Don't forget to play H6!
Is the French Defense good for black?
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Hi, I was just wondering, does anyone have any suggestions for how to play the first 10-20 moves of the French from White's side of the board? Thanks!
E4orce, while there are many variations of the french, i reccomend looking inti the 2 knights attack, as you get rapid development and avoid the typical french traps from the black perspective which arise in the advance variation. The first few moves are 1. E4,e6 2. Nf3, d5 3.Nc3..
From here black has 4 main responses, and each of these leads to different plans for white. Im sure you can find more information from your preferred website or youtube channel (st louis chess, eric rosen, etc) if you would like to learn the setup in detail here is a 3 part series that covers the lines in depth from the GJ chess channel:
Good luck!
Thanks man! I've looked all over the web and I guess I just didn't really know where to look. q=) (P.S. Your info really helped a lot, much appreciated) 
Look over some of Morozevich's old games and become inspired! Of course the French is a solid opening.
French requires good positional understanding and a lot of work from black to be an efficient tool in the hands of black AFAIK.
I've been playing the exchange all my life, never felt any trouble with it.
Our coach has showed us the advance french recently, it is very deepand intricate, I don't think this is a good choice if you want a "cheap" repertoire against 1.e4 (but chess isn't supposed to be easy!!)
Jan 22, 2019
0
#49
The French is a perfectly respectable opening.
I typically play 2. d3 against it.
Sep 19, 2019
0
#50
greenibex wrote:
The opening is good for surprise value. the reason gms do not use it regularly because black gets a passive middlegame.
Also i would not trust a chess opening having anything to do with France. chess is a military game. looking back at history, the French military was really passive
- Im World war one, France was conquered by their neighbor Germany. did they learn their lesson?
- of course not. a couple years later France was conquered again in world war two. who took them over? not other then the same country Germany.
Here is an oxymoron: French Army
You might go back and restudy your WWI history because you have it completely wrong. France had the strongest army at the end of WWI.
And France was considered to have the finest Army in Europe from the late 1600s through Napoleon. If you think Napoleon is passive you are a fool. Vauban, Marshal Saxe, and Foch are all great generals. I hope you know more about chess than history.
It gives white three choices, first to move the b knight to c3, capture the pawn on d5 and will be recaptured opening the king’s file and finally moving the kings pawn forward a space.
Apr 27, 2021
0
#52
Daelvis wrote:
Fromper wrote:
Daelvis, you're playing the French totally wrong. That early c5 move is standard in the French for a reason. Don't ignore it.
Famous chess coach and writer Dan Heisman wrote an article called "Getting the Edge" (which can be found in the chesscafe.com archives), and one of his pieces of advice for improving players is "Don't have a better idea." In this case, when people give you advice on how to improve the way you play the French, you should listen and learn, rather than just saying "But I want to play it this way". First, learn why the masters play it the way they do. Then try it out. Only when you've reached a much higher level as a chess player will you know enough to invent your own exceptions that don't completely suck. Trust me, we've all been there.
actually c5 isn't standard it's one of the many deviations Black can play. This deviation is called the Franco-Benoni. And I haven't ignored the move I have done that many times and I lost more than I won. With my opening I win more than I lose, I guess that's the best opening that fits my style. Also, I'm not ignoring anybody the reason why I posted this thread is because I want to LEARN about the French Defense. And everyone has their own openings, whether they've been played by Chessmasters or not.
early c5 doesnt mean the 2nd move.
Streptomicin wrote:
Daelvis, what you played is not much of French. And btw, 7...Bd6 loses a piece after 8.e5
Exactly what I saw! The fork!
pfren wrote:
YareYareWawa έγραψε:
The French defense is black's best attempt at equalizing in over the board play in rapid and classical time controls. There are a few really theoretical lines, but once you know them, and some of the resources important for certain key positions (Winawer poisoned pawn i'm looking at you) Black is always okay and always has something to play for. If you're going to refute a serious line in the French it's far, far beyond what any human can do in the moment and will require something like Google's Alpha Zero and it's not like black doesn't get to opt into a LOT of different types of positions if one branch has poor equity someday
Why should one care that much about the poisoned pawn mess?
There is the much more sane Classical, and, even in the Winawer, the once upon a time fully "refuted" Armenian variation has been fully revived.
What is the Armenian variation?
brasileirosim wrote:
pfren wrote:
YareYareWawa έγραψε:
The French defense is black's best attempt at equalizing in over the board play in rapid and classical time controls. There are a few really theoretical lines, but once you know them, and some of the resources important for certain key positions (Winawer poisoned pawn i'm looking at you) Black is always okay and always has something to play for. If you're going to refute a serious line in the French it's far, far beyond what any human can do in the moment and will require something like Google's Alpha Zero and it's not like black doesn't get to opt into a LOT of different types of positions if one branch has poor equity someday
Why should one care that much about the poisoned pawn mess?
There is the much more sane Classical, and, even in the Winawer, the once upon a time fully "refuted" Armenian variation has been fully revived.
What is the Armenian variation?https://www.chess.com/openings/French-Defense-Winawer-Advance-Retreat-Variation-Armenian-Line
I found it
pfren wrote:
YareYareWawa έγραψε:
The French defense is black's best attempt at equalizing in over the board play in rapid and classical time controls. There are a few really theoretical lines, but once you know them, and some of the resources important for certain key positions (Winawer poisoned pawn i'm looking at you) Black is always okay and always has something to play for. If you're going to refute a serious line in the French it's far, far beyond what any human can do in the moment and will require something like Google's Alpha Zero and it's not like black doesn't get to opt into a LOT of different types of positions if one branch has poor equity someday
Why should one care that much about the poisoned pawn mess?
There is the much more sane Classical, and, even in the Winawer, the once upon a time fully "refuted" Armenian variation has been fully revived.
Far be it from me to argue with an IM (although I'm parroting Giri here, which gives the argument some validity), but it seems the "sane" classical gives white the option for a slight but comfortable advantage. The poison pawn winawer creates chaos that makes white's theoretical advantage nearly impossible to prove and favors the better prepared player. Of course both are playable.
jmpchess12 wrote:
pfren wrote:
YareYareWawa έγραψε:
The French defense is black's best attempt at equalizing in over the board play in rapid and classical time controls. There are a few really theoretical lines, but once you know them, and some of the resources important for certain key positions (Winawer poisoned pawn i'm looking at you) Black is always okay and always has something to play for. If you're going to refute a serious line in the French it's far, far beyond what any human can do in the moment and will require something like Google's Alpha Zero and it's not like black doesn't get to opt into a LOT of different types of positions if one branch has poor equity someday
Why should one care that much about the poisoned pawn mess?
There is the much more sane Classical, and, even in the Winawer, the once upon a time fully "refuted" Armenian variation has been fully revived.
Far be it from me to argue with an IM (although I'm parroting Giri here, which gives the argument some validity), but it seems the "sane" classical gives white the option for a slight but comfortable advantage. The poison pawn winawer creates chaos that makes white's theoretical advantage nearly impossible to prove and favors the better prepared player. Of course both are playable.
From the Chessable’s course right?
I like the French because it's solid and stops all those dorky super aggressive players who like to bring out their queen and kings bishop out as soon as possible and attack f7, trying for a quick checkmate. Not gonna happen!
Dec 23, 2021
0
#59
The French is ok. My opening repertoire can sometimes lead to a classical setup 3. nc3 nf6.
And I feel this variation is almost busted. I play a combination of ne2, c3 f4 nf3 and just hold on to the center extremely tightly. Usually black can't break through, and end up just getting crushed.
The French defense is good in the sense of providing good protection for Black's King while setting up a Q-side counterattack usually beginning with an early ...c5.
Personally, I like the Caro-Kann better because one drawback in the French is that the Black QB is usually locked behind its pawns for quite a while. The Caro-Kann gets that Bishop developed, usually at f5 or g4, at the expense of needing two moves to get that c-Pawn to c5.