Philidor's Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

This is the strong point defence reduced to its essentials. It has the outstanding merit of that type of game - solidity - and it has its outstanding demerit - lack of mobility.

Black must be on his guard against a number of traps, all based on the weakness of f7and his cramped king position. On the normal course 3. d4 Bg4? e.g., leads to the loss of a pawn after 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 etc. Likewise on 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 Be7 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. Qd5 is immediate disastrous.

But the defender can avoid all the traps and secure a tenable though passive position with 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. O-O Ngf6 7. a4 O-O 8. Qe2 h6 9. Bb3 Qc7 10. h3 Kh7 11. Be3 g6 12. Rad1.

The two prophylactic moves 7. a4 and 10. h3 have been stressed because they illustrate the all-important principle that by depriving the enemy of counter-play, a cramped but sound position such as Black's here has all the life taken out of it and is reduced to pure passivity.

Black may follow one of two lines to get some counterplay: after due preparation ... exd4 and pressure on the White e-pawn, or manoeuvre his Knight to f4. White can proceed by opening some lines (especially with f4) and securing an attack. All told, such positions offer the defender little promise against a person equipped with modern technique.

One of the chief merits of the defence is that it is rather difficult for White to form a good plan right after the opening in view of Black's lack of obvious weaknesses. One worthwile idea is the fianchetto of the Queen Bishop, in order to hammer away at the d-pawn. Another, as mentioned, is playing f4 early.

The abandonment of the centre with 3.... exd4 is sometimes seen, but nevertheless bad, since Black gets nothing in return. White can recapture with either Knight of Queen and secures an ideal development.

Finally, it should be noted that if White does not harass the Black centre with 3. d4, the second player can secure good counter-chances with the natural 3. ... f5? is shown to be premature by 4. Nc3! Nf6 5. dxe5 Nxe4 6. Nxe4 fxe4 7. Ng5 d5 8. e6 Bc5 9. Nxe4!

Below are some of example of games:

Game 1

[Event "Pablo Gorbea mem 6th"]
[Site "Madrid"]
[Date "2002.09.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Martinez Miura, Enrique"]
[Black "Maresca Martinez, Pablo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2002.09.16"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2002.11.06"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qd7 8.
Qxb7 Qc6 9. Bb5 1-0




Game 2

[Event "RUS-Cup03"]
[Site "Tomsk"]
[Date "2002.07.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Nebolsina, Vera"]
[Black "Zakharenko, Irina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "2038"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2002.07.08"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2002.09.11"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nd7 4. Bc4 Be7 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. Qd5 Nc5 7. Qxf7+ Kd7 8.
Nxe5+ Kd6 9. Qd5# 1-0

Mohd Hussein Jamil and His Philidor’s Defence

This article is written with a good intention to study more about Philidor’s Defence. One of our local chess player who plays Philidor’s Defence as black is Mohd Hussein Jamil. His current National Rating as at July 2009 is 1719 (see here) and his current FIDE rating is 2088 (see here).

Below are some of his games;


Game 1

[Event "Kuala Lumpur Open 2006"]
[Date "2006.08.27"]
[White "Lee, T"]
[Black "Hussein, Jamil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C41"]


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 c6 8.h3 b5 9.Bb3 Qc7 10.Bg5 Re8 11.Qd2 a6 12.Rad1 Bb7 13.a3 Rad8 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Qe3 h6 17.Rd2 Nf8 18.Red1 Rxd2 19.Rxd2 Rd8 20.Rxd8 Qxd8 21.Qc5 Ng6 22.g3 Qd7 23.Kg2 Bc8 24.Ng1 Be7 25.Qe3 Bg5 26.Qc5 Bc1 27.h4 h5 28.Nf3 Qg4 29.Ng5 Nxh4+ 30.Kf1 Qxg5 31.gxh4 Bh3+ 32.Ke2 Qd2+ 33.Kf3 Qf4+ 34.Ke2 Bg4+ 35.Kf1 Qh2 36.Ne2 Bh3+ 37.Ke1 Qh1+ 38.Ng1 Qxg1+ 39.Ke2 Bg4+ 40.Kd3 Qd1+ 41.Kc3 Bd2+ 42.Kd3 Be2# 0–1



Game 2

[Event "Kuala Lumpur Open 2006"]
[Date "2006.08.26"]
[White "Suyud, Hartoyo"]
[Black "Hussein, Jamil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.h3 c6 8.a4 h6 9.Re1 Qc7 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nh4 Nc5 12.Qf3 Be6 13.Bxe6 Nxe6 14.Ne2 Kh7 15.Nf5 Ng8 16.b3 Bc5 17.Qg3 Ne7 18.Bb2 Ng6 19.h4 f6 20.Qg4 Ngf4 21.Nxf4 Nxf4 22.g3 Ng6 23.h5 Nh8 24.Rad1 Rad8 25.Kg2 Rf7 26.Rxd8 Qxd8 27.Rd1 Qc7 28.Nh4 b5 29.Qf5+ Kg8 30.Qe6 Kh7 31.Ng6 Kg8 32.Qe8+ Rf8 33.Nxf8 Bxf8 34.Rd8 Qf7 35.Ba3 Kh7 1–0



Game 3

[Event "Kuala Lumpur Open 2006"]
[Date "2006.08.23"]
[White "Narayanan, Srinath "]
[Black "Hussein, Jamil"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C41"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Bb3 c6 8.a4 h6 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Nh4 Re8 11.Qd3 Nf8 12.Ne2 Be6 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Ng3 Rad8 15.Qf3 Bg4 16.Qe3 Qa5 17.Rf1 Bc5 18.Qe1 Qxe1 19.Rxe1 Ne6 20.h3 Bh5 21.Ngf5 Kh7 22.g4 Bg6 23.Nxg6 fxg6 24.Bxe6 Rxe6 25.Ng3 Red6 26.Kf1 Rd1 27.Ke2 Rxe1+ 28.Kxe1 Nd7 29.Ke2 Nb6 30.b3 Bd4 31.Rb1 Nd7 32.Ba3 Kg8 33.Rd1 Nf6 34.a5 Rd7 35.h4 Bc3 36.Rxd7 Nxd7 37.b4 c5 38.bxc5 Bxa5 39.h5 gxh5 40.gxh5 Kf7 41.f3 g6 42.hxg6+ Kxg6 43.Nf5 Bc7 44.Ne7+ Kf7 45.c6 bxc6 46.Nxc6 Bb6 47.Bc1 h5 48.f4 exf4 49.Bxf4 Ke6 50.Bd2 ½–½



Game 4

[Event "Kuala Lumpur Open 2006"]
[Date "2006.08.21"]
[White "Akshayraj, Kore"]
[Black "Hussein, Jamil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 c6 8.a4 Qc7 9.h3 h6 10.b3 Re8 11.Ba3 a6 12.Re3 Nf8 13.a5 Be6 14.Bf1 Ng6 15.g3 Rad8 16.Bb2 Bf8 17.Qe1 Nd7 18.Na4 exd4 19.Nxd4 c5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rd1 e5 22.h4 Nf6 23.Nb6 Kh8 24.Nd5 Nxd5 25.exd5 Qf7 26.Qe2 Be7 27.Rf3 Bf6 28.Qe4 Ne7 29.Bd3 Qg8 30.c4 Rf8 31.Bc1 Rf7 32.Kg2 Rdf8 33.Rh1 g5 34.Qe3 Qg7 35.hxg5 Bxg5 36.Qxg5 Qxg5 37.Rxf7 Rxf7 38.Bxg5 Ng8 39.Bxh6 Nxh6 40.Rxh6+ Kg7 41.Rxd6 1–0

Dare to Take the Queen

The game bellows shows the tactic of back rank checkmate and how to chase the piece (the Queen in this case) which guard the back rank square e8 (which occupies by Rook in this case) to deviate the Black Queen from her role/task. White offers and sacrifices his Queen and pawn to do so and Black never dares to take the White’s Queen.

When your opponent sacrificing, they are always four considerations to be taken:

1. Just accept it;
2. Just to swindle you to make you to lose your time;
3. Decline/reject it; or
4. Resign.

Here is the said interesting game. Enjoy the game…


[Date "1920"]
[White "Adams"]
[Black "Torre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C62"]
[PlyCount "45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 O-O 11. Bg5 c6 12. c4 cxd5 13. cxd5 a5 14. Rfe1 Re8 15. Re2 Rc8 16. Rae1 Qd7 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Qg4 Qb5 19. Qc4 Qd7 20. Qc7 Qb5 21. a4 Qxa4 22. Re4 Qb5 23. Qxb7 1-0

Another Game Against Mohd Hussein Jamil

After checking my old score sheets, I found another game between me and Mohd Hussein Jamil (Hussein). This means that we have met 3 times including the latest one at De Laguna Park Port Klang Chess Open 2009 (see here) and in all games I have to admit that I never won against him. Huu… hu… hu… .

Below is my game against Hussein during University Malaya Convocation Fiesta Chess Open Tournament 2001.

[Event "EKSKUM 2001"]
[Date "2001.08.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Ahmad Termizi, Abdullah"]
[Black "Mohd Hussein , Jamil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C41"]
[PlyCount "76"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Be3 c6 8. Qe2 b5 9. Bb3 Qc7 10. Rad1 b4 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Nb1 a5 13. Bg5 Nb6 14. Rfe1 Ba6 15. c4 bxc3 16. Qc2 a4 17. Bxa4 Nxa4 18. Qxa4 Be2 19. Qxa8 Bxd1 20. Qa6 Bxf3 21. gxf3 cxb2 22. Qe2 Rb8 23. a3 h6 24. Bd2 Rb3 25. Bc3 Qb8 26. Qc2 Qb5 27. Re2 Bxa3 28. Nxa3 b1=Q+ 29. Nxb1 Rxb1+ 30. Kg2 Nh5 31. Bxe5 Qxe5 32. Qxb1 Nf4+ 33. Kf1 Nxe2 34. Kxe2 Qxh2 35. Qb7 Qd6 36. Qc8+ Kh7 37. Qf5+ Qg6 38. Qc5 h5 0-1