Nuts and Bolts Chess Strategy!
Nigel Davies: French Defence Strategy - reviewed by Bob Long
Nigel Davies new DVD
French Defence Strategy
is very reminscent of the
material in am reading in the upcoming Purdy book I am
about to publish.
In Purdy’s book he spends
quite a few pages on pawns
in front of the King, isolated
pawns, hanging pawns, and
so on. When proofing I have
to concentrate (no watching
DVDs, listening to music, talking
on the phone and so on).
When I concentrate I learn or
understand what I have read
before, much more.
Hence, as I was watching
Nigel’s new DVD the thought
returned, “I’ve just been reading
this!” This IS how strong
players think. What I need to
do is inculcate this into my
chess play instead of paying
due attention 85% of the time.
I would win MORE games
against weaker players and
definitely some more games
against stronger players who
automatically “know” this
stuff.
Why would I win more?
Because as the stronger player
saw that I could see his shenanigans
and nuances almost
as well as he, he would have
to play harder which often
entails RISK! Risk is a twoedged
sword, even for stronger
players.
I mentioned on my Blog
that I would spend the weekend
looking at this video and
I have, though not all at once
(then I become sleepy).
There are so many good
things I don’t want to overlook
any of them:
- The Pawn Wedge (d4- e5)
- The Classical French
- The Winawer ideas
- The Advance
- Isolated d-pawn.
Click here for replay a
video sampler (Timman-Seirawan (1978)).
There are several Karpov
games (using the Tarrasch).
In one Karpov takes W. Uhlmann
apar t in an isolated
d‑pawn game and in the very
next, IM Sergio Tatai gives
Korchnoi an isolated d-pawn
from an Exchange French and
he gets clobbered in 14 moves
with one of the most devastating
K-side attacks you will ever
have the chance to play over.
In those games where one
side wins (there are a few
draws) Davies shows us improvements
for the other side.
In the French did you know
that when White plays 5.Nf3
(1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6
4.e5 Nfd7) that indicates he is
going to play against Black’s
“hanging pawns” on e6 and
d5 (when Black goes …c5 and
…f6)? Davies fills us up wiht
these little nuances such as this
one from Spassky-Petrosian,
1966 WCCM.
Other subjects also covered
are the “Little Center” and the
Fort Knox variation. For those
who can’t stomach 2.d4, he
gives as his last game Romanishin-
Bareev, 1994 where 2.d3
is played.
There are 26 video clips on
this four hour DVD. Davies
moves right along, sometimes
too quickly (as I am still absorbing),
but then we can always
pause and think about
it. He gets a few jokes in here
and there, and yes, I did watch
and listen to ALL clips. This,
perhaps, is the most useful
(for me) DVD I have seen in a
long time.
Even though the subject is
the French Defense, many of
these ideas are applicable elsewhere
when it comes to pawn
structures.
The games are well chosen
as they are very instructive;
games I should know, but do
not. (Maybe the only game I
know is Botvinnik-Capablanca
1938 AVRO—just kidding.)
Chess Reports #101
I like most of the games but
Planinc-Timman, 1974 is terrific.
It seems reminiscent of Andy
Rea’s stuff in Chess on the
Ledge. Another wow(!) game
was Spassky-Korchnoi 1977
with tripled pawns.
If you play White (and I
have) there are some gem ideas
here also, but again Davies offers
tips on improve Black play
but they would have great surprise
value even in a serious
contest.
Davies says he plays the
French now and then but may
play it more in the future (is
this consumption for his future
opponents?). In 2009 he
takes Lawrence Trent apart at
the Staunton Memorial.
One reason I recommend this DVD
is that Mr. Davies knows quite
a bit about the French.
If you really want to get the
most out of this DVD, I really
recommend watching in 2-4
times andplaying what you’ve
learned. Davies had done an
excellent job of explaining the
French.
