Opening Tactics - The French : Volumes 1-6: Opening Tactics

By Michael Duke

This book contains 300 puzzles from the French Defence - it is not a theoretical manual. The variations covered are the Winawer, Classical, Tarrasch, Rubinstein, Advance and Exchange. I have designed this book to be a useful tactics trainer but also to aid with opening preparation - the idea is that you solve the tactics in your expected opening before a game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Duke
• Release date: Oct 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386052210

Book preview

Introduction

Hi!

This book is based largely on my own preparation files. Whilst it is important to review opening theory when preparing for a game, I feel it is also important to review common tactical motifs in your expected opening to avoid opening disasters. It is particularly useful to be aware of common tricks and tactics when playing a new opening. I created these files to aid in my own preparation and think they would be useful for other players. 

There are 300 puzzles, divided into 6 chapters of 50 puzzles.

I suggest 2 ways to work with this book:

Method 1 - Opening preparation. Solve the problems when you first learn a new opening and then refresh them as part of your pre-game preparation. I have included 25 problems for each colour to make this a realistic goal.

Method 2 - General tactics training. Many openings transpose and tactical themes often transfer well to other openings. I believe there is some value in chunking tactics in the same opening, as an alternative to 'forks, skewers, pins' etc.

I have also deliberately mixed up the difficulty levels to mimic a game situation. You will never know if your opponent as made a simple mistake or one that is hard to find! :)

If you enjoyed these puzzles, or would prefer an online board to play through them with there are many more available at:

https://www.chessable.com/courses/s/Dodgy

Contents

Chapter 1:  The Winawer

Chapter 2:  The Classical

Chapter 3:  The Rubinstein

Chapter 4:  The Tarrasch

Chapter 5:  The Advance

Chapter 6:  The Exchange

Chapter 1

The Winawer

The Winawer variation begins with the moves:

e4 e6

d4 d5

Nc3 Bb4

The Winawer is one of the sharpest variations in chess and can lead to many non-standard positions.  White often sacrifices a pawn (or two!) on the queenside to generate an attack on the black king.  Black hopes to use the extra material or the weakened queenside to build a counter attack.  Play is very sharp and pieces are scattered around the board, leading to some unusual a

Puzzle #1

Solution

Nxd4 Qxd4

Bb5 axb5

Qxd4

Puzzle #2

Solution

Qh6 Ke8 (Ke7 Qg7 Ke8 Qf7#)

Qxf6

Puzzle #3