In the line where Black brings his king knight to f6, play is similar to the Petroff Defense, the only difference being that the black knight is less actively placed on f6 than on e4 and can be pinned by Bg5. Transpositions from the Petroff to the French Exchange often occur when White plays 5.d3 instead of 5.d4.
When Black develops with ...Ne7 instead of ...Nf6, the game becomes double-edged if Black castles queenside. Black's safest course is to castle kingside and play ...Bf5, as happened in my game versus Henley, rather than ...Bg4. It is more important to neutralize White's powerful king bishop than to pin the knight on f3, since Ne5 can always be repulsed by ...f6.
Many of the strongest attacking players of all time have experimented with the French Exchange. Among them are Morphy, Marshall, Alekhine, Tal, and most recently Kasparov.
Game One
NM Jim West - NM Yair Marcus, Somerset NJ Quad 1992
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 c6 8.Bg5 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Nbd7 11.Bf5 Qc7 12.Rae1 Rae8
13.Re3 Qb6 14.Bxd7 Nxd7 15.Qg4 f5 16.Qe2 Rxe3 17.Qxe3 Qc7 18.Re1 f4 19.Qe6+ Rf7 20.Qe8+ Nf8 21.Bd8 Qc8 22.f3 h6 23.Nd1 Qf5 24.Re2 Kh7 25.Nf2 Ng6 26.Qe6 Qxe6 27.Rxe6 Rd7 28.Ba5 Ne7 29.Bd2 Nf5 30.c3 Re7 31.Rxe7 Nxe7 32.Nd3 g5 33.h4 Kg6 34.hxg5 hxg5 35.a4 Nc8 36.Kf2 Nb6 37.b3 Nd7 38.Ke2 Kf5 39.Nf2 c5 40.Nd3, draw.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Game Two
NM Jim West - NM Dean Ippolito, Bayonne NJ Quad 1993
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.O-O O-O 9.Nc3 Bg4 10.Bg5 c6 11.h3 Bh5
12.g4 Bg6 13.Ne5 Qb6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nf3 Qxb2 16.Ne2 Nd7 17.Nh4 Qa3 18.f4 Bxd3 19.cxd3 c5 20.Nf5 cxd4 21.Neg3 Rfe8 22.Qf3 Nb6 23.Nh5 Re6 24.g5 Be7 25.gxf6 Bf8 26.Rae1 Nd7 27.Qg3+ Kh8 28.Rxe6 fxe6 29.Qg7+ Bxg7 30.fxg7+, Black resigns.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Game Three
NM Jim West - NM Steve Stoyko, Somerset NJ Quad 1991
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.O-O Nbc6 7.Re1 Bg4 8.c3 Qd7 9.Nbd2 O-O-O 10.b4 Rde8 11.Qa4 Ng6 12.Ba3 Nf4 13.Bf1 Kb8 14.b5 Ne7 15.Ne5 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Qf5 17.Nb3 Neg6
18.Bc5 Rxe5 19.Bxa7+ Kc8 20.Be3 Bf3 21.Nc5 Kb8 22.Nd7+ Kc8 23.Nxe5, Black resigns.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Game Four
NM Jim West - NM Peter Radomskyj, Somerset NJ Quad 1992
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.O-O Bg4 7.Re1 Nbc6 8.c3 Qd7 9.Nbd2 O-O-O 10.b4 Rde8 11.Qa4 Kb8 12.b5 Nd8 13.Ba3 Ng6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Rxe8 Rxe8 16.b6 Nc6 17.bxa7+ Ka8 18.Rb1 Bxf3 19.Nxf3 Nf4 20.Ba6 bxa6 21.Qxa6 Na5
22.Qxa5 Qg6 23.Rb8+ Rxb8 24.axb8=Q+ Kxb8 25.Qb5+ Ka7 26.g3 Qe4 27.gxf4 Qxf3 28.Qa5+ Kb7 29.Qb4+ Kc6 30.Qa4+ Kd6 31.Qa3+ Kd7 32.Qc1 Qg4+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+ 34.Kg1 Qg4+, draw.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Game Five
NM Jim West - GM Ron Henley, USATE 1992
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 Bf5 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 Nbc6 10.a3 Qd7
11.Bg3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Bxg3 13.hxg3 Rae8 14.Nbd2 Nc8 15.Kf1 N6e7 16.Re2 c6 17.Rae1 Nd6 18.Ng1 Ng6 19.Rxe8 Rxe8 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.f3 Qe6 22.Kf2 Ne7 23.a4 h5 24.b3 Qf5 25.Qxf5 Nexf5 26.Ne2 a5 27.Nf1 Kf7 28.Ne3 g5 29.Nxf5 Nxf5 30.c3 Ke6 31.Nc1 b6 32.Nd3 Kd6 33.Ne1 c5 34.Nc2 cxd4, draw.
{This article originally appeared in Atlantic Chess News in 1995}
