Each DVD will be roughly 5 hours long and will retail for £19.99. This is at the low end of cost for a chess DVD, for example chessbase normally sell their DVD’s for roughly £25. If you purchase both DVD’s at the same time then you will receive a discount.
Anyway onto a game that I had last Thursday in the French Defence. I was playing a very talented junior, James Adair. I believe that his ECF rating is roughly 205.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Bd3
This move has become the main line recently and it is extensively covered in the DVD. Personally though, I believe that the move f4 is more dangerous to Black’s set up.
5…c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Ne2 cxd4 8 cxd4 f6
This is one of the typical breaks that Black has in the French. The other move that Black needs to play in order to break up White’s centre is …c5
9 exf6
Another interesting option is 9 Nf3
9…Nxf6 10 0-0 Bd6 11 Nf3 Qc7
This is the move that I am going to recommend. 11…Qc7 stops White from playing Bf4 and Black puts pressure on White’s queenside. In the DVD I note that, ‘In this particular variation of the French Black will often sacrifice the exchange to gain an attack against White’s king.’ Just watch what happens in this game!
12 Nc3
12 Bg5 is the main line.
12…a6 13 Bg5 0-0 14 Bh4
A typical plan. White prepares to play Bg3 when he aims to swap off Black’s dark squares bishop. This exchange greatly helps White as he removes Black’s most aggressive minor piece and gains more control of the e5 square. The e5 square can often become an outpost for one of White’s pieces.
14…Nh5!
The standard way of meeting Bh4. If White plays Bg3 then Black can capture the bishop with his knight. This move also opens up the f-file for Black’s rook. As I mentioned before Black will often play …Rxf3!
15 Re1?!
This looks logical but it is a bit slow. Mickey Adams has played 15 Bg3 Nxg3 16 hxg3 g6 17 Rc1 Qg7 18 Na4! which is a better idea. The White knight aims to drop into b6 from where it can pressurize Black’s queenside.
15 g6!
Another typical move. The main idea of …g6 is to prepare …Qg7. The Black queen is well placed on g7 from where Black covers his kingside and places more pressure on White’s d4 pawn.
16 Rc1 Qg7!
The queen removes itself from potential danger on the c-file and in the same instance attacks the d4 pawn.
17 Bb1 Bd7
This develops my last piece and I was preparing for White’s next move…
18 Na4 Rxf3!
A typical sacrifice!! Black removes the knight on f3 which was defending the d-pawn and White’s kingside. White’s position now falls apart.
19 Qxf3 Nxd4 20 Qd1 Bxa4!
A good exchange. White’s knight was clearly better than my bishop. This also allows me to move my knight on h5 into the game with tempo.
21 Qxa4 Nf4
Black knight magic!!!
22 Qd1?
White had to try 22 Kh1! when play could continue 22…Nfe2 23 Rcd1 Rf8 when Black has good compensation but White is still in the game.
22…Qh6!
The killer blow. The Black queen creates threats against h2 and White’s rook on c1.
23 Qg4
23 Qxd4? Ne2+ 24 Rxe2 Qxc1+ with mate to follow.
23…Nfe2+ 24 Kh1 Rf8
Bringing my last piece into the game and creating a threat of playing …Rf4.
25 Rcd1 Rf4
Winning a piece and the game. The rest is easy and requires little comment.
26 Qg5 Rxh4 27 Qxh6 Rxh6 28 h3 Bb4 29 Rf1 g5
30 a3 Bc5 31 b4 Bb6 32 Bd3 Nf4 33 Rfe1 g4 34 Bf1
This is quite an amusing position. White can hardly move any of his pieces. his only plan is Rc1 and Rc7 at some point, so I now bring my king over to stop this plan.
34…Kf7 35 Rc1 Nf5 36 Rc2 Ke7 37 a4 Kd6 38 a5 Bd4 39 Rb1 g3
The beginning of the end.
40 f3 Ne3 41 Rc8 Nxf1 42 Rxf1
Can you spot the move that caused my opponent to resign immediately?
43…Rxh3!
And with …g2+ and …gxf1=Q to follow my opponent decided that he had had enough.
A very successful opening. My play was quite straight forward. I go into detail about what Black should be trying to do in my DVD. Hopefully after watching it you will be able to crush your opponents in the French as well!
Comments
Looking forward to the DVDs on the French!