Is the French Defense good?

I really like the french because it's fun to play. Probably not the best thought that would be either a Sicilian or e5

When I was a beginner, I didn’t want to play the 1…e5 lines (King Pawn).

I tried playing the 1…E5 lines, but I never found a group of lines which matched my style.

- Philidor Defense

- Archangel Defense

Those 2 lines are probably the closest I came, but I didn’t stick with them.

As a result, I began experimenting with different openings.

- French

- Caro Kan

- Modern

- Sicilian

I ended up settling on the Sicilian, but it wasn’t my 1st choice to be honest.

My 1st choice was the French Defense.

The above diagram is the starting position you will reach most of the time.

White has a lot of different moves which they can play:

3.E5 - Advanced Variation

3.Exd5 - Exchange Variation

3.Nc3 - Main Line

3.Nd2 - Tarrasch Variation

Out of the 4 different moves, The move I loved playing against the most was 3.e5 which leads to the Advanced Variation. The Advanced Variation is the funniest line to me. To me the advance line is the entire reason most people play the French to begin with.

Black plan is to attack d4 pawn.

It feels fun because your developing your pieces to attack d4 pawn. It makes it feel like your being aggressive and they are being defensive. Your plan is also very easy.

Out of the 4 different moves, The move I hated playing against the most was 3.exd5 which leads to the Exchange Variation. The Exchange Variation was so boring and it felt like a total buzz kill to play against.

You want to know what is funny?

From a Theory “High Level” perspective, The easiest line for Black to beat is the Exchange Variation. The other moves are considered tougher for Black to win against.

From a “Low Level” perspective, I didn’t enjoy myself. Sure, I won some games. They were unsatisfactory wins. I got no joy or pleasure in those wins. I stopped playing the French opening because of the how popular Exchange line was at the time I was low level player.

It’s like they are playing copy cat.
It’s so boring and repetitive. You see the above position a lot.

Sure, Black can win. The position is equal. Black position is fine.

You would think I should be happy, but the position is so Symmetrical and Bland.

I like positions which are different.

I got completely disgusted by French Exchange and I stopped playing the French entirely.

It’s a real shame because some of the French lines were very awesome.

The last line I use to play was in response to 3. Nd2 or 3.Nc3. I played the same move against both.

The above line is known as French Defense - Fort Knox Variation.

Just as the name suggest, Black Position is Iron Clad.

I always like the Fort Knox line because it always made me giggle on the inside.

Why did I giggle? Because have you ever seen Bishop develop like that?

The Bishops development is extremely weird.

What a weird way to develop a Bishop.

It almost seems like a joke line, but it actually is crazy tough line.

I had a lot of Low level opponents call me a Bad player because of this line. LOL

They would lose to me with this line and say I was Bad.

They said I broke chess principles by moving Bishop twice from d7 to c6.

They said I develop my pieces backwards because they think Knight is suppose to be on c6 and Bishop on d7 instead of Bishop on c6 and Knight on d7.

They said I was horrible at doing Fianchetto’s because they thought Bishop d7 to c6 was my way of trying to Fianchetto. Than they began explaining to me how Fianchetto’s are suppose to be with b6 + Bb7. 
‘This line isn’t even a Fianchetto’s line and everything they said was nonsense. An to make matters even worst the majority of them lost to this line. When I told them how on earth did they lose to a scrub line me who is bad at Fianchettoing and breaking chess principles.

They said I was “Lucky”

The Classic Response - I’m just a Lucky guy.

Yeah, it’s crazy the things people will say to you.
Anyway, I rambled on enough.

Hopefully, you can find some value from what I said.

"Is the French Defense good?"
++ Yes, third best after 1...e5 and 1...c5.
Playable in the Classical World Championship Match:

"https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2479640

thats a good read, thanks for the insight. i'm just starting out on trying the french defense and your comment helped me understand the general playstyle of the french

Best game is Fischer - Uhlmann, Buenos Aires, 1960

I think so.

i think French Defense is a good one, but not the best

Yeah. (I never said best)

Yes, the French is good, and very versatile.

Good for low-level players? Probably not, because it's not easy for such players to understand the needs of positions with many pieces and blocked/ semi blocked center.

I started playing French last year because I was fed up with Sicilian. Never really got the hang of it. I have reverted to Sicilian with favourable results.

kinda mid, I would go for scandi or sicilan

That's not slander. He's actively trying to help, and for what it's worth, he's correct. I was 950 two years ago and I refused to play anything but Open and Semi-Open games, and I was worst against the ultra-passive players (Hippo, Pirc sidelines, Owens, Moderns, et cetera) because there was just so much to keep track of and so many options that it was always a coin toss as to who won. Eventually you work through that weakness, but it's better to improve your middlegame skills and overall calculation before tackling more Closed games.

The French is a 1b tier opening. Playable up to the World Championship, but a rare choice for the very top players. This makes it one of the best openings for black against 1.e4, as only highly respected variations of 1.e5 or 1.c5 are considered better.

For mortals, your success or lack thereof with the French will come down to being able to understand the structures and plans that arise from the opening.

In my personal opinion the French is a frustrating opening to play because while you play it because you enjoy the locked center structures that arise after 3. e5 or in most cases after 3. Nc3 you have to deal with the move 3.exd5 in which the main line is several moves of pure symmetry. Real French players learn to embrace this, but I am not a real French player. Instead, I play an opening that is objectively worse but always gives me some imbalance the somewhat dubious Scandinavian.

I really like the French so I'm saying it's good. You must be careful when playing it but it's nice. It helps black avoid what I consider uncomfortable moves that white can play.

Yes.

It gets made fun of a lot due to black's bishop on c8, and maybe some people would claim it's the tiniest bit harder to equalize fully in the French than in 1...e5. But even that is a matter of opinion I guess, since I know a very high-level correspondence player claimed not long ago that his computers, on crazy high depth, were giving the cd4/Qb6 Steinitz mainline (like in Caruana-Robson from a US Champs some years back, and plenty of other super-GM games) as best play in chess for both sides from the starting position. (and of course that black was completely fine)

It does require a certain type of player to be able to deal with the super closed, somewhat cramped positions you get. I'd call it an acquired taste.

But no, there's no big problem with the French. I've played it on and off for a long time. I have students who play it. It's not going anywhere.

I have news for you: MotoGP riders started from riding a bicycle.