Is the french dull?

Steinitz said he said he would never play the french defence because it is so dull. And now I think he's right.

Prove it!

 prove that too. :)

You can find dull games in almost any opening and sharp/exciting , interesting games as well. A great deal depends on the two players involved, their moods/goals at the time of the game and the stakes involved. I have played both sides of the french for more than 2 decades and some of the games have been terribly dull, yes. However, some have also been very sharp and nowhere near dull.

Steinitz said that after 1.e4 e6 2.e5 is the best move for white and that black do not have play after that.

The point is that most of the time the position becomes very open, and it may just be my playing style, but these positions don't have many tactics and seem rather dull. For example:

 Ummm you have got to be kidding. The Winawer leads to some of the most sharp and exciting positions in chess, especially after 7.Qg4. Saying wide open positions lack tactics makes no sense either, open games are proven to be of a more tactical nature than closed ones most of the time. I wouldn't call this line wide open anyway, seeing how the center is closed...

I think superstu has taken an 'opposite pill'.

The Winawer structure is closed, 7.Qg4 is one of the most aggressive lines in the Winawer, and tactics abound in open positions rather than closed.

Not when you play a gambit :)

e4 e6

c4!?

it's a gambit, you just don't notice white giving up the pawn until like move 4 lol. I don't even remember it but it's not very good.

If the french is ever dull it's usually white's fault. (Unless black plays the dxe4 variations but those people should be shunned and cast out of society)

There are so many interesting positions that come out of the french, at least if you understand chess. But the exchange can be very annoying and french players like myself like positional imbalances, blocked centers and counterplay.

I bet you play the exchange variation...

The French is a sound defence, but that's all. It's positions are often closed and rather dull, the "kind of wood pushing that bores me". There's a good reason the sicilain is so much more popular, it provides open positions with FIGHTING chances, while these may arise in the French, they are much less common. And i agree with stienitz, I will never play the French in a serious game.

Open positions (positions where the central pawns have been traded off) are some of the most boring positions in all of chess. Pieces are generally exchanged and pawn structures symmetrical. By far the most interesting positions in chess are "semi-closed" positions with a-symmetrical pawn structures and semi-open files. Openings like the sicilian and french generally lead to positions of this type and as such are generally more interesting.

Anything can be dull.  My two weapons of choice vs. 1. d4 ... the Grunfeld and the Benko can lead to extremely dull positions (either because of way too much theory such as in the Nf3 Grunfelds) or because of white playing for a draw (such as in the b3 declined benko's) ... All you can do is improve your pieces and hope the game wins itself :).

I played the French for a year against 1. e4 and I really enjoyed it.  The contests were usually ripe with tension.  I actually think the Sicilian is kind of dull whenever I play against it with the White pieces.  Except the Taimanov which is kind of tricky.

Anyone who thinks that closed positions are boring with no play or are about "wood pushing" have a lot to learn. Closed positions lead to tense struggles and I mean the whole point of the french is to get counterplay! Not to respond with 1...e5 and let white try to squeeze some edge and not allow a wide open attack on the king early on. There are so many subtleties to the opening, where white has to keep his center up long enough if he wants to attack (and in the advance a good black player will not allow that). Besisdes the center can open up if black plays ...c5 and ...f6, usually to his favor. It's sickening to hear that the french doesn't offer fighting chances because it's usually closed, when the fact that the center is closed up brings so many interesting possibilites. To be honest, I don't think ANY beginner would like the french because it takes understanding and looks ugly. But it shouldn't be judged because it's closed and blocks in a bishop, Black has evil counterplay and the unsuspecting white player will have his center blown apart. And you can't call the winawer boring. That would be insane.

Yet I find the french more interesting than most others, especially 1...e5 (on the black side, not white). It is a dynamic opening! Maybe it's just more fun for the black player or something. I find it funny when some people who play against it just try to crush it and fail miserably and then wonder "how do I beat the french?". It's too solid of a position (even though it's cramped) for it to get curshed easily, plus many lines are closed.

It's a good defense, and it's not boring either. It's one of the best ways to teach you about pawn chains.

If he does that's pathetic lol...          

And it means they're afraid of such a wuss opening!