French Advance Light Square Bishop

I had two cases of diagrams in private messages being unavailable to the people I was talking to (because they use mobile or something?) So I'm going to post this here.

I'm not an expert on this! Just some thoughts about what to do with the light square bishop in the French Advance variation and I didn't want it to get lost in a private message.

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So first of all, not every piece can be a star player, infiltrating into the opponent's side, and attacking their king or something  Usually this bishop goes to d7 early in the game, and it has a useful job there. So let's see what happens when it's absent.

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Instead of that, black puts the bishop on d7, often on move 5 or soon after.

Below is a line where black pressures d4 more successfully

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The general strategic goal for Black in the French Advance variation is to pressure white's pawns on d4 and e5. In particular d4 can remain a headache for white even into the endgame since after the exchange cxd cxd white's d4 can't be defended by a pawn. So while the bishop on d7 may be unglamorous, it has a useful function.

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Generally speaking a single passive minor piece isn't something you should worry about in the early middlegame, but you should keep in mind that (barring a fortress setup) at some point before the endgame you should make an effort to activate it.

Below is a different variation of the French Advance. Black's position became losing after he was unable to solve the problem of his bishop. The variation on move 10 shows a typical remedy for this variation.

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Notice in the variation to move 10 that although e6 is a passive square for the bishop, it's preforming a useful function there. After this black moves the f pawn out of the way which ensures the bishop wont become an eyesore in an endgame.

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So to recap

- Even unglamorous defensive pieces can be useful
- Don't worry too much about having a single passive minor piece early in the game
- But don't completely forget about your passive pieces! If a piece is permanently passive it can lead to a very difficult endgame for you.

Good post

Thanks

That was really fast!

-GChess325

I’ve had some games where my light squared bishop gets locked in by pawns on e6, d5, b5, and a6. This seems to happen more often in the Steinitz variation. Against the advance, I often play Nh6 and get shackled with doubled h-pawns and the bishop pair. It takes time, and White should not allow it, but I’ve been able to place my light squared bishop on g6 a few times.

Good, clear explanation, @llama47

This is the full game

In the final position white is +3.00 according to the engine. Maybe a strategic draw offer on Shirov's part vs his much lower rated opponent.

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Thanks.

I know you French players can add a lot of perspective that I can't as a 1...e5 player.

I am personally a sicilian player with 1.c5 for black but thanks for  an interesting but of information.

I would also like to add a thing which I learnt from a stream I saw of Anish Giri in which he says  a really interesting way for black to play advanced french is to long castle and blockade all queen side pawns with the help of the g2 knight. It then becomes that you have to defend all threats for the first 15-20 moves on your queen side but if you survive then you have an excellent open king's side for a full blown attack. 

I’ve been playing 1...e5 more lately because it is what my students play. I can teach more effectively with more recent experience in the lines they play. 

I switched to the French this century. I started playing the Sicilian in the 1970s.

After 1.e4 e6, I meet everything except 2.d4 and 2.b4 with 2...c5. I frequently get a Kan, Paulsen, or Taimanov.

That LSB is the harbinger of doom!  If black can get their LSB active then that usually seems to signal the end of times for white. 

Yes.  This is what can happen if black's light squared bishop's power is allowed to become unleashed!

Nice game. Did 8...Nb4 come as a bit of a shock?

Yes.  I wasn't properly prepared as I was expecting 8...Nxd4 and not concerned about any other move..  I've faced 8...Nxd4 before and gotten good games.