The French Defense: Chigorin Variation

A little while ago I made a post about how I find it difficult to play against the french defense. After many games it seems that black somehow always comes out better after the openings (with a few exceptions). 

The biggest annoyance for me is all the pressure black puts on my d4 pawn. He just keeps attacking it. I need that pawn for my e5 push. 

I decided not to play d4 and instead decided I would start playing a different variation, known as "Chigorin". 

I wouldn't usually play a move like Qe2 before developing the light squared bishop, and I don't think I ever develop the queen before any other minor pieces for that matter. But I need to try something different because what I have been playing hasn't been working for me. 

I think part of the problem with the advance variation is that there's so much more established theory on it that my opponent seems to know about it. The opening moves fast and I don't it all memorized. 

So I decided to start playing the Chigorin. Are there any downsides to this variation? 

https://www.chess.com/openings/French-Defense-Chigorin-Variation

On first thoughts, the biggest downside is that black can play 2... c5 and transpose into a Sicilian where white queen is misplaced on e2, offering a respectable position.

Otherwise, I don't see anything wrong with the move if you can make it work with the rest of your development.

It does not often end up a Sicilian transposition.  The most common scenario is a BAD KIA vs French (bad for White).

2...c5 and the impeding Queen blocking the LSB typically leads to a fianchetto with the Knight going to f3 and d3 being played since c5 now stops d4.

3.g3 Be7 4.Bg2 d5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.O-O and you see where this is heading.  The Queen is misplaced on e2.  If White advances, like in the KIA, the queen move is a waste of time - it could have come later to h5 in a single move.  If you trade, you open your Queen to attack on the e-file, losing more time.

You are better off learning the advance French.  It is not about holding the pawns.  It is about controlling the squares d4 and e5.  You simply must prevent ...d4 or ...e5 by Black.  Whether these 2 squares are occupied by pawns, occupied by pieces (i.e. exf6 Nxf6 Ne5), or controlled by pieces is irrelevant.  What matters is Black's pawns are stuck on e6 and d5, impeding the Bishop, and once you get his bishop (often for a knight), it is all about winning that e6 pawn and not letting it advance.

You do not need pawns to continue to occupy the dark squares to create a dark square blockade!

@ThillerFan

It seems as though the French Advance variation has less of a chance for white to win based on the games played. 

play 1.e4 e6 2.nc3 d5 3.g3, if you want to forget about the d4 pressure, or just play the KIA variation.

Less of a chance than the Chigorin?  2.Qe2?  Uhm....No!

At the GM Level, the chances of winning any opening as Black is slim to none.  Certain lines of the Winawer are known to a draw.  The Tarrasch and exchange are drawish.  The Advance is also highly drawish, though Sveshnikov scored over 70% with the White side of the French advance against GM Opposition.  Nimzowitsch was another with a very high score as White.

At your level, you could play the Berlin for a win, as I have many times about 10 years ago.  Just like how I have numerous wins in the Exchange French as Black.  Against the GM level, the Exchange is a simple draw for Black, not a win.

Plus, you cannot judge an opening based on what "seems" to be the case.  If you don't understand the opening, you cannot consider yourself a legitimate judge of a certain variation.

Your poor judgment of the Advance French would be like my trying to say which variation of the Grunfeld is best for White.  I will be the first to say that I am not the person to ask for advice or suggestions on the Grunfeld!

I have published articles both online and in magazines (e.g. American Chess Magazine, Volume 20) on the Advance French.

What are you talking about? The Chigorin has been played and the results show it produces good winning chances for white. 

Are you a GM? 

I am talking about the fact that the Queen is misplaced on e2.

And I only use REAL databases, not the trash database here on chess.com.  Also, you must be including all of Black's bad lines of defense by only searching e4 e6 Qe2.

Let's compare apples to apples.  Against opposition over 2000, I have faced 2.Qe2 over the board somewhere between 5 and 10 times.  One of them, my opponent played 3.f4, and I had a winning position, but only drew due to time trouble.  The rest featured the following:

Now look at the position after 9 moves, and compare it to the note on move 2.  You have the same position with the extra moves Qe2 by White and ...a5 by Black.

The position in the Note to move 2, in the 2021 Megabase:

White wins - 810, Draws - 458, Black wins - 563 -- That is a 56.7% score for White

The position at the end of move 9, in the 2021 Megabase:

White wins - 12, Draws - 8, Black wins - 21 -- That is a 39.0% score for White

So yes, 2.Qe2 is a poor man's KIA!  It doesn't take a GM to figure that out!  Just takes knowing how to analyze a database.  Statistics at move 2 are useless.

The move 3.f4 is interesting, but rarely faced for some reason.  The Psuedo-KIA line is terrible for White compared to the normal KIA against the French.

Maybe if you take up the French for black your opponents will show you it is white who is better.

The Chigorin is not terrible for white. I have played it quite a bit myself with generally good results

One of the best responses for black is 2...c5, and white has more than one way to meet it: (a) straight KIA attack with d3, Nf3, g3, Bg2, etc. (b) Big Clamp with d3, f4, Nf3, g3, Bg2, etc. (c) queenside fianchetto with b3, Bb2 (this stops ...g6, ...Bg7 by black), then most likely following up with KIA making it a double fianchetto.

Another interesting response is 2...e5!? when 3.Nf3 Nc6 is a little ugly for white. Most Chigorin players go 3.f4 with a peculiar King's Gambit where black finds it hard to play ...d5.

What I see as the big drawback to 2.Qe2 is 2...Nc6!, a very subtle move. The first idea is to wait one move to see what white does, and then play 3...e5!. So the Chigorin "theory" says white should play 3.f4 (just like with 2...e5). Now black shows the second idea (1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 Nc6 3.f4) 3...Nd4! 4.Qd3 c5! 5.c3 Nc6 6.Qe2 (white doesn't have any better squares for the queen in this dance), and now white is playing the Big Clamp setup against 2...c5, but with a very early c2-c3, and it's considered very comfortable for black. In particular the pawn on c3 is a good middlegame target for ...b7-b5-b4, and the pawn on d3 is an equally good target for ...Bc8-a6. French players should be very happy here.

What's wrong with the databases on chess.com?

If you play the 5...Qb6 line, consider swapping moves 4 and 5.

I play it as 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6.

There is absolutely nothing that White can do to take advantage of Black playing 4...Qb6.  The only downside is it removes the other options for Black, like 5...Nge7 or 5...Bd7, but if you play 5...Qb6 anyway, play the 4...Qb6 move order.

So WHY should Black do this?  There is nothing Black can lose from doing it provided you fully intended to play 5...Qb6 anyway, but for White, it removes the option of what can be viewed as a very annoying sideline.

After 4...Nc6, White can play 5.Be3 Qb6 6.Qd2.  By playing 4...Qb6 first, 5.Be3 is no good.  This is one of the few times that taking on b2 is indeed correct.  Often times, taking the b-pawn is a mistake, but not here!  After 4...Qb6 5.Be3? Qxb2, Black is winning.  After 5...Nf3, Black just plays 5...Nc6 and you are back in the main lines.

That said, if you understand the French, White can create a lot of problems for Black in the advance variation, despite what the delusional low-rated players say about it.  For example:

That line given is slightly better for White, but dynamic play is available to both sides.

In the following game, played in early 2020 where I was White, Black made the mistake of playing 11...Be7?, followed by 12...f6 anyway.  The lack of flexibility with the Bishop combined with the wasted move cost black dearly.

Charlotte Chess Center Blog: The French Connection: Volume 31

Many players here that play the advance don't know what they are doing, and so of course your results are going to look spectactular.  I have great results against the advance as Black as well because White is clueless as to what he's doing more often than not.

In depth analysis

It is glaringly incomplete!  Even numerous GM games are missing.

For example, let's say you search the position after 1.e4 e6 where Uhlmann was Black.

Megabase - 657 games

Here? - 532 games

20 percent of his games where he played the French as Black are missing, and he is a legend of the French Defense.

Another example.

Search for the position after 1.e4 c5 with Kasparov playing Black.

Megabase 2021 - 367 games

Chess.com? - 304 games

Again, almost 20 percent of his games missing.

And these are legends!  Just imagine how many games are missing from those below 2700!  Especially give we are talking roughly 3 million vs 8.6 million games!

Lastly, let's take that position I posted after 9 moves, with the stat line of 12 wins, 8 draws, 21 losses.  16 points scored across 41 games.  39.0% score.

Here?  Almost half those games are missing, and it skews the statistics severely.  Only 21 games here with a 0.500 record!

So yes, the database here is crap!

Here is proof that if you "Understand" rather than "Memorize", there is no need to play inferior lines!

These 3 games were played back-to-back-to-back - First 2 are Winawers, the third is a Steinitz - Do keep in mind these are blitz, so obviously not the same calibre as a slow, over the board game:

Chess: Lucasiri11 vs ThrillerFan - 34660171297 - Chess.com

Chess: ThrillerFan vs Lucasiri11 - 34660220215 - Chess.com

Chess: Lucasiri11 vs ThrillerFan - 34660263787 - Chess.com