No there arent, and I would guess any respectable book deals with that line.
You can try to avoid the Exchange by answering 2nd moves that will clearly tranpose into an Exchange (2.Nf3 for example) with c5, ending up in a Sicilian.
Any good books/instruction on the French Exchange?
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Great post, really helpful advice, thanks.
GM Berg gives a comprehensive repertoire for Black against the exchange which is full of unbalanced positions:
A warning though: The GM Repertoire series are rather "too much theory" for class players. Just get the lines he suggests, and try understanding the logic behind them. Memorizing moves is not very useful.
Oct 25, 2016
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#5
Awesome advice, jengaias. I need to get comfortable with it even more. Thanks for the advice.
Oct 26, 2016
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#6
Simon Williams attacking chess the french there's some crazy stuff in there where you castle queenside and push your king side pawns very double edged but definitely not the same old boring stuff
If i remember correctly, Nimzowitsch had the idea that you can make French exchange asymmetrical by placing knights differently. So 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 and 5...Ne7 follows. I can't remember what he proposed against 4. Bd3, but it seems that 4...Nc6 5.c3 Bd6 or 5.Nf3 Bd6 or 5.Ne2 Nf6 gives the same kind of asymetry. Plus there's 4. Bd3 c5!? as proposed above. Come to think about it, I might talk myself into French like that.
Oct 26, 2016
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#9
that's pretty close to one of the simon williams lines 4.Bd3 ....Bd6
It is not the first time I deal with this topic on chess.com and usually TwoMoves is also around, so I will stick to basics:
The "most" usual set up in the exchange French involves ...Bd6 followed by ...Ne7 with the idea of playing ...Bf5, putting your light-squared Bishop on the best diagonal for its nemesis. When White prevents it (usually by playing Qf3 or Qh5), you can simply put your Bishop in e6 and back it up with ...Qd7 to play ...Bf5 then.
But if you want to play as "agressively" as possible and to try to punish your opponent for its bland exd5 move, then have a look at Alekhine's games on the exchange variation! It's a must-see. Really.
The common Alekhine's set up is like that:
1) Common exchange variation
You also should have an answer to the common line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4 which is quiet a variation on its own. Once again, if you want to shake your opponent, here is what I propose:
2) 4.c4 variation
Oct 27, 2016
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#12
Instead of complaining about the symmetry, endure it! I have a game for you to check out.
Go to http://theweekinchess.com/twic
Download the PGN for September 1, 2014 (number 1034)
Look for the game between Zane Eisen and Patrick McCartney, Round 5 of the US Open.
Now, the game does start off as a Petroff, but if you look at the position after 6 moves, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 (instead of 5.d4 or 5.Nc3) 5...Nf6 6.d4 d5, you have the exact same position as 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6, just 2 extra moves have been made because of the extra Knight moves.
Go thru that game like a fine tooth comb. I maintained symmetry for a long time, but notice once he plays h3, which weakens g3 and makes it harder for him to contest my battery, I avoided ...h6, swung my Bishop around to g6, ceased his attack, and eventually broke thru the center and got an unstoppable passed pawn!
Yeah, it may "look boring" because of the symmetry after a dozen moves, but go thru the whole game and realize it's not as bad as you think.
Been playing the French def almost exclusively against e4. Yet it feels as if almost 50% of opposition play this nancy line against me. The symmetry is just.. awful, taking me outta the traditional positional battle I sought out. Maybe there's some kind of "anti french exchange"? Comments are welcome now.