Originally posted by JonathanB of London Why do you want the Bishop on d3? It's not clear to me it necessarily belongs there ... and without doubt it's better to refrain from c4 and save that square for the King's Knight.
Having said that your line may also lead to some kind of advantage for White ... it's that kind of opening.
you play Bd3 first inorder to stop ...Bf5 I think that playing Nc3 can lead to an advantage for black as in the game Unzicker-Larsen 1970
Originally posted by wormer you play Bd3 first inorder to stop ...Bf5 I think that playing Nc3 can lead to an advantage for black as in the game Unzicker-Larsen 1970
Well maybe ... although I'm not sure White necessarily needs to stop ...Bf5. Bd3 Blocks the queen's defence of d5 but my point is not so much that B will never belong on d3 but that it might not ... so more flexible to get on with other things and develop the bishop later.
I just had a look at the Larsen game you mention (thanks for the tip-off btw). Black wins for sure but would you really say he comes out of the opening with an advantage? Anyway, the weakness that ends up on c4 is another reason not to put the pawn there.
Anyhoo, there's always more than one way to skin a cat so perhaps it all comes down to personal preference.
Originally posted by no1marauder 3 Nf3 is the overwhelming choice in the databases leading to standard e6 Sicilian positions.
That's only because there are so many e6 Sicilian games in the database, which is irrelevant to the current position after 2... c5. This is because unlike in the Sicilian, where black plays c5 on his first move, here he allows white the option of playing 3. d5 and heading for (IMHO) an inferior Benoni type position which is better for white.
This is also a very good reason why you should never play your opening moves based on database popularity. Doing that here with 3. Nf3 just lets black off the hook by transposing into an e6 Sicilian of his choice. Paying attention to the position and the move order, however, instead of blindly following a database and you recognize that the popularity of 3. Nf3 has nothing to do with how good it would be here (thanks to the order of black's moves, which the database doesn't care about) and that white has a much better alternative.
Originally posted by gaychessplayer GM Andy Soltis wrote a book called "The Franco-Benoni Defense", in which he advocates playing 1...e6 and then 2...c5 against most White moves.
(Is there ANY opening that Solits has NOT written a book on?)
There's also a Chessbase opening CD built around this as well. Maybe its ok for black, but there just doesn't look to be a lot of counter-play for black in the 3. d5 Franco-Benoni line.
29 Dec '07 18:12
rare french line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5!?
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