CHESS
The first truly modern player was the great Frenchman Frangoise Andre Dani- can Philidor (7 Sept 1726 – 25 Aug 1795). Both over the board and in the realm of ideas Philidor dominated his contempor- aries. Dr Max Euwe wrote of Philidor: 'By illustrating his principles in his book L'Analyse des Echecs, Philidor laid the first stone in the edifice of modern chess.'
Philidor's revolutionary insight into chess strategy was his appreciation of the function of the pawns. In the games of Philidor's predecessors the pawns were mere cannon fodder or obstructions hampering the free play of the pieces. Philidor understood, on the contrary, that the pawns were the very backbone of the game. In his games he always tried to build a great wall of pawns in the centre and his victories frequently came because his be- wildered opponents could not understand the nature of his strategy. It has even been suggested that Philidor's revolutionary theories concerning the pawns, the peasan- try of the chessboard, were a remarkable reflection of the revolutionary political events in the France of his day.
Philidor's Defence, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6, has been virtually neglected since his day, though it was briefly espoused by Murphy, Nimzowitsch and Alekhine. Now, a new book, Winning with the Philidor (£10.99, B. T. Batsford), by the English grand- master Tony Kosten reveals the Philidor in its full glory as a perfectly viable and coherent defensive system against 1 e4. Black even has a choice of defensive
Revolutionary Raymond Keene
methods, fianchettoing his king's bishop, dourly defending the centre, or even the Philidor Counter-Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 f5), which is by no means as dead as theory would have us believe. The most fascinating system is that with . . . g6, and I give three games cited by Kosten to de- monstrate its potential.
Bengtsson — Wahibom: Uppsala 1970; Philidor Defence.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Qd2 0-08 0-0-0 Re8 9 f3 Nc6 10 g4 Ne5 11 Be2 a6 12 h4 b5 13 Bg5 c5 14 Nb3 This retreat is too passive. 14 Nf5 was obligatory, when after 14 . . . gxf5 15 gxf5 Kh8 White will have reasonable practical chances in an unclear posi- tion. 14. . . c4 15 Nd4 b4 16 Nd5 c3 17 bxc3 bxc3 18 Nxc3 Qa5 19 Nb3 Qa3+ 20 Kbl Nexg4 21 Position after 21 Qxd6 Qxd6 (Diagram) 21 . . . Nxe4!! Superb! Black sacrifices his queen, but wins more than enough material for it and maintains his attack. 22 Qxa3 Nxc3+ 23 Kcl Nxe2+ 24 Kbl Nf2 25 Rd8 Rxd8 26 Bxd8 Nxhl 27 Qe7 Nc3+ 28 Kcl Nza2+ 29 Kbl Nc3+ 30 Kcl h5 31 Qe8+ Kh7 32 Qxf7 Be6 33 Qxe6 Rxd8 34 Nd2 Ng3 White resigns as the Black pieces are homing in for the kill.
Hazai — Sax: Budapest 1971: Philidor Defence.
I e4 e5 2 NO d6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 11g7 6 Bf4 Nc6 7 Nxc6 bxc6 8 11c4 Rb8 9 Qcl 9 Bb3, with a level position, would be better. 9 . . . d5 10 exd5 Rb4 11 Bh3 Qe7+ 12 Be3 Ba6 13 Qd2
Position after 18 Kgl
Rd4 14 Qcl Nf6 15 f3 Bh6 16 1(12 Ng4+ 17 fkg4 Qf6+ 18 Kg! (Diagram) 18 . . . Rd1+!! White resigns as both 19 Qxdl Bxe3 and 19 Nadi Qfl are checkmate.
J. Nielsen — J. H. Nielsen: Denmark 1977; Philidor Defence.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 Nc3 Bg7 6 Be3 Nf6 7 Qd2 0-08 0-0-0 Nc6 9 h4 Nxd4 10 Bxd4 Be6 11 h5 c5 12 Be3 Qa5 13 hxg6 Nxe4 14 gxf7 + Bxf7 15 Nxe4?? A blunder. 15 Qd3 would have complicated the issue. 15 . . . Bxb2+! White resigns.
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