Black shouldn't take the knight on move 5, best move is 5...d5. White is almost winning (+1.9), but not quite.
Refutation of 3...f5?? in Philidor Defense!
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If it is +1.9, that constitutes a straight refutation. A complete bust. In some cases +1.9 is messy, and it has to be for anyone to want to play an opening like this, but +1.9 is very very serious.
3...f5 has problems and shouldn't be played in serious chess. Those who play it, like Mr. West up in New York, play it for fun, not because they want results.
Apr 27, 2018
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#4
it is BAD but proving that OTB without some prepared engine line is NOT that easy.i recall once going over some of the refutation and i would swear that black looked completely fine at first, until i saw the comp continuation with white.
I read this thread, but 4.Bc4 is only mentioned as the refutation, and not given much attention, because there are other 'easier' ways to get a large advantage. I agree that the other lines also provide white with some advantage, however in terms of engine evaluations it's almost a pawn difference.
4.Lc4 is not difficult to learn at all. And the whole line provides one with patterns, that can be found in many other openings. Also its a perfect example how devastating the weakening of the e8-h5 diagonal in the opening can be.
The only books that I could find mentioning 4.Bc4 are:
Alterman, Boris: Alterman Gambit Guide: White Gambits (2010)
and one of the first editions of Bilguer's "Handbuch des Schachspiels" (1843!) already mentions 4.Bc4 as a refutation.
There is no reason black has to take a pawn here. 4. ..Be7 works just fine.
Hello everyone,
I've read several opening manuals, that recommend various ways to play against the following opening from Black: 1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 d6, 3.d4 f5?? nevertheless none of them recommends the line which totally refutes Blacks last move.
The refutation goes like this: 4.Lc4 fxe4, 5.Nxe5! dxe5, 6.Qh5+ Kd7, 7.Qf5+ Kc6, 8.Dxe5 +- Houdini evaluates this position with +12,5 for White.
(yes there are some ways for black to reduce the evaluation to only +2 for White, but that' still lost)
Of course the lines recommended in the opening books lead to a solid advantage for White too, but are far away from winning, so why is the refutation hardly ever recommended in books?