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Croissants And Checkmates

Croissants And Checkmates

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JETINATE
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Hello everyone! Welcome to JETINATE'S blog, where today we will be going over the French defense, a quiet but deadly opening. After this blog, you will never lose to e4 ever again! Channel your inner French- and let's begin! 

CHAPTERS:

1. Introduction To The French

2. Main Mistakes To Capitalize On

3. Main Traps 

4. Other Moves Besides 3.e5

5. Conclusion 

1. Introduction To The French

 

The French Defense dates back to the 18th century- but gained popularity in the 19th century. It was named after the correspondence match between the two cities of London and Paris. The Paris team played the French and WON! Ever since then, it has been one of the most mainstream openings in chess history. 

Here is how it starts:

The point of e6 is to support the d5 pawn push. It could continue:

Now white has a few options, but the most common is 3.e5.

This is the point of the French. In the French we love to put pressure on the d4 square. Here white has to play 4.c3, since taking the pawn would not be ideal, as that would help us develop, give us a larger center and make the e5 pawn weak. So if they play 4.c3...

So yes. That is the intro to the French. 

2. Main Mistakes To Capitalize On

White has many chances to mess up against the French. Here are some examples:

3. Main Traps

Against the French, white has a lot of cheeky tactics to surprise us. In this chapter we will see what ones to look out for and how to avoid them.

Here is how to avoid:

Here is a very little known trap:

How to avoid:

Those are all the main traps. Now that you know what to do against these traps, you are probably ready for the main lines!

4. Other Moves Besides 3.e5

Here are some of the other important lines in the French you may face: 

Here is another:

Also, if your opponent plays this, you know you will win:

Yeah. Oof.

CONCLUSION

Thank you everyone for reading this! I hope you learnt something about the French, and hopefully you can win heaps of games with this new knowledge. Thank you again. Love, JETINATE.