Introduction
The French Defense is a wise choice for beginning bughouse players. Firstly, it allows you to maintain a certain degree of autonomy and self-sufficiency. Secondly, your position can usually absorb a lot of lost material, including a Queen. Thirdly, there are often alternative plans for Black which are equally viable. It's perfectly possible to learn all of this alone in the random pool by trial and error (and maybe a few angry comments from a disappointed partner thrown in), but my hope is to create something which can speed up the improvement of beginning players. Many players know a lot of theory, but it isn't written anywhere for people to just look up, as it is in classical chess. In any case, the moves which make a French are...
White has three main options. The first is to trade pawns and d5. The second is to play Nc3. The third is to advance the pawn to e5. For some reason this is called the Advance Variation. In classical chess, the usual continuation is 3...c5, but this is untenable in bughouse, because it weakens Black's dark squares too much. The pawn is best left on c7, where it prevents drops on c7 and makes drops on d6 much harder for White. The best continuation is 3...Nc6.
The following sort of play helps Black...
It is not good for White to pin the Knight on c6. It helps Black to develop. Once the c8 Bishop gets to c6, the position is greatly freed for Black. Perhaps globally, it is very good for White to get a knight for the sake of the other board, but locally, it makes Black's game very easy.
White players often find themselves throwing in Nh3 somewhere. In principle, this is not bad, but the Knight will only get to h5 after two additional moves. I have never had any problems against it.
2. White plays Bg5
If White tries to pin the e7 Knight to the Queen, there is a good way to break the pin...
What if White plays Nc3 and then gets to drop N@c5?
But suppose that your partner traded Knight for pawn. Perhaps in that case, it is best to play an older line, without Nge7...
What if White plays 5.Be2 before Nf3, seeking to prevent 5...h5?
3. Thematic moves
Sometimes it is good to play ...f6
Sometimes the best counterattack begins with a pawn drop at e3.
The result will look something like this...
Black can counterattack even without much material in hand. P@e3 is often a very useful resource. The usual stuff with p@f2, N@g4, will follow...
Concluding Remarks...
In all of the diagrammed positions, a Queen in White's hand was never decisive. In contrast, 1...e5 for Black frequently leads to positions where if your partner trades Queens, it isn't even a matter of a tough defense--it's just game over. Anything can happen for an improving player in the random pool, but with a patient mindset, the French can be a very useful tool. White has other options than the Advance Variation, and perhaps they are stronger. But for the improving player, this is probably the most necessary to know.
