The French In Depth Part 1 The Classical

In the first part of my series of The French In Depth, we are going to be looking at the Classical French. The Classical French is reached by the moves 1.E4 2.E6 2.D4 2.D5 3.NC3 3.NF3. I will show you a diagram below incase you have problems envisioning that in your head. 

Black also has the option of playing 3.Bb4 and entering the Winawer variation, but it can be considered a double edged sword. After Black moves his Knight out White should either push the pawn(Steinitz Variation) or pin the Knight. We will first look at the Steinitz Variation and the different options that each side has.

MacCutcheon Variation

Now that you know how to play the Classical let's take it up a notch. Try to find the tactics from master games played with (of course) the Classical French.