C13 French: Classical System: 4.Bg5 Be7, Alekhine-Chatard Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+)

While the game did not start as French, it transposed to it with the move 4.e4. More common move order might be 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+. In the game I played my main reply to 1.d4, which is 1...Nf6 (1167513 games, score 53.1%). It is also the preferred choice in most of the games in my reference database. The next move, 2.Nc3 (22830 games, score 49.5%), is the 4th most played move in the position. The more played moves are 2.c4 (747741 games, score 53.6%), 2.Nf3 (305961 games, score 52.2%) and 2.Bg5 (51350 games, score 54.2%). I continued with the most popular reply with the move 2...d5 (15469 games, score 46.9%). My opponent's third move, Bg5 (16043 games, score 51.1%), is the most often occurred move in the position. It has been played frequently by Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura, for example. The latest game example from GM Hikaru Nakamura (2779) is from the game against Xiangzhi Bu (2705) that was played at the World Chess Rapid Championships at Doha on December 28th, 2016. That game ended in a draw. With my next move, 3...e6 (3654 games, score 60.3%), I allowed the game to transpose into a variation of the French Defence. According to the score, I should avoid the move 3...e6, which is the second most played in the move in the position, in the future as it seems to favor White quite well. Next time I should maybe play the move 3...Nbd7 (5810 games, score 46.3%), which is the most popular move.

Kojjootti's next move, 4.e4 (2982 games, score 62.9%), has been clearly the most played move. The second most common move in the position is 4.Nf3 (380 games, score 52.8%). After the 4th move, the amount of reference games went up to 35553, due to the transposition to the variation of the French. In 10649 out of those games, the move I played, 4...dxe4 was chosen. It has a score of 55.2%. It was the second most often played move, only behind the move 4...Be7 (15243 games, score 58.7%). The reply 5.Nxe4 (10237 games, score 55.4%) is, not surprisingly, clearly the most played move. It has been played by strong Grand Masters such as Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand. Then I played 5...Be7 (8484 games, score 56.3%), which was again the most often occurred move. Kojjootti then chose to play 6.Nxf6+ (1017 games, score 47.6%), which is the second most played move in the position. Much more often the move 6.Bxf6 (7150 games, score 57.9%) has been played. Only based on the scores, I am glad that my opponent chose to take on f6 with the knight. That being said, it has been played by strong players like Arkadij Naiditsch (2657) and Vladimir Onischuk (2614), the ratings have been taken from the games where the players have had their highest ratings while playing that move.

In order to keep my pawn structure intact, I took back on f6 with my bishop. It had been played in 942 games with a score of 47.7%. The move 6...gxf6 (73 games, score 45.9%) has also been played. The next move, 7.Be3 (31 games, score 61.3%), is the second most commonly seen move, only behind the move 7.Bxf6 (906 games, score 47.2%). The highest rated player to choose the move 7.Be3, is Bogdan Belyakov (2513), according to my reference database. Bogdan Belyakov played the move against Artem Isaykin (1924) and it was played at Khanty Mansiysk on March 29th, 2016. The game continued with the most popular move 7...O-O (12 games, score 58.3%). The reply 8.c3 had only been played in 2 games before this one with a score of 100%. While there was a more popular move 8.Nf3 (7 games, score 50%), the strongest player reaching the position chose to play 8.c3 and that player is Bogdan Belyakov. Kojjootti's 8th move was also the last one that had been played previously, in the Belyakov - Isaykin game that I mentioned before, Isaykin played 8...b6. The other move that had been tried in the position before this game is 8...Qe7. Both moves had been played only once and in both games White won. It seems that my novelty, 8...Nc6, is better than the previously tried moves, at least according to the engine evaluation. However, the difference is not that big and both 8...b6 and 8...Qe7 are likely playable.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2016.07.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Kojjootti"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "1724"] [BlackElo "1775"] [Annotator "Stockfish 9 64 POPCNT (30s)"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 e6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ {C13 French: Classical System: 4.Bg5 Be7, Alekhine-Chatard Attack} Bxf6 7. Be3 O-O (7... Nd7 8. Nf3 c5 9. c3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Be2 Nb6 12. Nb5 Bd7 13. O-O Bxb5 14. Bxb5 Qc7 15. Qf3 Rfd8 16. Rad1 Nd5 17. Bc1 Rac8 18. Bd3 a6 19. Be4 Qc4 20. a3 b5 21. Rd2 Nb6 22. Rfd1 {Hedke,F (2285)-Bartelborth,T (2225) Germany 1990 1/2-1/2 (42) }) 8. c3 (8. Nf3 b6 9. g3 Bb7 10. Bg2 Nd7 11. c3 Qe7 12. O-O Rfd8 13. Qc1 Rac8 14. h4 c5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Qc2 g6 18. Rad1 Qh5 19. Nh2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Rd5 21. Rxd5 Qxd5+ 22. f3 Rd8 {Tambara,N (1702)-Flech,R (1805) Porto Alegre 2017 1/2-1/2 (80)}) 8... Nc6 $146 (8... b6 9. Nf3 Nd7 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Qc2 h5 12. O-O-O Qe7 13. Bh7+ Kh8 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 g6 16. g4 hxg4 17. Qxg4 Kg7 18. h4 Rh8 19. h5 Rag8 20. hxg6 Rxh1 21. Rxh1 fxg6 22. Ng5 Bxg5 23. Bxg5 { Belyakov,B (2513)-Isaykin,A (1924) Khanty Mansiysk 2016 1-0}) (8... Qe7 9. Nf3 Rd8 10. Qc2 Nd7 11. Bd3 h6 12. O-O-O c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Bh7+ Kh8 15. Rxd8+ Qxd8 16. Bxc5 Qd5 17. Bd4 Bxd4 18. Be4 Qxa2 19. Nxd4 Bd7 20. Qb3 Qa1+ 21. Bb1 Qa6 22. Qc2 g6 23. Qd2 {Lopatina,O (2091)-Batcengel,S (2068) Rijeka 2011 1-0}) 9. Bd3 (9. Nf3 Re8 $11) 9... g6 (9... e5 $5 10. d5 Ne7 $15) 10. Nf3 $11 b6 ( 10... e5 $5 {must definitely be considered} 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 $11) 11. h4 $14 Bb7 (11... Rb8 12. Be4 Ne7 13. Bg5 $16) 12. h5 $16 Ne7 $2 (12... e5 13. hxg6 hxg6 14. Be4 exd4 15. Nxd4 (15. cxd4 $143 Qe7 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 $17) 15... Nxd4 16. Bxb7 $14) 13. hxg6 $4 {releasing the pressure on the opponent} (13. Ng5 $142 $5 Bxg5 14. Bxg5 $18) 13... fxg6 $16 14. Rg1 (14. Qe2 Qd6 $14) 14... Bg7 (14... c5 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Bh6 $11) 15. Bg5 (15. Qe2 Nd5 $11) 15... Rf7 ( 15... Qd6 $5 $11 {is worth consideration}) 16. Ne5 {White threatens to win material: Ne5xf7} Rf8 $2 (16... Bxe5 $5 17. dxe5 Qd5 $16) 17. Qe2 (17. Qg4 Bxe5 18. Qxe6+ Rf7 19. Qxe5 Qd5 $18) 17... Qd6 18. g4 $4 {weakening the position} ( 18. O-O-O $142 $18 {and White gets the upper hand}) 18... Nd5 19. Be4 (19. O-O-O Nf4 20. Bxf4 Rxf4 $11) 19... Bxe5 (19... c5 20. f3 Qc7 21. Qh2 cxd4 22. cxd4 $15) 20. dxe5 (20. Bxd5 $5 Qxd5 21. Qxe5 $11) 20... Qxe5 $15 21. Bh6 $4 ( 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. f4 Rf7 $17) 21... Rf7 (21... Nxc3 $142 {and Black has reached his goal} 22. bxc3 Qxc3+ (22... Bxe4 $6 {is impossible} 23. Rg3 Rfd8 24. Bd2 $17) (22... Qxe4 $6 {is a bad alternative} 23. Bxf8 Qxe2+ 24. Kxe2 Rxf8 25. g5 $11) 23. Kf1 Qxa1+ 24. Kg2 Qe5 $19) 22. f4 $2 (22. f3 $142 $5 $15 { and White is still in the game}) 22... Nxf4 $19 23. Bxf4 Qxe4 24. Qxe4 Bxe4 25. Bxc7 $4 {leading to a quick end} (25. Bg5 $142 $19) 25... Rxc7 26. O-O-O (26. Rc1 {does not solve anything} Rf8 $19) 26... Bd5 27. Kb1 Rf8 28. Rg3 (28. g5 { does not help much} Rf2 $19) 28... Rf3 29. Rxf3 (29. Rgg1 {is no salvation} g5 $19) 29... Bxf3 30. g5 (30. Rg1 {what else?} g5 31. Kc1 $19) 30... Bxd1 (30... Bxd1 31. Kc1 Rd7 32. c4 e5 33. b4 e4 34. c5 bxc5 35. bxc5 Ba4 36. Kb2 e3 37. c6 Bxc6 38. a3 e2 39. a4 e1=Q 40. Kc2 Qd2+ 41. Kb1 Rb7+ 42. Ka1 Qb2#) 0-1

Some of the latest and highest rated games from my reference database that reached the position after 6.Nxf6+ can be viewed below.

[Event "Vidmar Memorial 20th"] [Site "Bled"] [Date "2016.06.24"] [Round "1"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Skoberne, Jure"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2657"] [BlackElo "2572"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.06.24"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "SLO"] [EventCategory "15"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 40"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.07.09"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 c5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Qe2 a6 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12. O-O-O O-O 13. d5 exd5 14. Rxd5 Rfe8 15. Qd3 Nb6 16. Rd6 Re6 17. Rxe6 Qxe6 18. Ng5 Qg6 19. Qxg6 hxg6 20. Rd1 Nc4 21. b3 Ne5 22. h3 c4 23. f4 Nc6 24. bxc4 Re8 25. Rd7 f6 26. Nf3 Re4 27. Rxb7 Rxf4 28. Rc7 Rxc4 29. Nd2 Rc5 30. Rc8+ Kh7 31. h4 g5 32. hxg5 fxg5 33. Nf3 1-0 [Event "Baku ol (Men) 42nd"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2016.09.03"] [Round "2.24"] [White "Stojanovic, Dalibor"] [Black "Bluebaum, Matthias"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2505"] [BlackElo "2626"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2016.09.02"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [SourceTitle "Mega2016 Update 50"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2016.09.18"] [WhiteTeam "Bosnia&Hercegovina"] [BlackTeam "Germany"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"] [BlackTeamCountry "GER"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. c3 b6 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Qe2 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nd7 13. O-O-O Rad8 14. Qe4 Qh6+ 15. Qe3 Qh4 16. Rhg1 Nf6 17. Qe5 c5 18. dxc5 Rd5 19. Qg3 Qh6+ 20. Kb1 Rxc5 21. Bc2 g6 22. Rd4 Rd5 23. Rgd1 Rfd8 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Rxd5 Nxd5 26. Qb8+ Kg7 27. Qe5+ Nf6 28. a4 Qh4 29. Qc7 Qxf2 30. Qxa7 Qg1+ 31. Ka2 Qxh2 32. Bb3 Qd6 33. a5 bxa5 34. Qxa5 h5 35. c4 h4 36. c5 Qe5 37. f4 Qxf4 38. c6 Ne8 39. Qc3+ Kh7 40. Bc2 Nc7 41. Bb3 Kg8 42. Qd3 Kg7 43. Qc3+ e5 44. Qd3 Qd4 45. Qf1 f5 46. Qe1 Kf6 47. Qa5 Qd6 48. Qc3 g5 49. Qc4 e4 50. Qf7+ Ke5 51. Qg7+ Kf4 52. Qd7 Qe5 53. Qd2+ e3 54. Qh2+ Ke4 55. Qg2+ Kd4 56. Qxg5 h3 57. Qh4+ Kc5 58. Bd1 h2 59. Bf3 e2 60. Qe1 Qe3 61. Qa5+ Kd6 62. Qb4+ Ke6 63. Qc4+ Ke5 64. Qf7 e1=Q 65. Qxc7+ Kf6 66. Qd8+ Qe7 67. c7 Qa5+ 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis Winter-B"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.03.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Hess, Robert L"] [Black "Rambaldi, Francesco"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2571"] [BlackElo "2559"] [PlyCount "150"] [EventDate "2017.03.11"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "USA"] [EventCategory "11"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 22"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.03.24"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. c3 b6 10. a4 Bb7 11. a5 Rd8 12. Be2 c5 13. O-O cxd4 14. Nxd4 bxa5 15. Qb3 Bd5 16. Qa4 e5 17. Nc2 Qb6 18. Ne3 Nc6 19. Nxd5 Rxd5 20. Bf3 Rd6 21. Rad1 Rf6 22. Rd5 Rf4 23. b4 Rc8 24. Rd6 Rf6 25. bxa5 Qc7 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27. Qg4+ Kf8 28. Qf5 Ke7 29. a6 Nd8 30. Bg4 Ne6 31. Qxh7 Qxc3 32. h4 Qc4 33. Bxe6 Kxe6 34. h5 Qg4 35. Qd3 Qc4 36. Qh3+ f5 37. h6 Kf6 38. h7 Kg7 39. Qxf5 Qxa6 40. Re1 Rh8 41. Qxe5+ Qf6 42. Qg3+ Qg6 43. Qc3+ Kxh7 44. Qd4 Rb8 45. Qxa7 Rb1 46. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 47. Kh2 Kg8 48. Qd4 Qa2 49. Kg3 Qb3+ 50. Kh4 Qc2 51. g4 Qh7+ 52. Kg3 Qb1 53. Kf4 Qc1+ 54. Qe3 Qc6 55. Kg3 Qb5 56. f4 Qb8 57. Qe5 Qd8 58. f5 f6 59. Qe3 Qc7+ 60. Kg2 Kg7 61. Kh3 Qb7 62. Kh4 Qc7 63. Qd2 Qb7 64. Qd6 Qa7 65. Qd2 Qb7 66. Qe3 Qc7 67. Kh3 Qb7 68. Kg3 Qc7+ 69. Kh3 Qb7 70. g5 fxg5 71. Qxg5+ Kf8 72. Qf6+ Kg8 73. Qe6+ Kf8 74. Qf6+ Kg8 75. Qe6+ Kf8 1/2-1/2 [Event "EU-ch 18th"] [Site "Minsk"] [Date "2017.06.05"] [Round "6"] [White "Onischuk, Vladimir"] [Black "Howell, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2684"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2017.05.30"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "BLR"] [SourceTitle "Mega2017 Update 34"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2017.06.16"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Qd2 c5 10. O-O-O Rd8 11. Qc3 cxd4 12. Rxd4 Rxd4 13. Qxd4 Qxd4 14. Nxd4 b6 15. Be2 Bb7 16. Nb5 Nd7 17. Rd1 Nf6 18. f3 Kf8 19. c4 Ke7 20. Kd2 g5 21. Ke3 Bc6 22. Nc3 a5 23. b3 h6 24. a3 Ne8 25. g4 Nd6 26. f4 Rc8 27. Rc1 f5 28. h3 Kf6 29. Rd1 gxf4+ 30. Kxf4 e5+ 31. Ke3 f4+ 32. Kf2 Ke6 33. Nd5 Ne4+ 34. Ke1 Bxd5 35. Rxd5 Nc3 36. Bd3 e4 37. Rd4 Ke5 38. Rd7 Ke6 39. Rd4 Ke5 40. Rd7 exd3 41. Rxd3 Nb1 42. a4 Ke4 43. Rd1 Nc3 44. Rd6 Ke3 0-1 [Event "Wch Blitz (Women)"] [Site "Riadh"] [Date "2017.12.29"] [Round "10"] [White "Gunina, Valentina"] [Black "Ju, Wenjun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C13"] [WhiteElo "2510"] [BlackElo "2567"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2017.12.29"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "SAU"] [SourceTitle "Mega2018 Update 11"] [Source "Chessbase"] [SourceDate "2018.01.05"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bd3 c5 10. Qe2 cxd4 11. Qe4 g6 12. Nxd4 e5 13. Nf3 Nc6 14. O-O Bf5 15. Qe3 e4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 Qxb2 18. Rab1 Qxa2 19. Rxb7 Rac8 20. Ng5 Qa5 21. Qh4 h5 22. Ne4 Qe5 23. Nf6+ Kg7 24. Nd7 Qd5 25. Qf6+ Kg8 26. Nxf8 Rxf8 27. Rc7 Nd4 28. h3 Re8 29. c4 Qe4 30. Qxf7+ 1-0