The French Exchange Variation 4.Nf3: Black Attacks!

I hear, "I would play the French Defense but the Exchange Variation is soooooo boring, I don't want to let any lower rated players easily draw against me". There's a few things I would disagree with in that ^ quote. 

1. One of the most repeated "chess sins" that I notice my students doing is: avoiding equal positions with Black. If you play riskier openings, with Black, against lower rated players you are (most likely) losing rating points. Drawing against lower rated players is not as bad as you might think. It's LOSING to the lower rated players that really sucks your rating points.
2. If you are a better player you will usually be able to win against lower rated players. 
3. As you'll see in the rest of this blog, I believe I'm recommending some lively setups for Black that will help you pull off those wins against the lower rated players that are "trying to draw" against you.

I've come to love when lower rated players play the exchange variation against me because I know I'll straight away be fighting against them in an equal position. 

Let's get to the lines and fighting game!

For Further Research Into this Line Check out:

1. https://www.chess.com/video/player/completely-french-exchange-variation---part-2 by WGM/IM elect Tatev Abrahamyan
2. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCId9K_SCu9d1j_-e-tOqzEA I will posting youtube videos shortly, please subscribe!