French repertoire advice

I’m fairly new to the French, maybe 5 otb games. and I’ve decided to build a repertoire. Should I start learning the classical or Winawer first? Any repertoire book recommendations? Any general advice about the French?

I’ve never had a real repertoire. I played the Sicilian for many years with good results, but I’m wanting something new.

I would suggest "The Even More Flexible French" by Moskalenko.

This is under the assumption that you are not a pure beginner at chess, and understand general concepts about pawn chains and blocked positions, like attack a pawn chain at its base, and when the center is blocked, attack the side in which the blocked pawns point, and so in the French, that is Kingside for White and Queenside for Black.

It is not an easy book, and you have to be willing to spend about 60 to 90 minutes per game (just over 100 games in the book), but with the effort (it should take you 3 to 4 months if you put in 90 minutes a day on a daily basis), you will be a better French player.

You could try lifetime repertoire the french by anish giri. He reccomends the Winawer, but breaks it down very smoothly. 

@slabflow you get many winawer ideas in other openings. Especially giving up the g and h pawn, and I have seen that a lot. 

Thank you for the tips. I bought the Flexible French book you recommended, and look forward to digging in. The Giri book looks encyclopedic in size. You are referring to the book on Chessable? I just bought the other French book they have, which I believe provides a classical repertoire. The Giri book looks like overkill, but it’s on sale so I may bite. 

My OTB rating is 1750 uscf. I have never widely studied openings, just quickly played over master games in Chess Life many years ago. The only chess books I have read are Modern Chess Strategy by Edward Lasker and a book chapter on the Sicilian Dragon, which served me well, but I no longer play.

@pwnsrppl2 i have both courses in chessable as well. it seems i prefer Anish's work over tillis. Its more of direct to the point as compared to tillis work of showmanship. but to be honest, i enjoyed the rubinstein chapter. i have to say that is very good.

@pwnsrppl2 while Giris course looks big, he breaks down the concepts extremely simply and is "only 500 variations," with lots of alternatives. Tills course I feel tries to do to much, and in the end, does not accomplish as much as Giris course.

I have to admit, learning the Winawer intimidates me a bit. I hear it requires huge amounts of theory.

The winawer does have a lot of theory, but a lot of the ideas carry from other variations 

The even more flexible French dies cover the Portisch-Hook line of the Winawer (the line with Qa5 and Qa4, but not the theory-ridden lines like the poisoned pawn.

The majority of what it covers against Nc3 is 3...Nf6 (Steinitz and McCutchen)

Is the Winaver really that theoritical if you choose a line like:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7?

It is called a "risky and complicated line" by GM Psakhis in his comments of the game below. But in my limited experience, it is all about plans and manoeuvers rather than variations.

That is what I used to play without major headache before switching to the bloody tactical Armenian variation which definitely requires (a life-) time to study.

Qc7 variation - study game :

you could also go for the qa5 or early 0-0 stuff

Actually, I like the looks of that. I was thinking of playing the Hook line, but I need to try this one, too.

Thanks for posting that. 

I'm French, call it chess patriotism.

Here is another game (from the 1948 world championship) you might want to have a look at if you are interested in the variation - comments are mine:

Also, if you start playing the French defence, you might want to get especially ready for the way too many players choosing the exchange variation to bore you to death. In such case, I suggest to punish them by preparing sharp (yet sound) replies:

I invite you to have a look at the games indicated at the end of the pgn (for tactical plans).

If your light-squared Bishop is pushed back or you end up in an unknown position, keep in mind that trading the light-squared Bishops is often an achievement for Black, even in the exchange variation.

Piggy backing of the previous comment. Another method is going for an early c5. 

These are some great ideas. I’m finding the French is more flexible than I expected. Thank you for the annotated games. There really are a lot of options. Most of the books I’ve seen cover 6..Ne7. Anyone know of one that covers 6...Qc7 or 6...Qd7?

opening repertoire the French defense by Everyman 

Ok, picked up that one, too. Thanks. I have a lot to study now. Lol

The French is a solid yet flexible opening. Moreover, it has always felt to me like it is Black who dictates the main features of the position so I could shake my opponent with a messy variation (I have always thought the Armenian variation is worth a blood thirsty Sicilian) or choose a calm line if I think it would bother the other player (like ...Qc7 which I think is fine as long as you know the main ideas to hold the position against White's kingside attack).

As for the books, maybe start by having a quick look at the study games indicated in the PGNs I gave you above. Most of the games mentioned involve a top grandmaster so you can find them in any good online chess database.

I think 1800 elo is enough for you to better understand by yourself the main ideas (defence of the 7th rank by the Queen after ...Qc7/...f5, defence of the e6-pawn, pressure on White's c&d pawns, blockade game on the queenside to manoeuver your pieces...).

Have fun with the French.

If you do not mind playing with an isolated pawn, ...c5 is indeed a viable option in the exchange variation. In such case, the miniature game Kortchnoi-Tatai 1978 is a classic.