French Defense position

In this position, why does Stockfish recommend white play 7.h4?

Can white really muster a kingside attack in this kind of position, even when black has both bishops and the position can open up any time?

Hi. I would appreciate any input.

It's clearly an early preparation for the kingside attack.

Why is it considered to be slightly better than Bd3 or Qd2? Who knows, the next version of Stockfish could give somewhat different evaluations.

This ridiculous position should never occur.

5.Bxf6? is a positional error, and Black should castle in this position on move 6 instead of 6...b6, and so anybody that plays that ridiculous 5th move against me will already be slightly worse as I'll castle instead of the dumb 6...b6.

dunno why stockfish recommending h4 instead of e5 followed by h4.

You can make a lot of silly things happen once the position is closed.

Couldn't tell you.

h4 supports a K-side attack under some circumstances. If Black castles, White can play Bd3 and then push e5, whereupon one idea is a Greek gift like sacrifice with Bxh7+. After Kxh7 Ng5+, if Bxg5 then hxg5 exposes a check from the rook on h1, to be followed by Qh5. Modern engines also consider these flank pawn pushes useful moves in general.

There are other possibilities than the K-side attack actually happening. For example, White does not want to commit to e5 before Black has castled, because then c5 exposes the weakness of the White center while there is still no hurry for Black to castle. Also, if Black plays Bb7 next, the engine prefers exchanging on d5, I think in part because of this c5 idea, when d4 will be exchanged and e5 will become weak. Black definitely does not want to take with the bishop and allow Nxd5 and c3, but after exd5, the bishop on b7 looks pretty silly. This exchange opens the e-file, and if Qe7+, White wants to play Be2 to block this check. If he has played Bd3 already, that will be a wasted move in this line. On the other hand, if Black plays Nc6 in response to h4, White's response will be Bb5, pinning it. So White is not sure which square the bishop belongs on just yet.

To summarize, h4 is useful for launching a snap K-side attack in some lines, and it's otherwise a useful waiting move as White does not want to commit either the e-pawn or the bishop before he sees what Black intends.

Moving the pawns at the edge two squares forward is not necessarily the beginning of an attack. It's also a way to gain space. Bent Larsen became famous for moving these pawns forward in the 1960s and it became an integral part of modern chess when AlphaZero used the pawn moves in many games.

If black castles and white plays e5 and bishop de black can play his dark squared bishop to a6. Black is fine.

in a lot of french lines, early h4 fulfills 3 purposes

1.supports a piece going to g5. bonus points, for sometimes aiding a greek gift if bxg5 is an option.

2. threatens h4-h5-h6 which can be a safety liability if black castles 0-0

3. can threaten a very annoying rook lift via h4-h5 anc rh3-rg3.

h4 is sufficiently flexible to help in all these plans and keeping options flexible.

as a side note 6... b6 while not the worst move in the world is a bit premature here. if black plays early e4-e5 , b6 makes sense as the position is closed and you support ba6, but with options open,after a move like exd5, b6 looks a bit silly.

What you say is true, however, white has already exchanged his bishop for a knight. I was wondering if in this particular case, h4 has any reasonable value. As for b6, black is ok according to stockfish. Even if black castles, black is ok.

his dark squared bishop, its the light squared bishop that matters during the greek gift.

exchange french positions are sufficiently sound that one inaccuracy wont ruin you, but its not doing you any favors.

Are you implying that the light squared bishop is more important than the dark squared in any opening when it comes to having the white pieces?

lol no. look up greek gift sacrifice

Geez, the computer shows you why...and h4 is waiting about Bb5...not Bd3.

Bd3 is about +.05 better than h4 as it works out.

You should know all 3 setups as white...what you are thinking and what the computer is very far off.

h4 is a multi-purpose move. it enhances all 3 ideas without committing to any.

you giving comp evals without specifying which engine, or what depth lmao you statement is meaningless.

I use the unified engine, which follows along of course.

So its really like the 12th move eval that is assigned to move 7....lets say at redfish depth.

Cmon, I dont use some toy engine..only the best.