Repertoire Suggestions against French
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I don’t know much of chess but what i know is that Queens Gambit is the best 🥲🥲🥲🥸🥸🥸
chamo2074 wrote:
1) I am sorry, twice?????????
2) Have you played the french 5 times since 1990?
3) Also how come you only 1300 I guess you don't play chess on this site and just discuss on the forums, probably your real OTB rating is much higher than that
4) anyway the OP is gonna face the same opponents I do so he is gonna face the groan quite often
1) Yup. Maybe only once...
2) Let's see...*checks stats*...20 games as Black on Chess.com, maybe half of those against 1. e4. 0 Exchange Variation *shrugs*
3) I was a very active player in high school and for a few years after. Just getting back into the game after a near-total 20 years hiatus, so my tactical game is extremely rusty (translation: I blunder pieces like a noob sometimes), although I do still read up on the subject a fair bit. Couple that with playing on my phone in a house full of distractions...yeah lol. So my rating on here may reflect my current skill on the board, but my general knowledge level is much higher than would be expected with that rating.
4) I don't doubt you, just haven't seen it myself. Maybe it's more common on the top side of 1800.
More related to the OP though...if the OP loses a lot vs the French, a rather drawish variation that hamstrings the primary feature of the French may be appropriate. If the OP tends to draw, but would prefer to win vs the French, then yeah, the Exchange won't help much.
Two knights variation against the french is by far my favorite response. Usually black is unprepared for this variation and there are a lot of pitfalls wherein white gains an early advantage.
I always play the exchange variation, sometimes with 4 c4, as I like an open game and like to annoy French players. The exchange variation doesn't show good win percentages because it is often played by weaker players playing for a draw.
The Tarrasch Variation 3Nd2 is also good if you are playing for an open game and IMO leads to more interesting positions than the exchange variation. If you like a closed game, then you might take the opposite approach and play 3. e5.
Mar 22, 2021
0
#26
Chess_fanatics wrote:
I've been a English opening player, most of life and recently switched to E4. I'm looking for reliable opening response, against French.
King's Indian Attack. 2. d3 and 3. Nd2.
Mar 23, 2021
0
#28
KnightChecked wrote:
I like 2.d3
Or, preferably, 1.Nf3
The move order I use (1. e4 and 2. d3) ensures that I only play a KIA against those defenses that I want a KIA against... French and Caro-Kann, for instance. Against the Sicilian, I play Open mainlines instead.
I do play 1. Nf3 occasionally, though... but I usually play it as a Reti rather than as a Barcza (KIA).
FWIW I played the French OTB between 2009 and 2014 in the 1800-2000 rating range and I'm quite sure 3 exd5 was what I encountered most frequently after 3 Nc3. Not saying 'maybe twice' in over 'hundreds of games' is impossible, but it does strike me as very odd. Then again, I hardly ever encountered 3 Nd2 and 3 e5, while you maybe got that almost exclusively.
I can actually recall no games with 3 e5, and with 3 Nd2 only one, that I won by pushing g5 (after 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 Be7 4 Ngf3 Nf6 5 e5 Nfd7 6 Bd3 c5 7 c3 Nc6 8 0-0 g5). Probably my best game with the French.