Wow. Usually, I'm a decent French player, but in this match I got obliterated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where did I go wrong? 

Your pieces seem to get bottled up in the corner when you retreat at 5...Nf6-d7.

 What if at 4 you play ...d5xe4

 It seems like the e pawn pushes forward and after 5... Nfd7 your pieces are all bottled up in the corner.

I didn't like 6...g6.

I probably would've castled, and then chased the queen away.

 

Doesn't castling loose the exchange?

6...0-0 7.Bh6 g6 8.Bxf8

6. ... g6 also looks awkward to me (and later your opponent does eat you up on the dark squares). The most commonly played move is 6. ... Kf8. Though I'm not familiar with this position.

 

Is there a reason you can't take the e5 pawn earlier? I see it could be dangerous to allow the bishop on to f6, but if you can get away with it, it might save your position.

 

Maybe 13. ... Be7 might relieve some pressure.

good game though.. but you should've castled in kingside instead of pushing the pawn..

If I castled kingside then Bh6 and it starts to look very bad for me.

But, thank you Loomis, for pointing out Kf8. It didn't even cross my mind to do that, as I wanted to castle to get my rook out at some point. 

yeah I'm no expert but it seems that after ...g6 you are just on the defensive getting chased around.

He play that french defense poorly. you don't make g6 if you got alot of pieces in your king's face.

keep practicing it,  you will be best on french defense in the future.

 

White sure can give you some headaches on the king-side with the french defence!  Best to force them to defend queenside by rapid development there.

Nf6-d7 is a good move, it supports c5, but it should only be planned to be on d7 temporarily - your queens bishop needs that square.

I think your mistake was 8...Nc6. after the exchange you have doubled pawns on the c file, and when you play the french GET THE C FILE OPEN. I would play a6 without hesitation. If the bishop takes the knight on D7, fine, you develop your bishop and make some space for your rook on c8 ( you want it there asap.)

Pile on the pressure on the d4 pawn! and don't be afraid to delay castling kingside - you would be castling into the side of the board where none of your pieces are!

you should have taken the first pawn then develop your pieces

 

It looks to me like you could have played 17... Qd8 and gotten out of most of your difficulties.

 

Still, earlier he had the very promising 15 Nxd5.  Also strong seems 16 ef, threatening mate in 2.  You seem forced to play 15... h5.

 

I'm hardly an expert on the French, but allowing that knight into d6 like that looks pretty (as they say) double-edged.

Seriously guys, this was posted back in september 2007. Stop necro-bumping :p

lolz thread necromancy at its best!

Hey, I didn't care for g6.

 

/runs away

 

It's called the "Gledhill Attack" I think. It's pretty sharp but I still really like playing the French as black. Somehow I get luckier than most. :)

ooh man. i used to play the french alot a few years ago but eventually changed to other openings. I ran into this variation twice where white plays Qg4 and both times i lost. Advice from a Master of some kind after the game said i should get queenside play and leave him take the 2 pawns on g7 and h7. but the second time i tried this and i lost. im looking forward to reading some of the comments now.

I don't like 12...c5 - is 12...Nxe5 13.Qf4 Nd7 that bad for you ?

I think that 17. Qe7 is the most effective move because the mate comes faster.

fritz shows Bf8 as best after whites Qg4 but still with a better position for white.  Bb2 seems to be the odd move with fritz suggesting taking the pawn for black.  I usually play Nf6 rather than the Winnawear Bb4 and then when white plays e5 the standard reply is Nd7 but at quickplay i try Ne4!? which is playable but you need to study it - always gives me a time advantage though!