That was the title of a pamphlet he published back in 1971. In it he stated that its chief advantage is that it avoids the Ruy Lopez, "which gives white a protracted initiative in the struggle for the center." It originally sold for $1.95, but I saw the pamphlet advertised on the Amazon for $156.52 (new) and $36 (used). Do people actually pay those prices?!
The opening is named after the 18th-century player Francois-Andre Danican Philidor, who advocated it as an alternative to 2...Nc6. His original idea was to challenge white's centre by the Pawn thrust ...f7–f5.
Today, the Philidor is considered solid but passive and a good opening for amateurs looking for a defensive strategy that is simple and easy to understand.
The move order is usually 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 (or 3...Nd7), but the newer way to enter the Philidor is by the move order 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 (or 3...Nd7) which is supposed to eliminate the main variations that worried black previously. However, the "new" way of playing the defense comes with its own set of problems.
In 1994 there was a strong Swiss event held in Buenos Aires that was won by by Daniel Campora (born 30 June 1957), an Argentine GM. In 1975 he the Argentine junior champion and was twice Argentine champion (1986 and 1989). He was runner-up in 1978 and 1987.
In the following game he thrashed GM William Lombardy in a type of what is known as "Blackburne's Trap" which refers to a couple different traps that occur out of the opening and feature a centralized N with a pair of Bs (or Q) raking the board. The game is unusual because it's not often that one sees a checkmate actually occur, especially against a GM...and especially against one that was as cautious and deliberate as Lombardy.
William Lombardy - Daniel Campora
Result: 0-1
Site: Buenos Aires
Date: 1994
Philidor Defense
[...] 1.e4 e5
1...d6 is the modern way of reaching the basic Philidor position. 2.d4 ♘f6 3.♘c3 e5 Shirov has introduced a most interesting P-sac. 4.♘f3 ♘bd7 5.g4 with a double edged position.
2.♘f3 d6 Here white can play 3.Bc4 which gives rise to P-structures similar to those in the Bishop's Opening or th Giuoco Piano. White can also play 3.Nc3, but he cannot delay playing d2-d4 for long. 3.d4 3.Bc4 is a distant second choice for white that in my database offers results that are on a par with 3. d4. At one time the move order played here was the only way to reach the basic Philidor setup, but in more modern times it's known that this move order is quite risk free for white. Black has a gaggle of options on his 3rd move: 3. ..Nc6, 3...Bg4, 3...f5 and 3.. .Nf6. 3...♘f6 4.♘c3
4.dxe5 ♘xe4 5.♕d5 This is best as it gives white better winning chances than 5.Bc4
4.dxe5 dxe5 5.♕xd8 ♔xd8 is also possible, but black's K in the center isn't much of a concern with Qs off the board.
4...♘bd7 5.♗c4 The solid, tried and tested strategic approach
5.g4 Is Shirov's idea. 5...♘xg4 6.♖g1 ♘gf6 7.♗c4 h6 8.♗e3 c6 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.♕d3 b5 11.♗b3 ♕a5 12.O-O-O In this position things can go either way, but here's an amusing game. 12...♗a6 13.♘e2 b4 14.♗xf7 ♔xf7 15.♕b3 ♔e7 16.♘ed4 exd4 17.♘xd4 ♖c8 18.♕e6 ♔d8 19.e5 c5 20.♘c6 Black mistakenly resigned in Li,C (2628)-Ponkratov,P (2558)/Moscow 2009. Actully he shouldn't have! After 20... Rxc6 21.Qxc6 Qb6 the chances are even.
5...♗e7 6.O-O O-O 7.♖e1 c6 This is the Hanham Variation named after the American master James M. Hanham; it was a favorite of Nimzovich. The idea is to maintain black's pawn on e5. 8.a4 Preventing ...b5 8...b6 9.b3
9.d5 This is the main line and is probably white's best option. 9...cxd5 10.♘xd5 ♗b7 11.b3 with equality.
9...♗b7 10.♗a3 a6 11.♗f1 Why this odd move? Lombardy wants to post his Q on d3, but to do that the B has to to either e2 or f1. On f1 it doesn't block the R and so .. .exde is hindered.
11.♗d3 c5 12.dxe5 ♘xe5 13.♘xe5 dxe5 14.♗c4 Dreev,A (2698)-Azmaiparashvili,Z (2672)/Internet game 2004. White is slightly better, but made a gross blunder and lost in 25 moves.
(11.♕d3 b5 12.axb5 axb5 13.♗xb5 cxb5 14.♘xb5 ♕b6 is good for black.)
11.♗e2 All in all this is not really a bad move. 11...♖e8 12.♕d3 b5 13.b4 ♕c7 14.♗f1 Anyway. 14...exd4 15.♘xd4 is equal.
11...♖e8
11...b5 12.♗b2 ♖e8 13.axb5 axb5 14.b4 exd4 15.♘xd4 g6 Recuero Guerra,D (2350) -Llorente Zaro,A (2419)/Mondariz 2006 is equal.
12.♕d3
12.♕d2 ♕c7 13.♖ad1 ♖ac8 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.♗xe7 ♖xe7 16.♘h4 g6 17.♕g5 Firman,N (2361)-Kasparov, S (2464)/Pavlograd 2000. White is slightly better.
12...b5 13.♗b2 (13.axb5 axb5 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.♗xe7 ♕xe7 16.♖xa8 is dead level.) 13...b4 Where should the N make its retreat? 14.♘b1 This turns out to be the wrong square. 14.Nd1 eyeing e3 was better. Black now grabs the initiative and doesn't let go. 14...exd4 15.♗xd4 Recapturing with the N where it can potentially go to f5 offered better chances, but black would still be better.
15.♘xd4 ♘c5 (15...c5 16.♘f5 ♗xe4 17.♖xe4 ♘xe4 18.♘xg7 is only equal.) 16.♕d1 ♘fxe4 and black is much better.
15...c5 16.♗b2 ♘xe4 17.♘bd2 d5 18.♖ad1 f5 Black has an active position, but this move is a mistake that should have allowed white to equalize. (18...♘df6 19.♘xe4 ♘xe4 20.♘e5 ♗f6 21.f4 ♕c7 with an excellent position.) 19.♘c4 Letting the wind out of his own sails.
19.♘xe4 would have allowed white to equalize, but the sequence is difficult to calculate over the board, so it's hard to fault Lombardy. His move makes sense. 19...fxe4 20.♖xe4 dxe4 21.♕xd7 ♕xd7 22.♖xd7 exf3 23.♖xb7 fxg2 24.♔xg2 ♗f6 25.♗xf6 gxf6 26.♗d3
19...d4
19...dxc4 leads to some great complications. For example... 20.♕xd7 ♕xd7 21.♖xd7 c3 22.♗c1 ♗c8 23.♗c4 ♔h8 24.♖dd1 ♗f6 25.♗d5 ♖a7 26.♘g5 ♗d4 27.♘f7 ♖xf7 28.♗xf7 ♗xf2 29.♔f1 ♖f8 30.♖e2 ♗d4 31.♗c4 In this very complicated position a 5 game Shootout using Stockfish resulted in white scoring +1 -2 =2.
20.♘xd4 Shooting himself in the foot. This is either a miscalculation or uncalled for desperation. White does not get enough for the piece and the attack on g7 is easily met. Better were either 20. Nfd2 or 20.g3 both of which give him a reasonable chance of defending. 20...cxd4 21.♕xd4 ♘df6 22.♕e5 There was no longer any defense. Black now sets up the trap. 22...♗c5 23.♕xf5 ♕c8 24.♕xc8 Exchanging Qs in no way helps white, but it allows a nice finish. (24.♘d6 ♕xf5 25.♘xf5 ♗xf2 wraps things up.) 24...♗xf2 25.♔h1 ♖axc8 26.♖e2 ♖c5 White can resign here, but Lombardy prefers to allow black a little joke. 27.g4 ♘g3#Powered by Aquarium
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