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Philidor Defence

Philidor Defence

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A game from my league match last night started thus:



8.Bf4 seems to be a new move and Black's reply, Bd6, looked plausible enough. However White had a wonderful refutation to Bd6 which he didn't see at the time but which was found later in the pub. Any ideas?

White won the game anyway by move 15, mating the Black king on h4.

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Ng4+?

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Originally posted by jonrothwell
Ng4+?
What do you do after 9. Ng4+ Ke7 ?

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Nc3 ...yeah ignore it i'd have to look properly to find anything decent, never played a phillidor in my life!

What was the refute?

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Originally posted by jonrothwell
What was the refute?
I'll post it if no-one finds it. It's not as easy to find as you might think because White has so many different tries.

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9. Bg5+!!

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Originally posted by heinzkat
9. Bg5+!!
That's beautiful!

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Yes. It's the double bishop move which made is so difficult to find. My teammate played a good game but discovering afterward that he failed to find Bg5+ rather took the shine off it!

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Originally posted by streetfighter
That's beautiful!
...and leaves Black headaches, considering whether he should stick to playing the "beginner's" Philidor or not? [edit: aha, I thought Fat Lady was Black, but it was the opponent of a team mate. Let him stick to playing the Philidor 😛]

edit 2: how did the actual game continue [with the King on h4]?

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I was playing a board higher and had a nightmare of a game against someone I outgraded by nearly 100 points (ECF 80 to my 173, about 1650 FIDE to my 2100). I won eventually, but if he had found 35.Rc8 I'd have probably been forced to resign.



I've just e-mailed my teammate for the actual moves to his game. I'll post them when he replies.

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What actually happened in the Philidor Defence game:



(Bear in mind that my opponent was graded 80, and Black in this game was a board below him!)

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Originally posted by Fat Lady
A game from my league match last night started thus:

[pgn]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7
7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Bf4 Bd6
[/pgn]

8.Bf4 seems to be a new move and Black's reply, Bd6, looked plausible enough. However White had a wonderful refutation to Bd6 which he didn't see at the time but which was found later in the pub. Any ideas?

White won the game anyway by move 15, mating the Black king on h4.
9.Bg5!

But what about 8...Qe8 (instead of 8...Bd6) ?

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Originally posted by Korch
9.Bg5!

But what about 8...Qe8 (instead of 8...Bd6) ?
Yes, I think that is Black's best move. 8. Bf4 doesn't seem that good and 8. Qd4 is probably White's best move.

8. Bf4 Qe8
9. Ng4+ Kg6

looks just fine for Black, though I bet most club players would find a way to lose over the board!