How to play against the French?

Before I pitch in my opinion on 3. Nc3 and 3. e5, allow me to just say that f4 sucks.

Now, Nc3 is a lot more theoretical than e5, but e5 brings a whole positional game that white should be aware of. I do think that white needs to be more prepared if he wants to play the Nc3 than e5, but what do I care? I play the Tarrasch.

It's true.

Sure if White goes ALL THE WAY to the poisoned pawn main line there's a lot of theory but it's not at all forced. First after 3...Bb4 White can try 7.h4, 7.a4 or 7.Nf3 rather than just going for the normal 7.Qg4. But even before then we must note that White can play Qg4 after 3...Bb4 on virtually every move. It's not always good but it's playable and gets those crazy positions without all that theory. In fact after 3...Bb4 4.Bd2!? de 5.Qg4 all White needs to remember is to make sure his queen doesn't get stuck after some ...Rg8, ...Rg4 thing. Players that like to play those ...Qc7 lines in the Winawer will especially be in trouble if they thought they'd never have to deal with Qg4 stuff.

After 3...Nf6 White can just play 4.Bg5 and then 4...de is a position he would've gotten anyway and 4...Be7 5.e5 Nd7 6.h4 puts the ball in White's court really. Black doesn't have to take or anything but it's still a lot less theory than other stuff.

And finally there's always just 3.Nc3 and 4.ed again just getting a game. I think Black is the one that really has to know his stuff better than White.

I have been playing the French a lot lately and have found that the Open Variation is the best for black especially if black is good at tactics. The open variation equalizes the position and gives black a fighting chance. This is certainly better than getting slowly crushed by white.  

How to play against the French.  Hmmm...bring some air freshener as they have bad BO.  And know they aren't as confident and cocky on the inside as they seem, especially if they are wearing brown, as there is a famous story related to that:

"The French officers captured a British officer and questioned him as to why their Officers all wear red uniforms.  'It is that so if I am injured, the blood will not show, and the soldiers under my command will not lose heart and panic.'  That is why from that day until now, the French army, WEARS BROWN!'

Everybody that plays White against the French is always avoiding the dreaded Winawer (1.e4 e6 2,d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4),  In my days as a professional gunslinger we knew it as the Win-A-War.  The delusional way around it is 3.Nd2, which is known as the Tarrasch.  But better known to gunslingers as the TRASH.

I believe the OP is avoiding the Win-A-War by playing 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5

IMO 3.Nc3 is the best test, but unfortunately also the most difficult.

The winawar in particular is a huge headache and a huge amount of theory too. Black can also choose 3...Nf6 which is its own big world of theory.

If you play 3.Nc3 and immediately go for sidelines, then sure,  you can avoid a lot, but I think it's very misleading to say you can just go with 3.Nc3, play natural moves and not worry about theory. It's not my opinion that 3.Nc3 has more theory attached to it than any other variation, it's a fact!

There are many sidelines for black too. My main complaint is on move 3 black already gets to choose his favorite way (Bb4 , Nf6, dxe) while white needs something for all of them.

When I played 3.Nc3 I avoided the main winawer stuff with 4.Ne2

As for the advance variation, after 5...Qb6 or 5...Bd7 white is the one who gets to choose his favorite way, and black needs to know something about each. Also the structure makes white's general play very clear: on the kingside.

GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, French Defense Advance Variation, Vol. 1 (c.2008):

I have been using the 3. e5 system against the French Defence for about thirty years (...Classically: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3)

...the following list of plans for each side is offered with the caveat that it should only be thought of as a rough guide. The list consists of plans which, in this or that game, might have played an overwhelming role whilst other ideas remained in the background. Furthermore, the plans for each side are directly linked with pawn structure and piece activity.
Plans for White :
1) Attack on the king making use of the space advantage on the kingside and a lead in development.
2) Use of the space advantage to cramp the opponent as much as possible and to force a transition to an advantageous endgame.

3) Release of the tension in the centre (dxc5, exf6) followed by a blockade on the squares d4 and e5.
4) Exchange of dark-squared bishops, followed by exploitation of the weakened dark squares.
5) Play on both wings.
6) If Black forms a locked pawn chain with c5-c4 then White prepares to undermine it with b3 and c4 (after bxc4) and (or) carries out a typical piece sacrifice on c4, d5, f5, e6, or g6.

Counterplay for Black :
1) Pressure on the d4 pawn.
2) Exchange of light-squared bishops by means of Nd7-b5 or b6 and Ba6.
3) The undermining of the e5 pawn by means of f7-f6.
4) Attack on the queenside by b5, a5, b4 plus counterplay along the c-file.
5) Counterplay on the kingside linked to g7-g5 and pressure on the f-file (a rare plan).

Sure I like 3.Nc3 and 4.ed anyway. But if you do play 3.Nc3 you can just play the pawn structures mostly.

If they play 3...de you're just playing a Caro-Kann structure so in the Karo-Kann you can just play 3.Nc3 too and it's the same thing and the big difference is how to play when black gets out the bishop with ...Bf5.

If they play 3...Bb4 4.Ne2 will get you Caro-Kann positons again.

And if 3...Nf6 then 4.Bg5 is easiest imo again with either a Caro_kann and you can try 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.Nf3 when Black will either grab on e4 or go for an isolated pawn with ...c5. Either way it's a game and there isn't a ton of theory to know.

I agree with telestu. There's too many variables after 3.Nc3 and I don't feel like learning them or giving black plenty of choices. I despise the French, so I definitely don't want to spend time studying it. I've also heard numerous French players whine about how much they hate the "boring and drawish" exchange variation so my plan is simple. If you're gonna play the defense I despise, I'm gonna play the boring variation that you despise lol.

GM Evgeny Sveshnikov also considers 3 Nc3 more variable than 3 e5.  To extend the partial quote I listed in my last comment from his book on the French Def. Advance Var:

"I have been using the 3. e5 system against the French Defence for about thirty years. How did this weapon become part of my arsenal?...I understood that the move 3. e5 was not objectively the strongest, but I had no desire to compete with such experienced French specialists as, for instance, Vaganian , in the long and complex lines that arise after the main continuation 3. Nc3 . Thus I chose the 3. e5 system against the French (and similarly 2 . c3 against the Sicilian) for practical reasons..."

As Black, I am always glad to play against the Advance variation, the simple (and mostly played) line 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 - I always play 5. ... Qb6 here - White has chances for a draw - but that needs efforts of White to maintain more or less equilibrium. One of my friends told me about Eugeniy Sveshnikov's book about 3.e5, interesting and useful to read, not only for those who play the French defense as White. I have another book by Sveshnikov - about e7-e5 in the Sicilian defense - that is one of my favorite books about the chess openings

After 4.Bg5 black can choose to play the Mccutheon (4...Bb4), which is its own body of theory again

Andy Soltis's first chapter in Beating the French Defense with the Advance Variation (c.1993) explores 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 (he also says 6. a3 is playable) where he like White's initiative.

Sveshnikov, in Vol.1 of French Defense Advance Variation recommends 6. a3!? (which Stockfish 8, 20 ply, says is virtually even +0.05 pawn equivalents for White) or 6. Be2 (Stockfish: 0.00).

Play 5.Ne2 bro and we're back to the usual. But yeah I suppose there's no way you can be ready for everything. i would suggest looking at games from old players like Lasker or Tartakower. In those days 3...Bb4 4.e5 wasn't thought to be so great and so they tried other stuff.

My lazy solution to the french is KIA and exchange variation, but before that, yeah, I was using lines I saw from old players.

The Tarrasch with 5.f4 is what I currently use with pretty good results. Quite a few French players just don't know how to gain counterplay against it. And it's quite a lot less theoretical than 3.Nc3, the regular Tarrasch or the Advance. For example:

I am not sure of what you mean by "20 ply". It would be advisable not to rely much upon numeric figures of (even strong) engines, especially in the opening stage of the game. If speaking about Stockfish 8 (I agree, it is very strong, Komodo 10 is very strong, too, I have both of them) - so when you look at your stated "+0.05 in White's favor", I can say that in order to be more or less sure of some approximate evaluation - when working on the openings (exploring the chess openings is just my hobby) - I always set up the time control 40 hours/40 moves, and it usually takes an engine from 50 minutes to 2.5-3 hours to make a move, AND THE NUMERIC EVALUATIONS which the engines show really do not mean that much. I set up the position in the Advanced variation after 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 - for the Stockfish 8 (4 CPUs 1950-2100 kN/s), with time control 40 hours/40 moves - just to see its opinion (I take those numeric evaluations just as reference, not more than that - the statistics of the played games in the Data Base is really of not less importance than "engine's opinion") - depth 28 (2 minutes 13 seconds "thinking time"): 6.a3 +0.03; and made the move at depth 44 (01 hour 26 minutes 33 seconds "thinking time") with evaluation 6.Na3 0.00.

The latest line on which I worked in the Advanced variation of the French defense is 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Na3 Bd7 7.Nc2 - and here both 7. ... Rc8 and 7. ... f6 are to my taste (it does not mean, though, that the other moves are bad). And when working on 7. ... f6, with the same Stockfish 8 with the time control 40 moves/40 hours - the Stockfish 8 upon 7. ... f6 played 8.Bd3 +0.31 in White's favor, expecting 8. ... fe (which is not bad at all), and just out of curiosity - upon 7. ... f6 8.Bd3 I tried 8. ... c4!? - I DO NOT CARE THAT THE ENGINE AFTER 2.5 MINUTES SHOWED 9.Be2 +0.41 (depth 30) in White's favor, because at the end, having finally made the same move 9.Be2 (depth 45; 01 hour 27 minutes 51 seconds "thinking time"), engine's evaluation was +0.00. When exploring chess openings in this way, I noticed many times that the engines' numeric evaluations sometimes even during the period of 50-70 minutes may vary significantly, sometimes from, for example, +0.2 to -1.5, or from -0.5 to +1.0. And there is not much reason to rely much on those numerics, really.

As for the key position from the Advanced variation which is being discussed (3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6) - my eternal question (saying again, the French defense was my main weapon as Black against 1.e4 for about 15 years) is - what does White have after 6.Be2 cd 7.cd Nge7 8.Nc3 (8.Na3!? Nf5 9.Nc2 Be7 (or 9. ... Bd7, or 9. ... Bb4+) 8. ... Nf5 9.Na4 Qa5+ and here 10.Nc3 Bb4; or 10.Kf1 - 10. ... b5, 10. ... h5 and 10. ... Bd7 are good here; or 10.Bd2 Bb4 (with appr. 11.Bc3 Bxc3 12.Nxc3 Qb6 13.Bb5 0-0 14.Bxc6 Qxb2 15.Na4 Qb4+ 16.Qd2 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 bc).

Or what does White have after 6.Bd3 cd 7.cd (7.0-0 Bd7 8.cd (there are also 8.Re1 Nge7 9.cd Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qxd4; also 8.Kh1 and 8.Qe2, not much for White) 8. ... Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 a6 - although poisonous line, but in Black's favor) 7. ... Bd7 - and here White has least half a dozen of playable ways, 8.0-0 Nxd4; 8.Be2 Nge7 (it does not matter much how the black knight gets to f5 - via e7 or h6); 8.Bc2 Nb4; or 8.Nc3 Nxd4; or 8.Qe2 Nxd4; or 8.Nbd2 Nxd4; or 8.a3 Nxd4; or 8.Qb3 Nxd4 - I simply share what I faced as Black when practicing the French defense, of course not claiming that everything is quite ideal or tip-top in the analysis I shared, but just asking - where does White have advantage?

I agree, 6.a3 looks probably the most promising for White among all possible options (but, saying again, the Stockfish 8 after having "thought" for about 1 hour 27 minutes at depth 44 made the move 6.Na3).

As for Black, both 6.a3 f6!? and the usual 6.a3 c4 are good. If desired, we could discuss in detail (here in the forum or in private) about what White has and what Black has after both 6. ... c4 and 6. ... f6. At least, when playing as Black here, I did not complain.

A little P.S.: Komodo 10.2-64, (5.Nf3 Qb6) - 6.a3 +0.12 (depth 40; 01 hour 35 minutes 58 seconds, expecting 6. ... c4 and considering 7.Nbd2/7.g3/and 7.Be2)

As a French defence player, I am not keen on playing against the A-C attack and will normally play the McCutcheon instead. Most the current French defence also seem to prefer the McCutcheon.