I'd advise Steinitz variation with f4:
How to get most space against french defense as white.
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Possibly helpful:
A Simple Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Sam Collins
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/A-Simple-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-for-White-76p3916.htm
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/A_Simple_Chess_Opening_Repertoire_for_White.pdf
My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Vincent Moret
https://www.newinchess.com/Shop/Images/Pdfs/9033.pdf
1.e4 vs. The French, Caro-Kann & Philidor By Parimarjan Negi
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/1-e4-vs-The-French-Caro-Kann-Philidor-76p3875.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/GMRep-1e4-vol1-excerpt.pdf
How to Beat the French Defence by Andreas Tzermiadianos (2008)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627050257/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen115.pdf
A Chess Opening Repertoire for Blitz and Rapid by Evgeny and Vladimir Sveshnikov
https://www.newinchess.com/Shop/Images/Pdfs/9020.pdf
Coming soon:
Playing 1.e4 - Sicilian & French by John Shaw
@jengaias: I'll have to disagree with you on that. Paul Keres hardly ever ventured into the black side of the caro kann, but gleefully took it up vs Bobby Fischer's two knights variation.
If you know your opponent has a habit of misevaluating his position, then by all means, take advantage of it.
If you know your opponent has a habit of misevaluating his position, then by all means, take advantage of it.
In the line 1e4, e6; 2.d4, d5; 3.Nc3, Nf6 I like 4.Bg5 the most, and if 4.....Be7 then 5.e5, Nd7; 6.BxB exchanges your bad bishop for his good one. Here's a game from my career using this line:
Some typos in my post
The game was played October 24, 2010, not August 10, 2025
The note to black's 10th move should read the N on c6, not c3
I wish there was an easier way to correct them, but...
jengaias
The OP was asking about the 3Nc3, Nf6 line, so maybe you should ask him about the alternatives.
Again, I say why are you talking to me about this? The OP asked for advice; I gave it. Maybe you ought to try giving him advice, because I have my lines in the Winawer (I play both sides of it), the McCutcheon, the Burn, and I don't need your help here, thanks anyway. And I've played in tournaments since 1972, so yeah, I got that covered, too.
May 21, 2017
0
#9
The other notable space grabbing opening in the French not covered here is the f4 Tarrasch.
Black does not have to play 3Nf6. Other major alternatives are 3c5 and 3Be7. However, the move 3Nf6 is the classic French defence players choice. If 7Qb6 then White can look to grab even more space with the move 8a3, with the idea of b4.
I played f4 tarrash and won it. He tried a move-order trick (or inaccurate move order) at some point but i found the best solution on the board. He barely escaped being mated, and game went into 2 quality up endgame with hsi pawn structure demolished. He slightly outplayed me in the ending but it was nothing near close to equalize.
jengaias yazdı:
Anyway preapring for specific lines usually has bad results.
The opponent plays something unexpected , you get something totally different from what you expected and you collapse quickly.
These tactics are for experienced tournament players.
I won 2 tournaments with such tactics before. And i would call myself experienced since i played chess 25+ years, in tournaments for 18 years and my first rating ever was 1500. I have victories up to 2050 elo (fide). How i manage to stay under 1800 Elo is mystery to me but probably i can count hundreds of reasons first being not studying, second not playing much (a tournament per year or sth), and not sleeping, resting before tournament games can be third.
I can count many reasons. 1. most lines in french are not cramped at all 2. french is solid as any other good opening (sicilian, ruy lopez etc) 3. french is less popular compared to these so there is a chance opponent knows less about opening than playing against sicilian. 4. french structure is good for both counter attacking or endgame, you can pick what you play for draw or win (taking risks)
French is bad because compared to other openings your king still get attacked but in most variations you dont attack to white king directly means you need to be extra carefull. 15-20 years ago i myself tried playing french then found out it wasnt suited to me. I wasnt happy with 1.e4 e5 as well. I was slightly ok in 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 but i found out 2...e6 makes me happier. e6 sicilians to me like frenchs advantages added into more active play. Center is not closed means white can use his space advantage more efficiently but it allows black to play more dynamically. Very similar structure but insanely different gameplay.
Hi i am gonna play against a strong (rated 1800 elo but plays somewhat better) I looked at the games i can found about him. He seems to be playing french defense against 1.e4 sth like 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 style, he is not too bad at tactics but its not his strong suite, kid is more endgame player. I am good at endgames but he is probably better. He is 100 elo higher than me but there were times i beaten 2050 elo player ranked OTB thats not the concern.
After analysis of his games i found out that he is prune to mistakes when he is cramped. He lost %70 of his games he has good advantage but cramped and he needed to find some good moves. He is doing tactical mistakes there. But when i look his more open games he has enough space he is calculating perfectly enough. So easiest way to beat him is cramp him. I might have a shot in endgame if i gather some advantage but even if thats done it is not guranteed. SO which line i should play in french to cramp him even if i gave him slight edge ?