Eric Schiller

French Winawer Poisoned Pawn Variation Eric Schiller

The French Defense is all the rage these days, and there are plenty of books examining the opening from Back's point of view. This book is a reaction from the other side. The "French Poisoned Pawn" 1. e4 e6 2. d2 d4 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 is an attempt to refute the Winawer French outright, not merely gain a slight positional advantage. The goal may be optimistic and the chess tournament battlefields are littered with the bodies of overambitious players of the White pieces, but the aggressive variation is more than capable of bringing home the point. The positions which arise are unclear and require a great deal of preparation. Although the first fifteen moves can be displayed with lightning speed, the middlegame often requires so much time as to plunge both players into serious time trouble. This opening is not for the faint of heart or short of time.