I'm not an expert, but probably the simplest way to learn the French would be:
Against 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2, play dxe4 and get a playable position without much to learn.
The exchange variation poses very little threat, im pretty sure there are tons of setups you could learn.
In the advance variation, you might need to learn some theory but just put pressure on white's center.
Fischer thought of the Winawer as anti-positional, yet didn't have a great record against the French.
Didn't have a great record? +42=17-21 is a pretty solid score (especially when you consider 17 of those losses were in the early 1960s, when he was in his late teens and early 20s).
Fischer thought of the Winawer as anti-positional, yet didn't have a great record against the French.
Didn't have a great record? +42=17-21 is a pretty solid score.
he might be referring to his early years when he was struggling with it alongside the caro
he might be referring to his early years when he was struggling with it alongside the caro
The would be like saying Carlsen struggled against the Ruy Lopez when he was 10, until he learned the Marshall. At some point there was an opening (usually several) that we all run into and do not immediately understand. That is human.
wait he struggled with the ruy?
I am sure he had a hard time with virtually every opening when he was in utero ;-). The point was if you go far enough back in someone's career, you will find they struggled with virtually every opening for a time. Fischer's score against the French, overall, was anything but "not great"; he won twice as much as he lost, which is pretty darn good against any opening.
i remember there was that joke that since fischer sucked against the caro super badly during the time that when tal played him, he pushed the pawn one square on c6 and moved it to c5 as a kind of subtle joke which got fischer laughing in the interview but in the game tired
Armenian Winawer (5... Ba5) against Nc3, Euwe Paulsen against the Advance, 7... Be7 against the Boleslavsky Steinitz, Burn or MacCutcheon against the Classical, and in the Open Tarrasch, 4... a6 against the Euwe-Keres Line and the Modern Chistakyov against 4. exd5.
i remember there was that joke that since fischer sucked against the caro super badly during the time that when tal played him, he pushed the pawn one square on c6 and moved it to c5 as a kind of subtle joke which got fischer laughing in the interview but in the game tired
Fischer was a showman, so I am sure he played it up, despite knowing it to be anything but the truth. He finished with a record close to +33=12-7 against the Caro-Kann.
Fischer thought of the Winawer as anti-positional, yet didn't have a great record against the French.
Didn't have a great record? +42=17-21 is a pretty solid score (especially when you consider 17 of those losses were in the early 1960s, when he was in his late teens and early 20s).
That's 63.1%, it's worse than his overall score ( which even includes his games with the Black pieces ).
i remember there was that joke that since fischer sucked against the caro super badly during the time that when tal played him, he pushed the pawn one square on c6 and moved it to c5 as a kind of subtle joke which got fischer laughing in the interview but in the game tired
Fischer was a showman, so I am sure he played it up, despite knowing it to be anything but the truth. He finished with a record close to +33=12-7 against the Caro-Kann.
Tal did this, not Fischer ( the joke with the c-pawn )
Rubinstein French 100%!!
if i recall correctly after 3. nc3 dxe4 4. nxe4 you played like b6 or something lol
i remember there was that joke that since fischer sucked against the caro super badly during the time that when tal played him, he pushed the pawn one square on c6 and moved it to c5 as a kind of subtle joke which got fischer laughing in the interview but in the game tired
Fischer was a showman, so I am sure he played it up, despite knowing it to be anything but the truth. He finished with a record close to +33=12-7 against the Caro-Kann.
Tal did this, not Fischer ( the joke with the c-pawn )
Who said French is garbage?
"its a S*** opening but i have done so much work to make it kind of basically correct"
I'd say the French is almost certainly a draw with best play. But black needs to know what he's doing (which is kind of a pointless statement, as this is true with all defenses).
Also, the first time I beat an International Master, I used the French Defense - so I'll always have a fondness for it, even if it's no longer part of my repertoire.
The Rubinstein is relatively easy, if you want something simple and clean that'll just suck the wind right out of white's sails. Learn the basic ideas of it. Then just use your tactical/positional skills to outplay your opponent from an even position (the Carlsen approach!).
Here's one example line:
i remember there was that joke that since fischer sucked against the caro super badly during the time that when tal played him, he pushed the pawn one square on c6 and moved it to c5 as a kind of subtle joke which got fischer laughing in the interview but in the game tired
Fischer was a showman, so I am sure he played it up, despite knowing it to be anything but the truth. He finished with a record close to +33=12-7 against the Caro-Kann.
Tal did this, not Fischer ( the joke with the c-pawn )
Tal trying to get a smirk out of Fischer.
Fischer looking annoyed, instead. lol
Who said French is garbage?
"its a S*** opening but i have done so much work to make it kind of basically correct"
I'd say the French is almost certainly a draw with best play. But black needs to know what he's doing (which is kind of a pointless statement, as this is true with all defenses).
Also, the first time I beat an International Master, I used the French Defense - so I'll always have a fondness for it, even if it's no longer part of my repertoire.
The Rubinstein is relatively easy, if you want something simple and clean that'll just suck the wind right out of white's sails. Learn the basic ideas of it. Then just use your tactical/positional skills to outplay your opponent from an even position (the Carlsen approach!).
Here's one example line:
A6 is theory? Seems like a waste of a tempo given that white doesnt want anything on B5, and B5 is very weakening for black if they play it
Who said French is garbage?
"its a S*** opening but i have done so much work to make it kind of basically correct"
I'd say the French is almost certainly a draw with best play. But black needs to know what he's doing (which is kind of a pointless statement, as this is true with all defenses).
Also, the first time I beat an International Master, I used the French Defense - so I'll always have a fondness for it, even if it's no longer part of my repertoire.
The Rubinstein is relatively easy, if you want something simple and clean that'll just suck the wind right out of white's sails. Learn the basic ideas of it. Then just use your tactical/positional skills to outplay your opponent from an even position (the Carlsen approach!).
Here's one example line:
A6 is theory? Seems like a waste of a tempo given that white doesnt want anything on B5, and B5 is very weakening for black if they play it
a6 stops Bb5+ forcing c6 and locking Black's LSB inside the pawn chain. The whole line is riddled with inaccuracies though. Nxf6 is a bad move, trading off White's knight in the center and allowing Black to develop with tempo. Bg5 is a bad move, allowing Black to play the Burn (already a variation with a lot of bite for Black) up a tempo. Bh4 is a bad move, taking here is better, because after Qxf6, Bb5+ c6 Bd3 and White's development will be better.
Who said French is garbage?
"its a S*** opening but i have done so much work to make it kind of basically correct"
I'd say the French is almost certainly a draw with best play. But black needs to know what he's doing (which is kind of a pointless statement, as this is true with all defenses).
Also, the first time I beat an International Master, I used the French Defense - so I'll always have a fondness for it, even if it's no longer part of my repertoire.
The Rubinstein is relatively easy approach, if you want something simple and clean that'll just suck the wind right out of white's sails. Learn the basic ideas of it. Then just use your tactical/positional skills to try to outplay your opponent from an even position.
Here's one example line:
Just a suggestion.
The issue with the Rubinstein is that White scores 64.5 points! Imho that almost invalidates the opening on its own, as Black has essentially no winning chances until White blunders, while White will have winning chances with even decent play. For example, in your example line, after Nf6, Bd3 is a much better move, and from here, White's position is much better.
Who said French is garbage?
"its a S*** opening but i have done so much work to make it kind of basically correct"
I'd say the French is almost certainly a draw with best play. But black needs to know what he's doing (which is kind of a pointless statement, as this is true with all defenses).
Also, the first time I beat an International Master, I used the French Defense - so I'll always have a fondness for it, even if it's no longer part of my repertoire.
The Rubinstein is relatively easy, if you want something simple and clean that'll just suck the wind right out of white's sails. Learn the basic ideas of it. Then just use your tactical/positional skills to outplay your opponent from an even position (the Carlsen approach!).
Here's one example line:
A6 is theory? Seems like a waste of a tempo given that white doesnt want anything on B5, and B5 is very weakening for black if they play it
Theory there is an immediate ...c5
But ...a6 is playable, since it's a quiet position. Anand played ...a6 against Ivanchuk, via transposition. This was their game:
After many more moves, they went on to draw.
french poison pawn is a very interesting gameplay.