You could start by spelling it correctly...
But a simple plan in the advance variation is basically to put pressure on the d4 pawn with moves like Nc6, Qb6 etc. Then I like the Nh6-f5 manoever, because either you get a nice knight on f5, or an interesting, unbalanced game if White plays Bxh6.
read the book " Mastering the French" by Neil Mcdonald. you'll get better with the french defense. tactics is another topic.
read the book " Mastering the French" by Neil Mcdonald.
McDonald's introductory book, "Mastering the French" which, while very good, is out of print, and used copies tend to be exorbitantly priced online.
The following (more recent) book by GM Neil McDonald is entirely devoted to the French Defense (although you would not know it from the title). Note this is a repertoire book, and as such does not attempt to present exhaustive coverage of every possible line. Nevertheless, McDonald is an expert on the French and his treatment is thorough. This is an excellent book to learn this opening from, as McDonald specializes in writing for the improving amateur...
"How To Play Against 1 e4" by Neil McDonald....
https://www.amazon.com/How-Play-Against-1-e4/dp/1857445864/ref=sr_1_22?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506838262&sr=1-22&keywords=neil+mcdonald+chess
As a supplement (not a replacement) to McDonald's book, you might consider...
"First Steps: The French" by Cyrus Lakdawala...
https://www.amazon.com/First-Steps-French-Everyman-Chess/dp/1781943435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525548926&sr=1-1&keywords=first+steps+french
A good introduction specific to the French Advance is....
"French Advance" by Sam Collins...
https://www.amazon.com/French-Advance-Everyman-Chess-Collins/dp/1857443918/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525549246&sr=1-2&keywords=french+advance
A nice, quick introductory overview of French Defense fundamentals...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyG2gghNY8c
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626174056/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen120.pdf
https://new.uschess.org/news/how-to-really-learn-an-opening-review-first-steps-the-french/
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7611.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627000529/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen86.pdf
Thanks for the book review links Spongey. They are always helpful!
read the book " Mastering the French" by Neil Mcdonald.
McDonald's introductory book, "Mastering the French" which, while very good, is out of print, and used copies tend to be exorbitantly priced online.
Too true about the pricing: the cheapest I can find it is for about $66.00 on Amazon. I'm fortunate to have a copy of it, as well as several others in the "Mastering the..." series. They are excellent introductions to the openings, focusing on the typical pawn structures that arise instead of presenting reams of variations. They present the plans, strategic themes, and major tactical ideas for both sides in the openings they cover. It's a shame that they have been allowed to go out of print.
My one criticism of the series is that the title is somewhat misleading: after serious study of the book, you will not come close to "mastering" the opening. But they do a great job of providing a basis for beginning to study an opening in earnest.
I don't get to play against the Advanced Variotion a lot so I don't have a lot of experience because everybody plays the Exhange Variation.
There are lines like the Poisoned Pawn Winawer that are theory heavy and require knowing the lines in order to avoid getting crushed early, but a lot of the French revolves around the pawn structures more than the tactical nuances of individual moves. You can do fine in the French at lower levels just by playing thematic moves, but if you want to improve without a coach a book is the way to do it. I've watched videos on different openings (and even had one video win a game for me) but you only come away with a fragment of the information, even if you watch it several times. For me, the videos only help if you are already reading a book on the subject, and it's always the book which helps more.
Get a coach, they can explain some concepts you don't understand.
Reading books to learn an openings seems weird to me, honestly.
Or I guess... not weird, but sort of boring, and maybe not the most effective way to do it.
If you ever study a good opening book you will realise why you are wrong.
There are many things that a good book can tell you that you will need 200 years to find them on your own. Studying games on your own is of course absolutely necessary but a good book can guide you how to study games and which games to study. I am not talking about lines. I am talking about problematic positions that have practical difficulties that you can't imagine they exist.
For example Moskalenko ,in just one game he explains an opening position and all it's practical difficulties in a way that is clear and quite revealing. I would need 40-50 hours studying games to acuire that knowledge on my own and it is again doubtful if I could reach the correct conclusions. The "guess the move" technique is very good but there is a significant problem. You need a better player explaining you otherwise you will bypass a lot of important things that you don't even know they are there.There is important knowledge in the moves that they were never played so games annotated by good players are priceless.
Hoping to discover everything on your own is like hoping to go around the world and discover all sightseeings without knowing where they are. It's pretty much impossible.
Well put.
write down everything you know about the advance variation on paper from the top of your head (take about ten minutes), then study the advance variation everyday from books or internet and play advance variation against computer or friends (20 minutes or more each) and after about a month again write everything you know about the advance variation.
... Maybe I'm just lazy and don't want to read ... I wonder what these 1500s are doing, buying tons of opening books.
Is there anything wrong with a person choosing to be between those extremes?
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf
There is a small chance that someone might play that line right?
how can I share my games