1. e4 e6 Usually I'm more than happy to play the French, as it is probably the only opening where a) I know the theory and b) I actually like the line I play. However, this does not guarantee success, as I had amply demonstrated in the previous round. 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 A relief. In the previous round my opponent had chosen a set up with ...Bd7, ...Qb6 and ...Bb5, which (in my humble opinion) is an attempt to achieve dull equality. In that game, however, I had thwarted my opponent's aims by playing so badly that he was obliged to achieve a better position and beat me. 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 Bd7?! More usual, and better, is 6...cxd4, preventing any dxc5 ideas for White. Also possible is 6...Nh6, although I have arrogantly decided that it's not very good (and that hence all the GMs who have played it are idiots). Norbert Fogarasi informs me that some strong player (whose name escapes me) recently beat some other strong player (whose name also escapes me) very convincingly after the latter played 6...Nh6, so I must be right. 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Qc7?! My opponent thought that he could win the e5 pawn with this move in conjunction with ...Nge7-g6, but this fails tactically. A better chance of counterplay was offered by the immediate 8... f6 although after 9. b4 Be7 10. Bf4 I still prefer White, as Black is struggling to develop his kingside. 9. Bf4 Nge7 10. b4 Ng6 11. Bg3 Be7 12. Bd3! This is the move Black missed. Now 12. ..Ncxe5 loses to 13. Bxg6, whereas 12...Ngxe5 loses to 13. b5. White is now clearly better, since Black's whole set up was geared towards winning the e5 pawn - and with this pawn well defended, his pieces are misplaced. In particular, the queen on c7 makes it difficult for Black to achieve the ...f6 break. 12... O-O 13. h4!? I like to play this move in advanced French positions. In additional to supporting a potential kingside hack, h4-h5 by White improves his control of the centre by dislodging the knight from g6. 13... Rfc8? Black's best reply looks to be 13... Qd8 14. h5 Nh4 which should at least ease his cramped position by exchanging some pieces off. After the game continuation his position is horribly passive. 14. h5 Nf8 15. Nbd2 a6 16. Re1 Na7 17. Rc1 Bb5 18. Bb1 a5 19. a4 Be8? I had been expecting 19... axb4 20. axb5 bxc3 21. Nb3 Nxb5 when Black has three pawns for the piece. However, after 22. Nfd4 White has t he queenside pawns under control, and Black has one piece fewer with which to defend his kingside. 20. b5 Qb6 21. c4! This was the result of a long think. Many of my games with the French Advance have followed the following pattern: 1) Demonstrate my superior knowledge of opening theory; 2) Obtain a clear advantage; 3) Play the middlegame extremely badly; and 4) Lose In the current position I had reached stage 2, and was concerned about continuing to stages 3 and 4. Clearly it's difficult for White to destroy such a good position in a hurry, but I was wary of drifting for the next few moves, or simply putting my pieces on nice squares and waiting for the game to win itself. 21. c4 has the benefit of eliminating the only weakness in White's position - the c-pawn and the outpost in front of it. More importantly, however, eliminating the d5 pawn gives White access to the e4 square, enabling him to transfer his pieces to the kingside more effectively. 21... Rd8 22. cxd5 Rxd5 23. Qe2 Rc8 24. Ne4 h6 25. Bf4 This sets up an immediate threat of Be3, winning a piece. More importantly, the long term plan is to gang up on the h6 pawn and/or invade on f6. 25... Qd8 26. Rcd1 b6 27. Nh2 Bg5 This makes it easy for White, although it's hard to be too critical of Black's play at this stage - the alternative was just to sit there and wait for White's attack to develop. 28. Bxg5 hxg5 29. Ng4 Rc7 30. h6 gxh6 31. Ngf6+ Kg7 32. Nxd5 exd5 33. Nd6 Bd7 34. Rxd5 Qe7 35. Bf5 Ne6 36. Bxe6 Bxe6 37. Rd3 Nc8 38. Qe3 Rc5 39. Qd4 Kf8 40. Nxc8 Bxc8 41. e6 f6 42. Qd6 Rc4 43. Qxb6 1-0