Lessons From Transylvania III

IN round three of the Brașov International I had white against an 1848.
The full game can be seen at B3 but here I want to look at Black's reaction to the Alekhine-Chatard Attack in the French.

The game began 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4.

The starting position of the Alekhine-Chatard Attack 

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After 6...Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Nh3 the analysis engines Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 reckon White has at least full compensation for a pawn.

Not surprisingly the gambit is more often declined, with the mainline in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database running 6...a6!? 7.Qg4 Bxg5 8.hxg5 c5 9.g6 f5 10.Qf4, reaching a position Komodo13.02 calls equal but Stockfish15 reckons favours White.

My game featured 6...h6!?, which is Black's second-most popular way to decline the gambit and is preferred by the engines over any other declining method.

Now Komodo13.02 likes 7.Be3!?, with both engines continuing 7...c5 8.Qg4, agreeing White is slightly better but not agreeing on how Black should meet the queen thrust. Komodo13.02 suggests 8...Kf8!? 9.f4 Nc6 10.Nf3 with a complicated middlegame. Stockfish15 likes 8...Rg8!? 9.f4 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Nc6 11.Nf3, again with a complicated position.

An interesting alternative is 7.Qh5!?, when 7...g6 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Qe2 is good for White, according to the engines. They prefer 7...a6 or 7...c5, eg 7...a6 8.0-0-0 c5 9.dxc5 Nc6 10.Nf3 with an unclear position.

My game saw 7.Bxe7, which is the main continuation in Mega22. After 7...Qxe7 I attacked with 8.Qg4, which is the commonest move, but the engines much prefer 8.f4!?

Position after 8.f4!?

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After 8.f4!? Black could reply 8...0-0, but this may be castling into it as the engines like 9.g4!?, when 9...c5 10.dxc5!? looks promising, eg Stockfish15 continues 10...Qxc5 11.g5!? Qb4 12.Nge2 with attacking chances. Komodo13.02 varies with 11...Qe3+, but again 12.Nge2 seems effective (the black queen can be evicted with Rh3).

The main reply to 8.f4!? in Mega22 is 8...a6, when the engines give 9.Qd2 b5 10.Nf3 c5 11.Ne2 with Stockfish15 claiming at least a slight edge for White, but Komodo13.02 rating the position as equal.

CONCLUSION: challenging the white dark-square bishop at move six with ...h6 seems a decent try for Black. Continuations are arguably not as tactically sharp as many others in the Alekhine-Chatard, but can be positionally complicated with much for both sides to consider.