New: Christian Bauer: The evergreen Philidor
The Philidor Defence is celebrated for its historical significance and varied tactical approaches, including the aggressive early f5 push and the more dubious line involving an early d4 pawn exchange and fianchetto. This video course, by GM Christian Bauer, shows the Philidor Defence's main positions and White's significant deviations, highlighting the nuanced manoeuvres in a semi-closed middlegame that challenge White's comfort. Get this Fritztrainer now and enrich your theoretical knowledge in Philidor Defence by the French Grandmaster. Photo: ChessBase
The evergreen Philidor
By Christian Bauer
The Philidor defence has a long history. When it made its first appearance, at a time where theory was (almost) non-existent, tactically gifted players were often successful with an early (and dubious) ...f5 push (3…f5). Another suspicious line (3…exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6) arises when Black takes on d4 and fianchettoes their king-bishop.

The Antoshin (3…exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bc4 0-0) on the other hand, is more reliable. Despite its passive look, it can lead to lively games, especially if White castles long. But, the far more popular Hanham variation (3…Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7) remains Black’s most solid set up
This video course deals with the different move-orders leading to the main positions of the Philidor defence, as well as White’s relevant deviations. White will not feel comfortable in the ensuing middlegame, where subtle manoeuvres occur in a semi-closed position. Let Grandmaster Christian Bauer introduce you into the fascinating world of the Philidor Defence.
• Video running time: 6 hours 59 minutes
• With interactive training including video feedback
• Training with ChessBase apps – Memorize the opening repertoire and play key positions against Fritz on various levels
System requirements
Minimum:
Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation.
Recommended:
PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX 10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11 and internet access for program activation.
MacOSX
Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10
Streaming
iPad, Tablet, Desktop, Laptop etc.
About the Author

Born in 1977, Christian Bauer is a grandmaster who became champion of France as early as 1996 and soon thereafter gave up his studies to become a professional chess player. He has played several times for the French national team and was a member of the silver medal winning (2001) and bronze medal winning (2005) teams in the European Team Championships. Bauer has so far published three books: "Play 1...b6", "The Philidor files" and finally "Play the Scandinavian". He lives in Montpellier and has two daughters and one son.
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