The Exchange French

@pfren - I believe everyone here welcomes your input, but insulting commentators is a most unwelcome behavior, and one that seems beneath a player of your caliber.

It is reasonable to say that 3...Qxd5 (which, you may note, I have denounced as inferior since suggesting it nearly 2 years ago) ignores the concept behind 1...e6, except that 1...e6 does more than defend d5.  This line is best compared to the Scandinavian, where black plays ...d5 without first playing ...e6.  Compared to the standard Scandinavian lines, black has an additional option in meeting Nc3 with ...Bb4, whereas in the Scandinavian black has no choice but to move the queen again.  Thus, there is some merit to the idea, unless you consider the Scandinavian to be an opening only a moron would play (note that Kamsky and Karpov have both played it within the past year, per ChessTempo's database).

Playing like that is of course MUCH worse than a Qxd5 Scandinavian, since the e6 pawn hems in the c8 bishop and white is in no hurry to chase the kitten at d5 yet.

Playing 1...e6 and the following with 3...Qxd5 is a no-no even for absolute beginners, and it should be extremely easy to explain them why.

So now my forum post has become a place for international masters to make juvenile comments implying that they are better than everyone else. Ironically, I would show more respect if I was getting constructive advice from a good player instead of sarcastic jokes.

I'm looking for a passive way to liven up the French Exchange. I still think playing c6 at an oppertune moment works, but any other ways that are suggested are very aggresive, but I'm a passive player. If anyone has a theoretically sound way of removing symmetery without endangering the position, please let me know.

The Exchange French is not a draw. Kasparov won a game with it and you can win as Black by castling on opposite sides and/or pushing pawns. Sure it isn't the most sound (a top player on the Black side of it in a super tournament would play solidly and defend an endgame where White has a symbolic advantage) but if you need some unbalance to defeat somebody 200 points below you going for a draw, that's what you do. Ironically, you should be more worried if such a player has researched down an incredibly sharp line like the Winawer poisoned pawn (if you play that) and used Stockfish to analyze a forced draw in his preparation.

3...exd5 4.c4 Nf6, goodbye symmetry

4.Bd3 Nc6

4.Nf3 Bd6 5.c4 Nf6, goodbye symmetry.

4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Nc6

All these lines break the symmetry at no risk- actually they are close to the recommended lines in Berg's repertoire book in Quality Chess.

No matter what you think, passivity is the surest road to defeat.

I started this bloke down my local club who plays 3exd5 4c4 and I have had a number of enjoyable games, with open positions that a lot of e4 players crave and think they will get from the Exchange variation.  Alas, I find White tends to not play 4c4.

Still, the plan with ...Bd6 and ...Nc6, aiming sometimes at long castling, results in nice, asymmetrical, lively positions. Not what white had in mind after 3.exd5.

True, especially if White plays Bg5 when Black can play h6 and start a Kingside pawn storm.

@abrahampenrose I think I mentioned this general idea in an earlier post, but allow me to make some suggestions on the specific line you gave.  9...Bf5 should be solid enough, and it certaintly makes sense to challenge white's bishop, but after 10.Bxf5 Nxf5 I would think the knight on f5 is somewhat awkwardly placed.  I would prefer 9...Bg4, with the idea of trading off the somewhat bad bishop for the knight that is closest to e5.  After such a trade black can focus on establishing a knight on e4, supported by ...f5 - the f-pawn no longer needs to cover e5 because black can always just trade his other knight if white gets his knight to e5.  Black may also choose to play ...Bh5 and ...Bg6 (for example after white's h3 and possibly g4), which helps since g6 covering e5 and f4 is a better square for the knight than f5.  The only trick I see is that playing ...Bxf3 before begining the Nb8-d7-f6-e4 maneuvor could help white set up Qh3, but just delaying the trade seems to put white in a bit of a zugzwang - he can't move the queen without destroying his pawn structure, same with Ne2, and none of his other pieces seem to do much.  10.h3 is likely, but that denies white's queen the h3 square:

This looks pretty rough for white - perhaps I should look into it more myself .

In the exchange french Uhlmann has 10 draws, 13 wins and 6 losses ... thats not very drawish !    I choose Uhlmann because he is seen by many as the greatest champion of the french . 

Korchnoi has 6 wins , 7 draws and one loss ( to Kasparov )  in the exchange french . 

French is bad for both sides :) please ban this opening, it would allow me to play 1.e4.

There is some value to 4.c4 for white, although I usually like facing an enemy IQP myself - the only imbalance in the position is white's extra tempo, so white is certainly justified in siezing the initiative.  Also, while white may wish to wait and develop a few pieces before commiting to an IQP, it can be hard to do so without misplacing them.  The queen's knight probably belongs on c3 after c2-c4, but can't go there before the pawn moves.  The king's bishop belongs on d3 or c4, but 4.Bd3 then c2-c4 loses a tempo to ...dxc4, and c4 obviously isn't open yet.  A fianchetto isn't bad, but is slow, which isn't what you want with an IQP.  4.Nf3 is a reasonable waiting move, but ...Bg4 can be annoying.  So while I am always happy to see white play an early c4, it isn't bad for white.

abrahampenrose and tduncan, thanks for the advice. I was looking for an interesting line of the French exchange that would last me until 1800+, and this seems perfect. 

Gangbanging the IQP

I play the French as Black. Lately, if White goes for the exchange variation, I've begun playing c5 transposing to a Sicilian defense which I also enjoy. This might require some extra learning, but anything is better than playing the exchange variation. At my level, solidity is more important than knowledge, and fun is more important than rating, lol.