Alekhine-Chatard Attack
The French Defense is known for being notoriously solid and hard to crack. However, certain lines can put a lot of pressure on black. While the Milner-Barry Gambit is a good option, it requires quite a bit of memorization, and black doesn't have to fall for any of the traps. Thus, I picked the Alekhine-Chatard Attack. White gives up a pawn to open the h-file and attack! We often castle queenside and place pressure on black's weak kingside.
Move Order
After 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7, instead of retreating the bishop, we play h4!?, sacrificing a pawn to open the h-file. If black doesn't know what their doing, it can quickly lead to disaster for them. If black deviates from this move order with the McCutcheon or Winawer defenses, Qg4! is the most aggressive variation, leading to wild games.
Alekhine-Chatard Declined
The Alekhine-Chatard Attack is often declined due to how dangerous it can be. Declining the gambit is inaccurate, and we can easily get a slightly better position. It is most often declined with a6, h6 and c5. our plan is the same. We can exchange bishops, play f4, and if black doesn't play a6, play Nb5, and black's position is in a lot of trouble. If a6, then we develop normally, castle queenside, and attack.
Alekhine-Chatard Accepted
When your opponent accepts the Alekhine-Chatard Attack, the real fun starts. You get a lead in development and a half-open h-file to attack on. This can prove challenging for black, and it is very easy to go wrong, as shown in these next few paragraphs. The best part is this gambit is so sound the position is valued 0.0! Amazing for a gambit! After 6...Bxg5 7. Bxg5 Qxg5, the best move is 8. Nh3. It looks odd developing the knight to the rim of the board, for "a knight on the rim is grim", but it attacks the queen, after that, the knight can go to f4 and be a powerful piece, followed by Qg4 (a common idea against the French, targeting the weak g7 pawn), and castling queenside, with the open h-file and a monstrous attack. If the queen strays too far, Nb5 can be irritating for black, as the c7 pawn can be a headache to defend.
Instead of 8. Nh3, there is also Qd3, attacking the h7-pawn, and preparing to castle queenside. This variation is also good, but I find the Nh3 variation to be more tricky.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article! Good luck playing this opening! A bit of history on this opening: First devised by Adolf Albin, then played by Eugene Chatard, it would only become a major opening after Alexander Alekhine played it. Thanks to their work, this opening has been used by many top players, including former world champions!
