French Defence Alapin Gambit

White has many options against the French Defence. Here I present an Alapin Gambit 3.Be3 between two high-rated chess engines. I assume the opening moves were pre-set since the same two opponents played a draw with colors reversed. Obviously, 3.Nc3, 3.Nd2, 3.e5, and 3.exd5 are all excellent choices, but 3.Be3 can be a fun gambit in blitz play. I first wrote a book on the Alapin French in 1995. Since then, I’ve written much about this gambit.

Stockfish dev15_20220302 (3612) – SlowChess Blitz 2.83 avx2 (3490), TCEC 22 Premier 2022 tcec-chess.com INT, 25.03.2022 begins 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3 Nf6 [Better is 3...dxe4 4.Nd2 Nf6 when White has 5.c3 (Alapin), 5.f3 (Diemer), or maybe 5.Ne2.] 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Qb6 8.Qc1 f6 9.Bd3 g5 10.exf6 Nxf6 11.0–0 Ng4 12.Nxg5 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bg7 14.Kh1 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Bxd4 16.Qh3 Bxb2 17.Nc3 Bxc3 18.Rac1 Bf6 19.Qh5+ Kd8 20.f5 Bb2 21.Rb1 Qd4 22.Qe2 Kc7 [If 22...Qg7 23.Nxe6+ Bxe6 24.fxe6 favors White.] 23.Rxb2 exf5 24.Rc1 Qf6 25.Qd2 Re8 26.Nf3 a6 27.Rbb1 Ra7 28.Qc2 Bd7 29.Qb3 Rc8 30.a4 Kb8 31.Qxd5 Qe6 32.Qc5 Qe7 33.Qb6 Qd6 34.h3 Ka8 35.Bf1 Qc7 36.a5 Qg3 37.Rc3 Qg7 38.Rc5 Rg8 39.Rd1 h6 40.Rc2 Rb8 41.Bc4 Qe7 42.Bd5 f4 43.Rcc1 Rc8 44.Nd4 h5 45.Nxc6 bxc6 46.Rxc6 Bxc6 47.Bxc6+ Rxc6 48.Qxc6+ Rb7 49.Qxa6+ [White wins a pawn and soon wins another.]

49...Kb8 50.Qh6 Qe4 51.a6 Rb1 52.Qxh5 Rxd1+ 53.Qxd1 Ka7 54.Qf3 Qe1+ 55.Kh2 Kxa6 56.Qxf4 [Black resigns] 1–0

Tim Sawyer Amazon Books

Tim Sawyer Books2Read

email: sawyerte@yahoo.com

Copyright 2011-2024