Tactics,
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In
CBM 133 Sergey Erenburg recommended against the Fantasy Variation - 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 - a setup with 3...e6. In
CBM 134 Lars Schandorff followed up with
in 3...dxe4 a recommendation for Caro-Kann players who do not like the
"French"-type structures after 3...e6 and prefer a free development of their c8-bishop. Our
reader Marcus Schmücker took the article by Lars Schandorff as a starting point to
delve deeper into the material an to look for alternatives for White. His interesting
suggestion after 3... dxe4 4.fxe4 e5 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bc4 Nd7 goes 7.c3!? (7.0-0 was analysed by
Schandorff). He then kindly made his analysis available to us. In addition,
the Fantasy Variation was also recommended by Nigel Davies, who presented it on his DVD
"1.e4 for the creative attacker" as part of a repertoire for White. And also
in the European Championship in Rijeka the position after 3.f3 appeared on the board 13
times. Baadur Jobava was the Black player with the highest Elo and defended against
Nepomniachtchi and against Timofeev with 3...Qb6.
The starting position for the analysis by our reader Marcus Schmücker:
Analysis by Marcus Schmücker.
Fantasy Variation in the European Chess Championship in Rijeka.