It is often said that the French Defense (1 e4 e6) is dull. People who play the defense never feel insulted by this opinion as they know very well that nothing could be further from the truth and they are perfectly happy for their opponent to continue underrating the French.
It should be enough to mention Viktor Korchnoi, who used the French Defense all the way through his long and illustrious career, relying on it even at the very highest level. Korchnoi never liked dull games and he used the French as a tremendous counter-attacking opening.
Grandmaster Anish Giri’s new Chessable course delivers a repertoire full of lines played in the spirit of the great Korchnoi. Keeping things solid is not on the agenda.
The Dangerous Winawer Variation
What connects Giri to the French Defense?
In his video introduction to the course he reveals it was his favourite when he was younger. Additionally, the games Ian Nepomniachtchi at the 2020 Candidates tournament reignited his interest in the defense.
Specifically, it was Nepomniachtchi’s use of the ultra-sharp Winawer Variation which caught Giri’s eye.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4
The variation bears the name of Szymon Winawer, the Polish player who was one of the world’s best players towards the end of the 19th Century.
It leads to very sharp positions and is definitely not for the faint hearted.
Black’s pin on the white knight threatens to help with the win of a pawn by 4 …dxe4. Black is already displaying aggression and making White react.
Mikhail Botvinnik, the sixth World Champion, liked playing the Winawer Variation of the French Defense during the early part of his career but he switched to the Caro Kann and Pirc defences later on. Playing two title matches against tactical wizard Mikhail Tal may have had something to do with it; the first game of their 1960 match provides ample evidence that Tal was more at home in the wild Winawer positions.
Watson’s Winawer Revival
The Winawer had to wait patiently until John Watson’s first volume on the defense, Play the French, was published by Pergamon in 1984.
There have been three greatly updated versions since then – with the most recent one published in 2012 – and Watson has done more to inspire confidence in the Winawer Variation than any other writer.
There are some Winawer lines which are more positional than others. Tigran Petrosian utilised the quieter lines to outplay his opponents with his deep strategical thinking. Korchnoi preferred to blow his opponents off the board. Giri advocates the latter approach on this course.
There are numerous early deviations, in which White either tries to keep everything quiet or goes to the other extreme to try and divert Black from the main lines.
The most fun occurs when both players are usually happy to sail down the following line.
To the uninitiated, this will look total chaos. Yet both sides have their dreams, desires and plans.
Trading Advantages
Clearly, White has compromised Black’s kingside. Indeed, White has a passed h-pawn and this will be dangerous to Black. White has the bishop pair too and the pawn on e5 is controlling significant squares in the black camp.
Black has a very solid central structure (f7, e6, d5). There is also considerable counterplay on the queenside. One easy variation: if White tries to bolster the centre with cxd4 then …Nxd4 opens up the queen, with prime target squares at c3 and c2.
Black often castles queenside and the rooks will be connected and they have the potential to annoy White down the open files on the kingside.
This is the position that makes Giri remember the games of his youth.
‘Most of my childhood games went straight into this position and here it was considered very smart to start with 11…Bd7 and not go 11…dxc3 just yet. Many things changed ever since, but remarkably the line remains very topical. I had to face it myself against Magnus Carlsen in Wijk aan Zee just a couple of editions ago and Nepo was ready to go for it in the Candidates tournament. If it’s good enough for them, it should be good enough for us. Right?’
Chaos or Control?
Anyone prepared to invest in the time required to learn the moves and – more importantly – the ideas behind them will have a lot of success with the Winawer Variation.
Imagine reaching this chaotic-looking position, but knowing just a little more than your opponent. You will be in control.
White to play
Giri shows how Black can tempt the passed h-pawn forward and suddenly, just one square from promotion, it is in severe danger of simply being rounded up.
Picking off insecure passed pawns is one thing, but people who play the Winawer usually have bigger fish to fry. Indeed, the white king can very easily find himself struggling to find safety on any part of the board.
White to play
As Giri puts it: ‘The lines continue, but Black is doing alright here, I believe. White’s king is not ideal and we can be proud of our good pieces and beautiful central pawns.’
We will return to the French Defense another time to examine the basics and provide an insight into Anish Giri’s suggestions against White’s other options.
Meanwhile, it is time to dust off the dangerous Winawer Variation and to play for a win with Black.
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