You don't see this opening that much in the tournament circuit but on
ICC and FICS you see it almost all the time. Why? Against the
Sicilian you always see the c3 sicilian. Against the Ruy Lopez it is
becoming the exchange. Maybe the ICC and FICS is become much better
against computer cheats but now with white it is against the
databases. Maybe a caro-khan against e4, or modern or even "gasp!"
the Alekhine?

EZoto

the Exchange French is a practical choice for shorter games, or blitz -
there's not as much theory and White can force the position into something
familiar each time. It has also been popularised by the Chessmaster
programs, which contain audio lectures featuring the Exchange French.

As for the c3 Sicilian, the reasons are the same - less opening knowledge
required when you don't have time at the board to figure out a good
continuation to some highly theoretical sharp line.


"EZoto" wrote in message
s.com...

You don't see this opening that much in the tournament circuit but on
ICC and FICS you see it almost all the time. Why? Against the
Sicilian you always see the c3 sicilian. Against the Ruy Lopez it is
becoming the exchange. Maybe the ICC and FICS is become much better
against computer cheats but now with white it is against the
databases. Maybe a caro-khan against e4, or modern or even "gasp!"
the Alekhine?

EZoto

EZoto wrote in message ws.com...
You don't see this opening that much in the tournament circuit but on
ICC and FICS you see it almost all the time. Why? Against the
Sicilian you always see the c3 sicilian. Against the Ruy Lopez it is
becoming the exchange. Maybe the ICC and FICS is become much better
against computer cheats but now with white it is against the
databases. Maybe a caro-khan against e4, or modern or even "gasp!"
the Alekhine?

EZoto

In "New In Chess" 2004/1 Mark Dvoretsky wrote a very interesting
article partly about the exchange French, citing two games:



Winter,W - Alekhine,A [C01]
Nottingham Nottingham, 1936

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.Ne2 Bd6 6.c3 Qh4 7.Nd2 Bg4
8.Qc2 0-0-0 9.Nf1 g6 10.Be3 Nge7 11.0-0-0 Bf5 12.Nfg3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 h6
14.f4 Qg4 15.h3 Qd7 16.Rhf1 h5 17.Ng1 h4 18.N3e2 Nf5 19.Nf3 f6 20.Nh2
Rde8 21.Bd2 Re6 22.Ng4 Rhe8 23.Rde1 R8e7 24.Kd1 Qe8 25.Qf3 Na5 26.b3
Nc4 27.Bc1 Nce3+ 28.Bxe3 Nxe3+ 29.Nxe3 Rxe3 30.Qf2 Qb5 31.Nc1 Rxc3
32.Rxe7 Bxe7 33.Qe1 Kd7 34.f5 Re3 35.Qf2 g5 36.Re1 Re4 37.Rxe4 dxe4
38.Kd2 Bd6 39.Kc2 Bf4 0-1

and



Gurevich,M (2640) - Short,N (2610) [C01]
Manila Interzonal Manila (13), 1990

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.Be2 Bd6 7.Ne5 Bxe2
8.Qxe2 Ne7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bf4 Re8 11.Qg4 Bxe5 12.Bxe5 Ng6 13.Bg3 Nd7
14.Nd2 Nf6 15.Qf3 c6 16.Qb3 Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.a3 Ne4 19.Nxe4 Rxe4
20.Rfd1 b5 21.Kf1 f6 22.f3 Re6 23.Re1 Kf7 24.Rxe6 Kxe6 25.Re1+ Kd7
26.Ke2 h5 27.Kd3 h4 28.Bh2 Ne7 29.Bf4 Nf5 30.Bd2 b6 31.Re2 c5 32.Be3
b4 33.axb4 c4+ 34.Kc3 Nd6 35.Re1 Ra4 36.Kd2 Rxb4 37.Ra1 Rxb2 38.Ra7+
Ke6 39.Rxg7 b5 40.Bf2 b4 41.Kc1 c3 42.Bxh4 Nf5 0-1

I thoroughly recommend that you get hold of a copy, that article alone
is worth the cover price IMHO....