Intro to French Defense?

I've never played the French before. I'm already checking around the Internet, but can anyone suggest a good intro to the French Defense (how to play it, how to play against it) so I can get up to speed a little more quickly for today's tournament?

Thanks in advance!

Lol, I was gonna ask the same thing.... I need to work on it. Development of pieces (knights and bishops) is highly suggested and it gives a nice opening for the e5 pawn. Also, it gives you queen a really nice file to work with. That's all I've got, I'm gonna have to learn as we go...

I have been playing the French lately with moderate success, but I was too slow to join the tourney.

I can suggest lines for white with Qg4 always give me the most trouble

I have been playing the French as black for many years.  Simon Williams (Ginger GM) is a leading proponent of the opening and published a 10 hour video on it.  If that is more than you are looking for I believe he did a much shorter series here on chess.com.  Go to the video search screen, hit openings and then enter key word french.  There are others as well.  I own a lot of his stuff, he is a good, interesting teacher.

Like robcday said, there's these videos by Simon Williams which are quite good, here on chess.com.

Simon also made a book called "Attacking Chess: The French

@robcday, are you being literal/serious about a 10-hour video? I'm finding a brief series of videos called "Why Simon Loves the French" but there's only about three hours of those. Are those what you meant?

 I guess he is talking about a 10 hour series of videos. His DVD 'Killer French defense' is 9.5 hours.

The ten hour video is not available here (I don't think).  It is part of The Ginger GM Collection (you can also buy it separately) and is sold at his web site or other venues such as ichess.net.  It is called Killer French and it is a bit dated.  Playing time is almost ten hours.  The Why Simon loves the French was the series I was referring to here.

It takes a special breed of player to play the French.  I don't believe most have the temperament for it.  While it may be the best defense for black, you are on the defense right away for quite awhile.  Most don't like that style game.  

Here's a quick explanation of the ADVANCED VARIATION:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5

White gives up fast development for space and long term prospects. Black wants to target d4!

3. ...c5 (most common)

Black instantly challenges White's
center, and takes the initiative.

4. c3 Nc6 (most common)

White defends d4, and black keeps pouring on the pressure.

5. Nf3

White's moves are almost "forced" so far.. Of course different lines can still be played, but black is controlling the opening.

5. ...Qb6 (the classical approach)

Black continues harassing d4, while now pressuring b2 as well, giving limited mobility to white's bishop.

From here, white likes to play a3, which looks slow.. This is actually played to prep a b4 pawn break. Some common responses for black after 6. a3 are:

6. ...a5 & 6. ...Bd7. ...However! The most important and radical move that deserves examination is 6. ...c4!

Notes taken from "Fundamental Chess Openings" by Paul van der Sterren.

That's an interesting comment. What "temperament" do you mean to say is best for the French? An aggressive, risk-tolerant player? A patient, defensive player? Can you add more detail?

Thanks for the references, I've already started in on the first video here on Chess.com.

What do you mean by the DVD content being "a bit dated"? No longer useful? Superseded by newer, better ideas? (I have no clue how quickly chess strategy evolves, though I know it does over time.) In the end, is it still a recommended purchase when considered above and beyond the Chess University lessons (not instead of them)?

It's just my opinion, but I'd say it is a person who doesn't mind trying to hold off an attack with the idea of getting a better position when the smoke settles.  In other words, someone very patient and can keep his cool under attack.  Personally, I just don't enjoy being on defense for that long. 

Interesting. I've now known something (literally, no longer "nothing") about the French Defense for about a half-hour, and my first impressions are that I really like it. :-)

Seems to be aggressive, flexible, dynamic, with the requirement (and opportunity!) for tactical play, all of which speak to me. Of course, this is the first impression of a very unskilled player, so I'm curious as to how it's seen generally. But I might just get used to playing this defense!

The video came out around 2011.  I made the comment because some people might want newer material.  In my opinion, how important the timeliness of the material depends on the nature of it.  If, for example, you are looking at the poison pawn variation of the Winawer (a very sharp theoretical line in the French), then you really should look at some recent games.  If you want to understand the c5 and f6 pawn breaks or the issues with Black's light square bishop (as discussed in William's 1st video here on chess.com) than anything written by a competent author in the last 30 years should be ok.

I had not seen the chess.com series until today.  It seems like a mini version of the Killer French video,  For example the 1st game in the Advanced variation in both is Shabalov Shirov.  The longer video has much more material.  I own the Killer French video.  If you decide you like and want to play the French and just as importantly like Ginger GM's style (you also need to decide if you want to invest 10 plus hours in one opening), then sure this could be a good resource.

I do like his style, and enjoyed learning the Evans Gambit through his videos. I do WISH he'd number the videos in each series, however... makes it much harder to figure out which videos are part of a series and how to follow them as things are now.

I also believe one SHOULD invest at least 10+ hours on an opening, if not more, in order to gain some decent understanding of the main lines and some of the possibilities, plus how to handle them best. So in the end, I think I'm a good candidate for all of the above.

Thanks for the recommendation.

On a related note, all the content I'm finding so far has been about how to PLAY the French Defense: that is, as Black. Can someone recommend some good content on how to PLAY AGAINST the French as White?

chesskid has some reference on that

Thanks.