Forum

King's Indian

White had a poisned pawn at b2 and black took it. White to play.

Queen's Gambit Accepted, Central Variation

Steinitz Variation

Giuoco Pianissimo

The French Defence is a chess opening. It is characterised by the moves: 1. e4 e6The French has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages. Black often gains counterattacking possibilities on the queenside while White tends to concentrate on the kingside. Following the opening moves 1.e4 e6, the game usually continues 2.d4 d5 (see below for alternatives). White expands his claim on the centre, while Black immediately challenges the pawn on e4. White has several main options—he can defend it with 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2, he can exchange with 3.exd5, or he can advance the pawn with 3.e5, which leads to different types of positions. Note that 3.Bd3? is bad as it allows 3...dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6. History The French Defence is named after a match played by correspondence between the cities of London and Paris in 1834 (although earlier examples of games with the opening do exist). It was Chamouillet, one of the players of the Paris team, who convinced the others to adopt this defense.[7]As a reply to 1.e4, the French Defence received relatively little attention in the nineteenth century compared to 1...e5. The first world chess champion Wilhelm Steinitz said "I have never in my life played the French Defense, which is the dullest of all openings".[8] In the early 20th century, Géza Maróczy was perhaps the first world-class player to make it his primary weapon against 1.e4. For a long time, it was the third most popular reply to 1.e4, behind only 1...c5 and 1...e5. However, according to the Mega Database 2007, in 2006, 1...e6 was second only to the Sicilian in popularity. Historically important contributors to the theory of the defence include Mikhail Botvinnik, Viktor Korchnoi, Aron Nimzowitsch, Tigran Petrosian, Lev Psakhis, Wolfgang Uhlmann and Rafael Vaganian. More recently, its leading practitioners include Evgeny Bareev, Alexey Dreev, Mikhail Gurevich, Alexander Khalifman, Smbat Lputian, Alexander Morozevich, Teimour Radjabov, Nigel Short, Gata Kamsky, and Yury Shulman. The Exchange Variation was recommended by Howard Staunton in the 19th century,[9] but has been in decline ever since. In the early 1990s Garry Kasparov briefly experimented with it before switching to 3.Nc3. Note that Black's game is made much easier as his queen's bishop has been liberated. It has the reputation of giving immediate equality to Black, due to the symmetrical pawn structure. Like the Exchange, the Advance Variation was frequently played in the early days of the French Defence. Aron Nimzowitsch believed it to be White's best choice and enriched its theory with many interesting ideas. However, the Advance declined in popularity throughout most of the 20th century until it was revived in the 1980s by GM and prominent opening theoretician Evgeny Sveshnikov, who continues to be a leading expert in this line. In recent years, it has become nearly as popular as 3.Nd2; GM Alexander Grischuk has championed it successfully at the highest levels. Advance Variation: 3 e5 a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h After 3 e5 c5 The main line of the Advance Variation continues 3...c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 and then we have a branching point: 5...Qb6, the idea is to increase the pressure on d4 and eventually undermine the White centre. The Queen also attacks the b2 square, so White's dark-squared bishop cannot easily defend the d4 pawn without losing the b2 pawn. White's most common replies are 6 a3 and 6 Be2. 6 a3 is currently the most important line in the Advance: it prepares 7 b4, gaining space on the queenside. Black may prevent this with 6...c4 intending to take en passant if White plays b4, which creates a closed game where Black fights for control of the b3 square. On the other hand, Black may continue developing with 6...Nh6, intending ...Nf5 this might seem strange as White can double the pawn with Bxh6, but this is actually considered good for Black. Black plays ...Bg7 and ...O-O and Black's king has adequate defense and White will miss his apparently 'bad' dark squared bishop. 6 Be2 is the other alternative, aiming simply to castle. Once again, a common Black response is 6...Nh6 intending 7...cxd4 8 cxd4 Nf5 attacking d4. When the king's knight reaches f5 from h6, there will be three pieces and a pawn attacking the d4 point while there will only be the Nf3, pawn c3, and Qd1 defending the d4 pawn. As said earlier, White's dark-squared bishop cannot come to the rescue because the b2 pawn will fall. Thus, White must plan prophylactically and reply to 6...Nh6 with 7 Na3 preparing to defend the d4 pawn with Nc2. 5...Bd7 was mentioned by Greco as early as 1620, and was revived and popularised by Viktor Korchnoi in the 1970s. Now a main line, the idea behind the move is that since Black usually plays ...Bd7 sooner or later, he plays it right away and waits for White to show his hand. If white plays 6 a3 in response, modern theory says that Black equalises or is better after 6...f6! The lines are complex, but the main point is that a3 is a wasted move if the Black Queen is not on b6 and so Black uses the extra tempo to attack the white centre immediately. Black may continue 7...Nf5 to attack d4 or 7...Ng6 followed by ...f6 to attack e5. There are alternative strategies to 3...c5 that were tried in the early 20th century such as 3...b6, intending to fianchetto the bad bishop and which can transpose to Owen's Defence or 3...Nc6, played by Carlos Guimard, intending to keep the bad bishop on c8 or d7 which is passive and obtains little counterplay. Also, 4...Qb6 5 Nf3 Bd7 intending 6...Bb5 to trade off the "bad" queen's bishop is possible.

Hey everyone, this is really a very important game. Please join this. It's theme is french defence advance variation. I would also provide a studying material for the opening. If you like you can refer to it. http://www.chess.com/groups/team_match?id=175182 Thanks shubham anand

The Caro–Kann Defence is a chess opening —a common defense against the King's Pawn Opening characterised by the moves: 1. e4 c6The usual continuation is 2. d4 d5followed by 3.Nc3 (the Classical Variation), 3.Nd2 (the Modern Variation), 3.exd5 (the Exchange Variation), or 3.e5 (the Advance Variation). The classical variation (3.Nc3) has gained much popularity. The Caro–Kann, like the Sicilian Defence and French Defence, is classified as a "Semi-Open Game", but it is thought to be more solid and less dynamic than either of those openings. It often leads to good endgames for Black, who has the better pawn structure. The opening is named after the English player Horatio Caro and the Austrian Marcus Kann who analysed the opening in 1886. Marcus Kann scored an impressive 17 move victory with the Caro–Kann Defence against German–British chess champion Jacques Mieses at the 4th German Chess Congress in Hamburg in May 1885. Advance variation: 3...Bf5 and 3...c5 a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Advance Variation with 3...Bf5 The 3...Bf5 variation that follows with 1.e4 c62.d4 d53.e5 Bf5has gained popularity after having previously been widely regarded as inferior for many years, owing chiefly to the strategic demolition that Aron Nimzowitsch (playing as White) suffered at the hands of José Capablanca in one of their games at the New York 1927 tournament (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1007846): 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?! (after the exchange of the light-squared Bishops, Black's play is based on White's light-squared weakness) 4...Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.Nc3 Qb6 7.Nge2 c5?! (7...Ne7 8.0-0 Qa6) 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.0–0 Ne7 10.Na4? (10.b4! Bxb4 (10...Qxb4 11.Nb5 Qa5 12.Be3 a6 13.Rab1 axb5 14.Bxc5 Nbc6 15.Rxb5 Qc7 16.Bd6 Qd7 17.Rfb1 Nd8 18.Rc5±) 11.Rb1 Qa5 12.Nb5= Moutousis-Cilia Vincenti, Thessalonika, 13.Nov.1988, 1–0) 10...Qc6 11.Nxc5 (11.Qg3 Nf5 12.Qb3 Nc6) 11...Qxc5 12.Be3 Qc7 13.f4 Nf5 14.c3 Nc6 15.Rad1 g6 16.g4 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 h5 18.g5 0–0 19.Nd4 Qb6 20.Rf2 Rfc8 21.a3 Rc7 22.Rd3 Na5 23.Re2 Re8 24.Kg2 Nc6 25.Red2 Rec8 26.Re2 Ne7 27.Red2 Rc4 28.Qh3 Kg7 29.Rf2 a5 30.Re2 Nf5 31.Nxf5+ gxf5 32.Qf3 Kg6 33.Red2 Re4 34.Rd4 Rc4 35.Qf2 Qb5 36.Kg3 Rcxd4 37.cxd4 Qc4 38.Kg2 b5 39.Kg1 b4 40.axb4 axb4 41.Kg2 Qc1 42.Kg3 Qh1 43.Rd3 Re1 44.Rf3 Rd1 45.b3 Rc1 46.Re3 Rf1 0–1. The Advance Variation has since been revitalized by aggressive lines such as the Bayonet Attack (4.Nc3 e6 5.g4), a popular line in the 1980s and later favoured by Latvian Grandmaster Alexei Shirov, or the less ambitious variation 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3, popularised by English Grandmaster Nigel Short and often seen in the 1990s. a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Advance variation with 3...c5 The 3...c5 variation that follows with 1.e4 c62.d4 d53.e5 c5!?is an important alternative and avoids the weight of theory associated with 3...Bf5. It was used by Mikhail Botvinnik in his 1961 match versus Mikhail Tal (though with a negative outcome for Botvinnik – two draws and a loss). The line was christened the "Arkell/Khenkin Variation" in the leading chess magazine New in Chess yearbook 42 in recognition of the work these two Grandmasters did and the success they were having with the variation. In comparison to the French defense, Black lacks the tempo normally spent on ...e6. However, White can only exploit this by the weakening of his own central bind with 4. dxc5 when Black has good chances of regaining the pawn.

Found this on Youtube. Interview with Anand after sucessfully defended his match title:

Viswanathan Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. Anand has won the World Chess Championship five times[1] (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012), and has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007. Anand was the FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion in 2003, and is widely considered the strongest player in history in this form of the game. Anand has been described by many of his peers (e.g., Vladimir Kramnik) as probably one of the greatest talents in chess history.[2]Lubomir Kavalek describes Anand as the most versatile world champion ever, since Anand is the only player to have won the world chess championships in many formats including Tournament, Match, Rapid, and Knockout chess.[3] Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1987.[4] He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honor. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history. Anand has won the Chess Oscar 6 times (1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008). He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov and in the World Chess Championship 2012[5] against Boris Gelfand. As the reigning champion, he will face the winner of the upcoming Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2013. Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the world number one for the first time. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months. In October 2008, he dropped out of the world top three ranking for the first time since July 1996. Anand regained the world number one ranking in 1 November 2010, having defeated the reigning world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the Bilbao Masters, but had to concede the top spot back to Carlsen in July 2011. In an interview in 2011, Vladimir Kramnik (World Champion 2000–07) said about Anand: "I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess"; and "I think that in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov but he's simply a little lazy, relaxed and only focuses on matches. In the last 5–6 years he's made a qualitative leap that's made it possible to consider him one of the great chess players."[

The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del Ajedrez written in 1561. Although it bears his name, this particular opening was included in the Göttingen manuscript, which dates from around 1490. Popular use of the Ruy Lopez opening did not develop, however, until the mid-19th century when Carl Jaenisch, a Russian theoretician, "rediscovered" its potential. The opening remains the most commonly used amongst the open games in master play; it has been adopted by almost all players during their careers, many of whom have played it with both colours. Due to the difficulty imposed on Black's player, and the fact that Lopez was a priest during the Inquisition, a common nickname for the opening is "The Spanish Torture". Basics At the most basic level, White's third move attacks the knight which defends the e5 pawn from the attack by the f3 knight. White's apparent threat to win Black's e-pawn with 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 is illusory—Black can respond with 5...Qd4, forking the knight and e4-pawn, or 5...Qg5, forking the knight and g2-pawn, both of which win back the material with a good position. White's 3.Bb5 is still a good move, however: it develops a piece, prepares castling, and sets up a potential pin against Black's king. Since White's third move carries no immediate threat, Black can respond in a wide variety of ways. This opening has been dubbed the "Spanish Torture" because Black has to struggle a long time in order to achieve equality.[2] Traditionally, White's objective in playing the Ruy Lopez is to spoil Black's pawn structure; either way Black recaptures following the exchange on c6 will have negative features for him, though he thereby gains the bishop pair.[3] White does not always exchange bishop for knight on c6, however, but usually in the various forms of the Exchange Variation (ECO C68–C69). Main variations The theory of the Ruy Lopez is the most extensively developed of all open games, with some lines having been analysed well beyond move thirty. At nearly every move there are many reasonable alternatives, and most have been deeply explored. It is convenient to divide the possibilities into two groups based on whether or not Black responds with (3...a6), which is named the Morphy Defence after Paul Morphy, although he was not the originator of the line.[4] The variations with Black moves other than 3...a6 are older and generally simpler, but the Morphy Defence lines are more commonly played.