My Atlanta Chess Championship Games Analysis - Game 1

I came into the Atlanta Chess Championship last weekend sort of last minute (2 days before), so had little time to prepare anything significant, openings wise.  I had just been studying tactics, and was only 1 chapter into "Endgame Strategy".  I do however have a fairly solid practice regime, using Chess Position Trainer, and was pretty confident I would do "ok". 

So far in this 1400 -> 2000 journey, I currently sat at 1611, down slightly from the high last year of 1630.  I had a really bad tournament last time, and it left a sour taste in my mouth. 

In Round 1 I drew black vs a higher rated player (1846) and decided on the French Defense vs e4, which appeared in the game.  Let's see the opening. 

As Black vs a player rated 200+ points above me in the first round, I was relieved to get some nerves out of the way.  I'll take this draw any day.