The Philidor Defence (or Philidor's Defence ) is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
49-460: This article is about the family of musicians. For the chess opening, see Philidor Defence . For the online pharmacy, see Philidor Rx Services . Philidor ( Filidor ) or Danican Philidor was a family of musicians that served as court musicians to the French kings. The original name of the family was Danican (D'Anican) and was of Scottish origin (Duncan). Philidor
98-457: A rook and pawn versus rook endgame in what is known as the Philidor position . The Philidor Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6) is named for him . Philidor's book was the very first to give detailed annotations on how to play the middlegame, present chess strategy as a whole, and present the concepts of the blockade, prophylaxis, positional sacrifice and mobility of the pawn formation. Early critics of
147-517: A high standard of excellence to which but few amateurs attained. One of the most interesting features of Atwood as a chess player is that he recorded and preserved some of his games, an unusual practice at that time. These records have survived, among them the last games that Philidor played, which were against Atwood at Parsloe's Club in London on 20 June 1795. In England, Philidor astounded his peers by playing three blindfold chess games simultaneously in
196-716: A popular opening, though 2...Nc6 remained the most common reply. The Philidor occurred in one of the most famous games ever played, "The Opera Game" played in 1858 between the American chess master Paul Morphy and two strong amateurs, the German noble Duke Karl of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard. The game continued 3.d4 Bg4, a deviation from modern standard lines. The Philidor Defence declined in popularity as positional play became more developed, and it had almost completely vanished from top-tier chess by World War I . As of 2017 , there are no top players who employ
245-399: A regular season from February to June. Philidor stayed faithful to this agreement until the end of his life, and he was replaced by Verdoni only after his death. Here, Philidor encountered George Atwood , a famous mathematician, physician and lecturer at Cambridge University. In an article by J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson, devoted to George Atwood, there is the following passage: "Atwood
294-403: A second edition in 1777 and a third in 1790. The book was such an advance in chess knowledge that, by 1871, it had gone through about 70 editions and had been translated into English, Spanish, German, Russian and Italian. In it, Philidor analyzed nine different types of game openings. Most of the openings of Philidor are designed to strengthen and establish a strong defensive center using pawns. He
343-681: A song at the age of 11. It was said that Louis XV wanted to listen to the choir almost every day, and the singers, while waiting for the king to arrive, played chess to relieve their boredom; this may have sparked Philidor's interest in chess. Starting in about 1740, he lived and worked in Paris as a performer, teacher and music copyist. He was the teacher of the Bohemian composer and pianist Ludwig Wenzel Lachnith . During this time he met Diderot , who called him 'Philidor le subtil' in Le neveu de Rameau . He spent much of
392-513: A specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Authority control databases : National [REDACTED] France BnF data Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philidor&oldid=1204007874 " Categories : Surnames French-language surnames Show business families of France Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
441-529: A time Philidor was among the leading opera composers in France, and during his musical career produced over 20 opéras comiques and two tragédies lyriques . He also wrote secular cantatas and motets. Philidor also wrote music for masonic rituals. The first performance of his Carmen Saeculare was performed at Freemasons' Hall in London in 1779. He was a member of the renowned Parisian Lodge Les Neuf Soeurs . This Lodge had an allied society for musicians, called
490-502: Is 3...Bg4 ?! , in light of 4.dxe5 Bxf3 (Black cannot recapture since 4...dxe5 ? 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5 wins a clean pawn; or, Black can gambit a pawn with 4...Nd7, the Albin Variation ) 5.Qxf3 (or White can obtain an endgame advantage with 5.gxf3 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.f4 +/− Maróczy ) 5...dxe5 6.Bc4 giving White the advantage of the bishop pair in an open position as well as a large development advantage. Black cannot block
539-598: Is 3...exd4 which relieves the central tension , although it gives up the centre. After 4.Nxd4 Nf6 (4...d5 5.exd5, the Paulsen Attack, continues 5...Qxd5 6.Qe2+ Be7 7.Nb5 Na6 8.N1c3 +/= Paulsen ) 5.Nc3, Black normally continues ...Be7 and ...0-0 (the Antoshin Variation ) and achieves a strong defensive position. A sample line is: 5...Be7 6.Bc4 0-0 7.0-0 c5, and the position is equal . In this line Black can also fianchetto his bishop to g7, although this
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#1732852678615588-507: Is 3...f5 !? ( diagram ), Philidor's original intention and recommendation. In the 19th century, 3...f5 was also played by Paul Morphy . The move can lead to more open positions than the other lines, but is often considered dubious. Others maintain that 3...f5 is a valid idea. GM Tony Kosten considers the move respectable in his monograph on the opening. The move was also played by David Bronstein and by Teimour Radjabov . After 3...f5 White has several ways to proceed: Inferior
637-638: Is 3.Bc4, delaying d2–d4, or forgoing it entirely, playing d2–d3 instead. The move 3.Bc4 is also White's route to a possible Légal Trap . Some continuations: Against the alternative 3.c3, Black can try 3...f5 (3...Nc6 4.d4 Nf6 transposes to the Ponziani Opening ) 4.exf5 Bxf5 5.Qb3 Nf6 6.Ng5 d5 7.Qxb7 Nbd7 8.Qc6 Bd6 with compensation and initiative . Bibliography Fran%C3%A7ois-Andr%C3%A9 Danican Philidor François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime,
686-469: Is C41. In his 1561 book, Ruy Lopez , seeking to debunk Pedro Damiano , advocated 2...d6 as superior to 2...Nc6, on the grounds that 2...Nc6 allows the strong move 3.Bb5, now known as the Ruy Lopez or Spanish Opening. Philidor evidently concurred with this assessment, though he also considered 2.Nf3 inferior to 2.Bc4. Philidor advocated the risky continuation 3.d4 f5!? The Philidor Defence subsequently became
735-481: Is best for Black, but leaves White with the advantage of the bishop pair after 5.0-0 Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 (6...Nxe5 loses a pawn to 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Qh5) 7.Ng5! Bxg5 8.Qh5! Qe7 and now 9.Bxg5 or 9.Qxg5. In recent years, Black has experimented with other move orders in an attempt to reach the Hanham Variation while avoiding 3...Nf6 4.dxe5! and 3...Nd7 4.Bc4! A more aggressive approach for Black after 3.d4
784-460: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Philidor Defence The opening is named after the famous 18th-century player François-André Danican Philidor , who advocated it as an alternative to the common 2...Nc6. His original idea was to challenge White's centre by the pawn thrust ...f7–f5. Today, the Philidor is known as a solid but passive choice for Black, and
833-542: Is named the Hanham Variation (after the American chess master James Moore Hanham ) and was favoured by Aron Nimzowitsch . A common line is: 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 (6.Ng5 is an interesting alternative: after 6...0-0 7.Bxf7+ Rxf7 8.Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qd8 10.Nxa8, White is up material , but Black can develop a strong initiative after, for example, 10...b5 11.Nxb5 Qa5+) 6...0-0 7.a4 (to prevent ...b5) c6 ( see diagram ). Grandmaster (GM) Larry Kaufman notes that
882-463: Is seldom seen in top-level play except as an alternative to the heavily analysed openings that can ensue after the normal 2...Nc6. It is considered a good opening for amateur players who seek a defensive strategy that is simpler and easier to understand than the complex positions that result from an opening such as the French Defence . The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings code for Philidor Defence
931-491: Is the Sokolsky Variation ) 5...Nc5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Nc3. Black sometimes tries 3...Nd7 intending 4.Nc3 Ngf6, reaching the Hanham Variation. But then 4.Bc4! is awkward for Black to meet, since 4...Ngf6 loses to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (5...dxe5 ?? 6.Ng5! wins) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Bb4+ 9.Qd2 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 winning a pawn, and 4...Be7 loses a pawn to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (5...dxe5?? 6.Qd5! wins) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5! So 4...c6
980-567: Is the first one to realize the new role of the pawn in the chess game, and his most famous advice was the saying "The pawns are the soul of chess." More precisely Philidor said: Mon but principal est de me rendre recommandable par une nouveauté dont personne ne s'est avisé, ou peut-être n'a été capable; c'est celle de bien jouer les pions; ils sont l'âme des Echecs : ce sont eux-mêmes qui forment uniquement l'attaque et la défense et de leur bon ou mauvais arrangement dépend entièrement le gain ou la perte de la partie. Translation: My main purpose
1029-525: Is to gain recognition for myself by means of a new idea of which no one has conceived, or perhaps has been unable to practice; that is, good play of the pawns; they are the soul of chess: it is they alone that determine the attack and the defense, and the winning or losing of the game depends entirely on their good or bad arrangement. He also included analysis of certain positions of rook and bishop versus rook , such analysis being still current theory even today. He demonstrated an important drawing technique with
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#17328526786151078-426: Is uncommon. Bent Larsen tried this in a few games, including a draw against Mikhail Tal in 1969. Instead of 4.Nxd4, White can play 4.Qxd4, as Paul Morphy favoured, intending 4...Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 followed by 0-0-0. This line was played in many 19th-century games. The other main option for Black is to maintain the central tension and adopt a setup with ...Nd7, ...Be7, and ...c6. This plan
1127-544: The Convention nationale . This was not probably due to his ideas (indeed it seems Philidor was rather reserved about his opinions apart from music and chess), but very likely in view of the traditional attachment of his family to the King's family service. Andrew Soltis writes that Philidor "was the best player in the world for 50 years. In fact, he was probably about 200 rating points better than anyone else yet alive—set apart by
1176-649: The Analyse du jeu des Échecs include those of the Modenese School ( Ercole del Rio , Lolli or Ponziani ), who in contrast to the French, advocated a free piece play, gambit openings and tactical complications; they also found some of the variations reported in the Analyse to be unsound (in particular those related with ...f7–f5 push in the Philidor Defence: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5). Some of Philidor's disciples— Bernard , Carlier , Leger , and Verdoni , who met at
1225-557: The Café de la Régence under the name of the Société des Amateurs —also criticized his work. In their book, Traité des Amateurs , they expressed many criticisms and comments on his earlier printed book, arguing that the variations reported in Philidor's Analyse are more instructive than correct. Nevertheless, the games in the Traité can be regarded, together of those of Philidor, as typical examples of
1274-659: The Société Apollonienne . Philidor started playing regularly around 1740 at the chess Mecca of France, the Café de la Régence . It was also there that he famously played with a friend from New England , Benjamin Franklin . The best player in France at the time, Legall de Kermeur , taught him. At first, Legall could give Philidor rook odds , a handicap in which the stronger player starts without one of his rooks, but in only three years, Philidor equaled and then surpassed him. Philidor visited England in 1747 and decisively beat
1323-655: The Syrian Philipp Stamma in a match, although Philidor let Stamma have the first move in every game and scored all draws as wins for Stamma. The same year, Philidor played many games with another strong player, Sir Abraham Janssen , who was then the best player in England, and with the exception of Legall, probably the best player Philidor ever encountered. He could win on an average one game in four from Philidor at even terms, and Philidor himself declared that he could only give to Janssen one-pawn odds in exchange for making
1372-558: The Elder) (1657–1708), son of Jean, composer of the Marche à quatre timbales pour le Carrousel de Monseigneur (1685) Pierre Danican Philidor (1681–1731), son of Jacques le cadet, also a musician References [ edit ] Rebecca Harris-Warrick and Julian Rushton. "Philidor." In Grove Music Online . [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Philidor . If an internal link intending to refer to
1421-651: The Hanham Variation aims to maintain Black's pawn on e5, analogously to closed lines of the Ruy Lopez , and opines that "it would be quite popular and on a par with the major defences to 1.e4, except for the annoying detail that Black can't actually reach the Hanham position by force." As an alternative to 4.Nc3 in response to Black's 3...Nf6, according to both Kaufman and GM Christian Bauer , White retains some advantage with: 4.dxe5 ! Nxe4 5.Qd5! (the Rellstab Variation; 5.Nbd2
1470-406: The King's Gambit were very popular. ... The best chess player of his day was Francois Andre Danican-Philidor. ... His published chess strategy stood for a hundred years without significant addition or modification. He preached the value of a strong pawn center, an understanding of the relative value of the pieces, and correct pawn formations. ... In the same article, Alterman also noticed, analyzing
1519-436: The Philidor with regularity, although Étienne Bacrot and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu have occasionally experimented with it in classical play. Its popularity in master play has increased slightly, however, over the last 20 years. It has also become fairly popular in rapid , blitz , and bullet chess . With 3.d4, White immediately challenges Black in the centre . Black has several options. The most common Black response
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1568-401: The attack on the f7-pawn with the "natural" 6...Nf6? because White wins a pawn with 7.Qb3 (played in the famous " Opera Game ", where Morphy as White refrained from taking the b7-pawn and retained a strong initiative after 7...Qe7 8.Nc3). Black does better with 6...Qf6 7.Qb3 Bc5 8.0-0 Bb6 9.a4 a5 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.Be3 Nd7 12.Rad1+/−, or 6...Qd7!? (Maróczy). An alternative approach for White
1617-524: The chess club of St. James Street on 9 May 1783. Philidor let all three opponents play white, and gave up a pawn to the third player. Some affidavits were signed, because those persons who were involved doubted that future generations would believe that such a feat was possible. Today, three simultaneous blindfold games would be fairly unremarkable among many chess masters . Even when he was 67 years old, he played and won two blindfold games simultaneously in London in 1793. Philidor, both in England and France,
1666-526: The first move with the white pieces. In 1754, Philidor returned to France, after nine years of absence, spent mostly in the Netherlands and England. He was now a much stronger player, having successfully played opponents of the calibre of Philip Stamma and Abraham Janssen, but, as G. Allen reports in The life of Philidor , it was not until his match with Legall (also known as de Legal) in 1755 that he can be considered
1715-436: The game Count Brühl –Philidor, F, 0–1 , London 1783, that Philidor understood very well modern concepts like the power of passed pawns, bad and good pieces, space advantage, open files, pawn structure and the importance of center. Jacques François Mouret , one of the best French players of the early 19th century, was Philidor's great-nephew. In 1749, Philidor published his famous book Analyse du jeu des Échecs . He printed
1764-472: The list. Philidor's name is used for three well-known chess topics: A one-act opéra-comique with music by Amédée Dutacq and libretto by Abraham Dreyfus entitled Battez Philidor ! ( Beat Philidor! ) was premiered on 13 November 1882 at the Opéra-Comique . Set in 1777, a poor musician is required to beat Philidor at chess before he can win the hand of his sweetheart. Although Philidor agrees to lose
1813-476: The mysteries of the game he had solved." Also interesting is GM Boris Alterman 's opinion on Philidor's play: Five hundred years ago, chess was different from today. Pawns didn't cost as much as they do today. The best players started games with the gambits. Pawns were only a small price to: Open a file or diagonal; Create an immediate attack on an opponent's king. It was the Italian style of chess. All positions of
1862-524: The next generation André Danican Philidor (André I, "l'aîné") (c. 1652–1730), son of Jean, composer of the Marche française (Marche royale) (1679) François Danican Philidor (c. 1680–1730), son of André l'aîné, half brother of Anne Anne Danican Philidor (1681–1728), son of André, founder of a series of public concerts Michel Danican Philidor III (1683–1723), son of André François-André Danican Philidor (André II) (1726–1795), very late son of André; opera composer (notably Tom Jones ), and
1911-598: The period 1745–1754 in London after a concert tour of the Netherlands collapsed, and moved in the same circles as Dr Johnson and Dr Burney . He returned to the French capital in 1754, resolving to devote himself seriously to musical composition, although his music was found by some to be too Italianate (as a result of his travels). However he scored several triumphs at the fair theatres, starting with Blaise le savetier in 1759. His three most successful works were Le sorcier (1764), Tom Jones (after Henry Fielding , 1765), and Ernelinde, princesse de Norvège (1767). For
1960-422: The strongest chess master in the 18th century. He is considered by many to be one of the strongest players in chess history. His name is renowned among all chess players and there are two important chess terms named for his innovations: the Philidor defence , an opening the Philidor position , an endgame position Jacques Danican Philidor (known as "le cadet", being the younger brother of Philidor
2009-424: The strongest player in the world. When Philidor left Paris, in 1745, although he had for some time been playing even games with M. de Legal ... he had not ceased to recognize his old master as still his master and superior. But nine years of practice, with a great variety of players, had authorized him to look for neither superior nor equal; and when, in 1755, a match was arranged between the pupil and his master, who
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2058-767: The understanding of chess during the Enlightenment , and the Société des Amateurs was much closer to Philidor than to the Modenese school. Philidor was stuck in England when the French Revolution occurred. Because of many of his social connections mentioned above, the Revolutionary Government put him on the banned list. He died on 31 August 1795 in London, and was buried in St James , Piccadilly . A few days later, his relatives succeeded in getting his name removed from
2107-409: The well-known musical Philidor family. The original name of his family was Danican, but François-André's grandfather, Jean Danican Philidor , was given the nickname of Philidor by Louis XIII because his oboe playing reminded the king of an Italian virtuoso oboist named Filidori. Philidor joined the royal choir of Louis XV in 1732 at the age of 6, and made his first attempt at the composition of
2156-415: Was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the opéra comique . He is widely regarded as the best chess player of his age; his book Analyse du jeu des Échecs was considered a standard chess manual for at least a century. A well-known chess opening , an endgame position , and a checkmate method are all named after him. François-André Danican Philidor came from
2205-436: Was a chess master. Michel Danican Philidor the elder (1580–1651) Michel Danican Philidor the younger (c. 1610–1659) was a renowned oboist and, together with Jean Hotteterre , co-invented the oboe by modifying the shawm so that the bore was narrower and the reed could be held near the end by the player's lips Jean Danican Philidor (c. 1620–1679), the first whose name appears as Danican dit Philidor , father of
2254-577: Was a later addition to the family name, given first to Michel the elder by Louis XIII because his oboe playing reminded the king of an Italian virtuoso oboist named Filidori. Both Michel the younger and Jean played in the Grande Écurie (literally, the Great Stable; figuratively, the Military Band) in Paris. Later members of the family were known as composers as well. One of them (François-André Danican Philidor)
2303-437: Was a renowned amateur chess-player and among other opponents played games against the famous French player Philidor, who was regarded as the unofficial world champion." Henry Bird records: Of the players who encountered Philidor, Sir Abraham Janssens, who died in 1775, seems to have been the best. Atwood, one of Pitt's secretaries, came next; he was of a class which we should call third or two grades of odds below Philidor,
2352-476: Was largely recognized in each of his fields and had a lot of admirers, protectors and friends, such as the French philosophers Voltaire , Rousseau and the famous English actor David Garrick (1717–1779). In December 1792, however, when he was 65, Philidor was forced to leave France for England. He fled the French Revolution (1789–1799) because his name was on the Revolutionary banishment list, established by
2401-497: Was still at the height of his strength, the result placed the crown firmly and indisputably upon the head of Philidor. In 1771 and 1773, Philidor briefly stayed in London to play at the Salopian coffee house, Charing Cross and at the St. James Chess Club. In 1774, Parloe's chess club, on St. James Street in London, was created, and Philidor obtained remuneration as a chess master every year for
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