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Gambits against the French


  • 2 years ago · Quote · #1

    Mickey07

    Iv been playing the advanced variation against the french and to be honest iv had pretty bad results. Its boring for me so i was wondering is there any gambits against the french to liven it up a bit and give my opponent a fright?

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #2

    Mickey07

    Hhaha I didnt even know they existed. nice one that gives me some stuff to think about! cheers.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #3

    FirebrandX

    I play the french and, quite opposite to Xylograph, I have excellent results whenever white opts for the Alekhine-Chatard. I decline the gambit and play 6...0-0, and white has difficulty making progress with the attack. Meanwhile black expands on the queenside and enacts a timely f6 or even f5. I can't take credit for the line as it was suggested originally by IM Ari Ziegler. It has worked so well for me, I was even able to beat a titled master in a tournament game, whom specialized in playing the Alekhine-Chatard exclusively against the french.

    If you want to play a more annoying gambit on french defense players, you might want to try the wing gambit:

    1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4!? whereupon you can tease black into taking the pawn and now white's d-pawn can be sustained with the c-pawn in the center. It becomes much more difficult for black to play typical french plans without the aid of the c-pawn trading off on d4.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #4

    rigamagician

    1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nge2 is the Maroczy or Alekhine gambit which seems pretty sound.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #6

    rich

    [COMMENT DELETED]
  • 2 years ago · Quote · #7

    Mickey07

    Nice. I think im gonna give the Alekhine-Chatard gambit a try, looks interesting.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #8

    Chess_Enigma

    With 4. Bg5 you have to know what to do against 3..Bb4 and 4..dxe4 (later being the theoretical and GM played move). The Alekhine variation is not an "attack", white wants to cramp black, gain space and create a blockade in the center in return for a pawn.

    I have tried all the "anti-french" lines but I found the best way to crack black was to play the topical lines and be happy with your attacking chances.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #9

    AnthonyCG

    Chess_Enigma wrote:

    With 4. Bg5 you have to know what to do against 3..Bb4 and 4..dxe4 (later being the theoretical and GM played move). The Alekhine variation is not an "attack", white wants to cramp black, gain space and create a blockade in the center in return for a pawn.

    I have tried all the "anti-french" lines but I found the best way to crack black was to play the topical lines and be happy with your attacking chances.


    I agree. It sounds like you don't know how to play against the French so you're looking for some way to completely change the play. The problem is that when the gambit is declined or you run out of gas, you'll be back to square one anyway. It'a probably better to learn more about the French instead of avoid it. Maybe even playing it yourself might help.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #10

    Shivsky

    Reb wrote:

    1 e4 e6  2 d4 d5  3 Be3  is also a known gambit against the french and ...

     

    This is quite a lot of fun if you're a lazy punk (like me) who likes similar "low theory" gambit systems for most vs 1.e4 openings.   The attacking ideas are similar to the BDG and you can even whip this one out (with varying success) against the Caro.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #11

    aansel

    I have played the Wing Gambit ( 1 e4 e6 2 Nf3 d5 3 e5 c5 4 b4) against the French for over 30 years. It has become more popular and people like Watson have some lines that make it more difficult but it is a fun game to play as White

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #12

    Elubas

    Mickey07 wrote:

    Nice. I think im gonna give the Alekhine-Chatard gambit a try, looks interesting.


    But this is all assuming that black will not only play the classical (3...Nf6), but also that he will play the classical line of the classical (4 Bg5 Be7, but 4...Bb4 and 4...dxe4 are both fine options).

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #13

    Atos

    I have never found a good gambit to play against the French, but I think that I might give the Wing's a try.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #14

    Eberulf

    http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/damn-the-french-gambit

    http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/quotdamn-the-french-gambitquot-is-a-killer

    The "Orthoschnapp" I believe is the name.  Might as well let everyone know about it and thus neutralize its effectiveness.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #15

    Ziryab

    When I wanted to beat a friend's French, I went into his favorite line, offered him a choice of two pawns on move 13, let him get into time pressure making difficult decisions, and grabbed the free stuff when he started dropping pieces.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #16

    Elubas

    To be honest I don't think white gets very much for the pawn in the wing gambit. It's not like he gets a ton of open lines and his center can still be attacked by a well timed ...f6. Things seem a little more awkward for black, but that's all it seems. I have not faced it many times, but done well against it.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #17

    Ziryab

    If you want to beat the French, learn it. Black must accept accept some passivity, and it is hard to get his/her pieces active. Then, there's the French cleric, whic is often forced to sit alone and pray for its army. Play active and principled lines and let Black suffer in the bed he/she has made.

    1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5

    Principled moves include:

    3.Nc3

    3.e5

    3.Nd2

    Other moves are not as good and present Black fewer problems. 3.exd5 is a coward's choice.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #18

    Elubas

    The french is one of those openings where for the most part you need to understand it to beat it. None of the gambits even give white the same direct, open attacks that could come out of many double king pawn openings. And the reti gambit has a number of responses, and black should have no trouble being equal and although white has avoided french structures, it comes at the cost of giving black an extremely comfortable position, like in the exchange, so I'd be happy with that.

    At the top levels the french is a little less effective because people know how to exploit their space and can to some extent limit the counterplay black normally gets at lower levels. But when I play people, I always have good counterplay and a solid structure, and probably know it much better than they do because of my experience with it.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #19

    FirebrandX

    Eberulf wrote:

    http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/damn-the-french-gambit

    http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/quotdamn-the-french-gambitquot-is-a-killer

    The "Orthoschnapp" I believe is the name.  Might as well let everyone know about it and thus neutralize its effectiveness.


    If white is going to try that crap, I'd just play 2...c5 and keep the position a closed English. As black, you can't just be a one-trick pony. You have to be able to change your opening choices on the spot in order to keep your opponent off balance.

  • 2 years ago · Quote · #20

    Conquistador

    Personally, I think that gambits are not very good against the French.  You should play positionally to squeeze black. 

    My favorite line that has worked wonders for me is

    1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.b3


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