I've noticed that on some of these boards you guys have had trouble beating the French defence. I hope that this game might help you do that a little better. Just don't be afraid to sacrifice if the time comes... Tell me what you think.

The Gambit King

This isn't normal French territory.  He would have played 2...d5 if it was the French.

Indeed, and it did'nt even lead to French like positions. To beat a normal french type position often means moving your h pawn and sacking a bishop on h7 but obviously not in this game as it was'nt really a French.

BirdBrain wrote:

This isn't normal French territory.  He would have played 2...d5 if it was the French.

Yeah you're right. Is there a name for this version of the opening, or is it just a weak move, or what?

The Gambit King

P. S.: And Amnesiac I did end up sacrificing a knight (it could have been a bishop, but I thought the knight was a better piece to sacrifice) although it was probably unsound and definitely not the 'classic bishop sacrifice' that you might have expected...

I think its a weak move as it dos'nt confront the centre...pehaps it could transpose into some sort of hippo. I think it's called that where you move most of your pawns one square.

Yeah, 2...d5 was the way to go. (although 2...c5?! is an alternative) Very bad game. I don't think this will help me beating the French....

You played well, but I think a more appropriate title would be How to Beat Patzer Openings, because he did not play the French correctly at all.

This is actually a general strategy for  beating any opening: Get a weak player to play it against you. :-)

LOL my bad :P

Dear Gambitking

1. e4 e6              is the french defense

1. e4 e6   2. d4    is the normal french defense

As far as I can see anything else is a variation

although 2 ....... d5 may be a popular response, it is not however the french defense, it is a variation of the french.

To answer your question  2 .......d6 - Has anyone seen this move before? I haven't! -  I have not only seen it, I play it on a regular basis

With kind regards, Bonsai.

You're right, Bonsai, but I still haven't seen that particular variation of the French much... LOL

The Gambit King

This opening looks like someone wasnt sure how the french goes nor the pirc so just played the first moves of both and hoped for the best......  actually its called the lengfellner system, believe it or not .

I believe him...

"I have never in my life played the French Defence, which is the dullest of all openings."... Steinitz

In most openings one can choose to play dynamic lines, the French is no different.. You might want to update your views on theory by say 100 years.. 

lol.... That's ok, I live in my own little world! But hey, they know me here!

I can't help it if I like an open tactical game. How does Black Open the Game by Force to Revel in Tactical Play?

BTW... I do have an original copy of the "Modern Chess Instructor", so I am as modern as I need to be!

Ok, I'll admit it's not the best choice if you want tactics on the Sicilian Dragon scale. I guess we just both have different definitions of what is "dynamic", or "dull". Btw, I was kind of joking about updating your theory by that much. I'm not saying I'm anywhere near the 21st Century myself! lol For all us non-Masters I guess it doesn't matter all that much anyway to be completely up to date on all the details..

From seeing it for the first time..My initial reaction was why would white take on d7?  That seems like the beginning of the end.  I would just play n-f3 and if dxe white is still up a pawn with a structural weakness on an open file for black (which also happens to block his light squared bishop)and little compensation as far as I can see.

If instead of dxe black plays q-e7 then simply b-c4 with a clear plus it seems to me

Sorry for all the deleted comments, guys... for some reason, though, my chess diagram was showing up wrong and wrecking the display... so I'm going to go back and generate it all over again LOL... here is the first game:

The Gambit King