Woah! When you mentioned the upcoming h-pawn push, I didn't realise it would appear so early! Somebody's being aggressive today!  . In light of this worryingly adventurous pawn, I think perhaps Black should castle queenside. The closest parallel I can think of is in the Pirc Defence 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.h4!?, when ...O-O is a big mistake for Black, as it castles right into White's attack.

I have a friend who enjoys playing the Desprez, 1.h4. Annoyingly, he can still beat me with it.

Hi goingdown! Here is a game between me and Master Freddy (Easy19) where he tried the Desprez on me:- gameknot.com Hope you have a good read or if you have read it I hope it provides a useful refresher! Cheers - Joanne

This move feels weak and Black already seems to be at a disadvantage... I give credit to Freddy here 3.h4 4. h5! is very powerful vs blacks defensive set up, the possible later threats of hxg6 and h6 are both staggering( especially vs O-O This has the feel of the Keres Attack vs the Scheveningen Sicilian where it's almost suicidal to castle short). Black's questionable 3... c5?! seems to be a positional error 3... d6 looks more logical. Black could also have tried 3... Nf6 4. e5 Qe7 but things look very touchy in that position ( though black has stalled out h5 for the time being ). Strange that such early moves would have so much weight.

3...c5 is quit good i myself would have moved c6 but i consider both moves as the best 2 moves to make... in this line black must control the center from the sides and keep room to move pieces true the center

A problem with h5 is that it greatly weakens the g5 square--leaving it open for White's Knight. I worried about c5 but from my limited (but growing) knowledge of this defense, Black cannot be passive and needs to strike back in the center in response to a flank attack. Finally, e6 is an important move as it takes, at least for a time, White's LSB out of the game. [edit]I went to chessgames.com and found 14 games from the point where white went h4. Of those 14 games, white won six of them. In each of White's victories, Black went h5 within 1-2 moves. Black won 4 games, moving 3...c5 in three of them and 3...c6 in the other.

And, for that "ready made attack" to succeed, White needs a rook on the h-file - so, castling will simply move the rook from its useful square. I think White should wait and castle queenside, to help bring his other rook into the impending attack.

actually at this point the h pawn is just a binding distraction.. the e file is the weakest link in steves defense .

As a response to White's pawn push on the kingside, Black expands dangerously on the queenside. However, I think this is an error, as it leaves less of an option for Black to castle queenside and escape White's attack. In fact, this queenside expansion is probably a sign that Black intends to castle kingside - either that, or keep his king in the centre. I think the king in the centre would actually be safer!

I disagree. I think if I had left my King in the middle, the queenside push may have had teeth.

If black would have castle queen side he may not have needed to save this bishop though 3... c5?! indicated that black wasn't going to castle long and 4. h5! became very strong.

After the recapture, White has a powerful, broad centre, and is ready to expand - if he wants to - with d3-d4. I say "if he wants to" because, at this stage, he seems to have greater ambitions on the kingside.

It may have been worth considering 9...Bf6.

In hindsight, I think this was a mistake. I should have left my King in the middle.

I would not call it a mistake the move is natural and attacks can easily be deflected.( check next comment) I would have moved 0-0 or perhaps f6

I'm not positive, but maybe White wanted to leave his dark-squared bishop's line completely open for its development.

The Weak e file. and a bishop cover on the h pawn is stronger then a queen cover. - On Steve,s Request > how to counter the weakness in the center.. 13...d5 instead of a5 this will lead to a exchange 13...d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 and there is room for the rooks to cover any thread on the e and f file Other solution but a bit unnatural, is to create somekind of distraction 13...Na5 i would ignore that move and move 14.e5 as black you can then force something Nd5 15.Bxd5 Bxd5 16.Bg5 d6 ( weakness solved)

dunno if that kind of defensive action is needed quite yet though I've gotta question the castle to the king side to begin with as stated above... Blacks king at this point might actually be safer in the center for the time being.

Well, placing a knight on e8 will take a lot of manoeuvring, which will lose some tempi - this may allow White's attack to crash home before Black manages to defend.

17...d6 is tactically speaking a error aldo it is not a very bad move .. 17...N7c6 is much better..

Slightly Black might want to defend e6 again for Bxe6+ is deadly after the forced advance of the f-pawn. Not sure Nc6 really does anything for black whites not exactly looking to exchange it for the bishop.

Well, Black may be planning to play ...Nd4, playing to slow down White's attack. He could also then exchange off White's powerful light-squared bishop, and then play ...f6, or possibly even ...f5, in relative safety.

f5 looks to be the only way to stop mate. f6??? (Bxe6+! Rf7 Qxf6 Mate next with Qg7# or Kf8 Qh8#) Bxe6+! Kh8 Bxf6+ Rxf6 Qxf6+ Qg7 Qxg7#. f5 Bxe6+! Kh8 exf5 and black is in big trouble (Note Rxf5 fails because of Bf6+!!). What else does black have? R~??? Qf6 Kf8 Qh8#

Well, I was right about Black threatening ...Nd4 - but here, it is simply too late. The combination of queen and h6-pawn, seen so often in the textbooks, is unstoppable.

freddy pointed out to me that I was moving too quickly after 20...Nd4 and he was absolutely correct. I did not even look to see the threat the White Q posed.

A fatal error...

White could have mated directly with 22.Qg7#

I know but i was explaining something to steve so i gave him a move extra to read and respond.  

I knew the game was over prior to 21...Nxb3. I took the Bishop on b3 and then asked freddy if he thought he should resign due to his ruinous loss of material. He took my Knight to equalize the position.

And on how the h-pawn thrust is powerful against the "Indian" formations, with fianchettoed bishop on g7 and ...O-O.

I've only been playing the Robatsch/Modern defense for a few weeks and this is the first time I've encountered the h4 thrust. Clearly, I made a few errors, some significant--but I think played correctly, Black has good chances in either the middle or queenside against the early h4 thrust.

we wil try it again then