The French Early Be7
Choosing to play a sideline sometimes helps a lot in avoiding a bunch of complicated theory that has been well analyzed and established by the elite players. It is quite common these days for players to venture into not-so-popular openings and look for interesting novelties. Today we will be studying one such side lines in the French defense, the early Be7 variation. Interestingly this variation has been played by players as frequently as the main lines against me. I guess in an era of modern chess theory, the difference between main and side lines is just a few games from the elite players!
In our first game today, a good friend of mine IM Peter Vavrak tried this variation against me in the UTD Invitational GM tournament. One of the main reasons I picked this game was because of the study-like finish in this game.
Panchanathan, Magesh (2472) vs. Vavrak, Peter (2388)
UTD GM Tournament | Kings Island | Round 1| 7 Dec 2004 | ECO: C03 | 1-0
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Bd3 c5 5. dxc5 Nf6 6. Qe2 O-O ( 6... Nc6 ) 7. Ngf3 a5 8. O-O Na6 9. exd5 ( 9. e5 Nd7 10. c3 Naxc5 11. Bc2 b6 12. Re1 Ba6 13. Qe3 f6 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Nb3 e5 16. Nxc5 bxc5 17. Ng5 Bxg5 18. Qxg5 Qe8 19. Be3 Qf7 20. Qh4 h6 21. Rad1 Rab8 22. b3 Rb6 23. f3 Rf6 24. c4 d4 25. Qe4 g5 26. Bd2 ) 9... Qxd5 ( 9... exd5 10. Nb3 a4 11. Nbd4 Nxc5 12. Bb5 ) 10. Nc4 Bxc5 11. c3 Ba7 12. Rd1 Qh5 13. Nfe5 Qxe2 14. Bxe2 Nc5 15. Be3 ( 15. Bf3 Nfe4 16. Be3 ) 15... Nd5 16. Bxc5 Bxc5 17. Bf3 b6 18. Nd3 Bb7 19. Nxc5 bxc5 20. Ne5 Ra7 21. Nd7 Rc8 22. c4 Nf4 ( 22... Ba8 23. cxd5 ( 23. Ne5 Nb4 24. Bxa8 Rcxa8 25. Rd2 ) 23... Rxd7 24. dxe6 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Bxf3 26. exf7+ Kxf7 27. gxf3 ) 23. Nb6 Rb8 24. Rd7 Ra6 25. Nc8!! ( 25. Nc8 Rxc8 ( 25... Bxc8 26. Rd8# ) 26. Bxb7 Ra7 27. Bxc8 )
Black's difficulty in developing kept bothering him throughout the game. Nevertheless, it was a satisfying way to win a game.
Our next game had an interesting prelude to it. I was having a wonderful tournament in the World Junior Championships in Azerbaijan in 2003. I actually had defeated Shahriyar Mamedyarov in the second round who eventually went on to win the championship dismantling the rest of the field. In the fifth round I was facing an English Fide Master Craig Hanley and my roommate GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly who has been recently very busy climbing up the rating ladder and working with Anand as his second, gave me an interesting suggestion based on his game against the same opponent a year before. All I had to do was check out the move for a few minutes with my engine and look up a bunch of possibilities that were available to black in that position and I was done with my preparation.
Panchanathan, Magesh (2419) vs. Hanley, C. (2375)
WJun | Nakhchivan AZE | Round 5| 25 Jun 2003 | ECO: C03 | 1-0
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Bd3 c5 5. dxc5 Nf6 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. Ngf3 Nb4 8. Nb3 Nxd3+ 9. cxd3 a5 10. Bg5 a4 11. Nbd2 h6 12. Bxf6 ( 12. Be3 Qa5 13. O-O Bxc5 14. exd5 Bxe3 15. Nc4 Qa6 16. Qxe3 O-O ( 16... Nxd5 17. Qc5 ) 17. dxe6 Bxe6 18. Nce5 Rfd8 19. a3 Nd5 20. Qe4 f6 21. Nc4 Bf7 22. Rfe1 b5 23. Ne3 Nxe3 24. Rxe3 Rac8 25. Nd4 Re8 26. Qg4 h5 27. Qg3 Rxe3 28. fxe3 ) 12... Bxf6 13. exd5 a3 ( 13... Qxd5 14. Ne4 Bd7 15. O-O Bc6 16. Rac1 Rd8 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. b4 axb3 19. axb3 Qxb3 20. Ne5 Bxe5 21. Qxe5 Qxd3 22. f4 Qd2 ) 14. Ne4 Bxb2 ( 14... Qa5+ 15. Nfd2 Bxb2 16. O-O O-O ( 16... Bxa1 17. Rxa1 O-O 18. d6 ) 17. d6 Qb5 18. Rac1 Bxc1 19. Rxc1 f5 ( 19... Qb2 20. Qd1 Qxa2?? 21. Nc4 ) 20. Ng3 ) 15. Nd6+ Kf8 16. O-O Bxa1 17. Rxa1 exd5 18. Rb1 Be6 19. Ne5 Kg8 20. d4 g5 21. Nexf7 Bxf7 22. Nxf7 Qe8 ( 22... Kxf7 23. Rxb7+ Kg6 24. Qd3+ ) 23. Qxe8+ Rxe8 24. Nxh8 Re2 25. Ng6 Kg7 26. Ne5 Rxa2 27. Rxb7+ Kf6 28. g3 Rd2 29. Ra7 a2 30. Kg2
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