Question on the French Wing Gambit

So I’ve been considering take up the French Wing Gambit (1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4), and based on what I was able to find in articles and databases, it doesn’t seem too bad and appears to be relatively sound. I suppose that the mainline French with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 is still White’s “best chance at an advantage” but that’s not terribly important to me.

Anyway, I keep hearing about this ‘Bosch’ guy who appears to have come up with a reasonable antidote to the continuation 4…cxb4 5.d4. He suggests 5…Qa5, which has, apparently caused many a French Wing Gambit player to convert to 5.a3, which, I believe is not terribly easy to play either. However, what I could not find was why 5…Qa5 is so bad for White. I believe that Bosch’s analysis is in a published book or something like that, so I didn’t expect to find it, but I couldn’t even find a game with 5…Qa5 in the 365chess database. Could someone explain to me what it is about this move that is so bad for White? References to games and specific lines are greatly appreciated.

Thanks! :)

@polleke: Thanks. I believe that is the one, but I don't really have the budget to be buying a book like that. I was wondering if perhaps someone who owns the book might be able to give a bit of insight. Maybe it's possible to see the idea behind 5...Qa5 without the book? It doesn't seem very obvious to me though. :/

Just a basic question: some time ago a gm(i forgot the name) gave 4...b6!? as a simple solution, with a comment like "why giving W what he wants?". To me it looks like a very reasonable idea since B might have the possibility of exchanging his bad bishop with Ba6 and overall i'm not sure if the insertion of b4-b6 is in W favour. This scared me away from the wing gambit. What is W idea against b6?

@polleke: Thanks for the post. I had also looked at the Kenilworthian site, but it seems praise the opening, perhaps beyond the merits of the opening itself.

@bresando: I forget the name of the GM too – which is funny because I’m pretty sure I read the name just yesterday! Anyway, I remember looking at a Chesspub forum thread where someone pretty much said that the line seems to favor White more than in other lines, but I forget the reasoning. The way I see it though, after 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4 b6, White plays 5.c3 with 6.a3 and d4 to follow, with what seems to be a pretty good space advantage. And since the gambit was declined, Black does not appear to have much to brag about.

Thanks for the answer. Of course 4...b6 is not an attempt to refute the gambit, but if the move is good for equality in my view is also practically very strong since B gets his usual game instead of a ambit position. Maybe i will check some lines myself and share my toughts later.

Yes, 4...b6 is definitely a good practical try, but I must admit that I really wouldn't mind playing the position as White.

I would definitely mind because if what I obtain after b6  is a standard advance french with the extra Ba6 idea avaiable for B then isn't just better to play the advance directly? This was my reasoning at the time: however chesspub members are always reliable and there must be something for W in these lines. Can you try to find that chesspub discussion?

For the moment all i can say is that according to my limited understanding of the french 4...b6 5.c3 Qd7(preparing Ba6) 6.a3 Ba6 7.Bxa6 Nxa6 8.d4 looks like a misplayed advance french where B is better. This is just a sample line of course, just to show B idea.

I believe this is the one I looked at earlier (see sixth post): http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1112600392

5...Qa5 interferes with white's normal plan, namely trading the dark squares bishop by a3 bxa3 Bxa3 to weaken squares like d6. So white is left only with play with the kingside, which may not be enough to compensate for the pawn.

Thanks Pikachulord6 for finding the relevant thread. Unfortunately no explanation is given, the same identical line i posted as =+ is given as +=. Since i have a realistic vision of my chess skills, I am quite certain that the right evaluation is += and that i have not enough understanding of the position to assess it correctly.

Still, i have looked at chess365(a little database of course and not very reliable) and B scores greatly in that line. Do you have any idea about how to play the line as W? Maybe we can play an unrated correspondence game with me on the black side, just to see how the line work in practice!