what to play against french!

When I played the French....

The Tarrasch was my bane. Brutal results...

Do you mean 3.Nc3 when you say the Rubinstein? That is not the Rubinstein. The Rubinstein is specifically 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 OR 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7.

As far as the best answer for White and your "hearing" that the French is drawish? The French being drawish is hogwash. At the GM Level, the exchange is drawish. At the amateur level, it is better for whoever knows their minor piece endings. There is a reason in my last 80 occurrences of the Exchange Variation over the board (As Black), I have roughly 55 or so wins, 20ish draws, and literally 4 losses, and not a single loss at a time control slower than game in 60 minutes. The exchange is NOT your answer to winning.

The Tarrasch is indeed very drawish.

Your best bet, if you are looking to win, are either 3.e5 or 3.Nc3.

If you understand the positional aspects of the Blockade and have studied many of Nimzowitsch's and Sveshnikov's games, 3.e5 is your answer.

If you are more into tactical skirmish, 3.Nc3 is your answer, but there is a LOT of theory. You must know the Rubinstein, you must know the Winawer, and then you must also know either the Steinitz, or else you must know the Classical, McCutchen, AND Burn.

3.Bd3 does not give Black problems.

And keep in mind, this all comes from someone that has play the Black side of the French over the board almost 1000 times, in Correspondence a good 200 to 300 times as black combining ICCF and USCF, thousands of times in blitz on FICS, ICC, Chess.com, etc, and about 50 to 100 times over the board as White along with a few times as White on various online blitz servers. I am nor making up what I said above.

For instance, many new ideas for White came in the Advance French in 2007, and again a couple of years ago, 6...Nh6 got put under a cloud because of 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 Nh6?! (Most now play 6...c4 or 6...Nge7) 7.b4 cxd4 8.Bxh6!! With advantage. The old line. 8.cxd4 Nf5 9.Bb2 and now 9...Be7 or 9...Bd7 and you have a game with Black being OK. This position can be reached sometimes with 6...Nge7, but that move gives White other options that he does not have after 6...Nh6, but the problem with 8.Bxh6, and specifically NOT 7.Bxh6?, has made it a problem for Black.

If you are expecting an answer that blows Black away in 20 moves like what you get if Black accepts the Morra Gambit against the Sicilian, dream on! You will lose. Beating the French requires patience!

What line do you play? The Tarrasch is the most drawish of them all. I win against the exchange, and draw against the tarrasch. Talking over the board, not 3 minute hogwash here.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 and now both 6...Qd6 and 6...Qd8 for me typically lead to a draw.

3...c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Qe7+

3...c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nf6 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nxd7 8.O-O Be7 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.Nb3 Nce4

3...Nf6 4.e4 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exd6 Nxf6 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.O-O Qc7

All of these lead to a high draw ratio.

Tarrasch is good
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2479640

Exchange is good too
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2693492

Advance is good too
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2690294

@6

"Any videos or courses" ++ Look up games in a data base.

"i really cant improve it" ++ Just play and analyse your losses.

indeed. Of your choices, play the Tarrasch. For now. Being on the come up, I would actually recommend playing 3. Nc3 for a variety of benefits. 1) Always a Principled Opening Move. 2) This set up is pretty much common vs Semi-Open Defenses and you'll gain valuable familiarity. 3) Despite the wealth of theory, you'll soon notice a lot of players only stick to a certain set of lines, and stymie their development. Variety is key. Best wishes

I see nothing wrong about 3.Bd3. You get rich equal positions with clear cut plans, with few memorization needed.

Too many Bishop moves to get it on a non-ideal diagonal.

For the love of the game....! "DO NOT PLAY THE EXCHANGE VAR!!!!!!!

If your playing white, you have more options vs. the ones you mentioned.

All the options you are talking about come after 2.d4, but you don’t have to play 2.d4.

If you want to play off beat line, You could play the Papa T Gambit or KIA.

My recommendation would be 3. Nc3 with the Alekhine-Chatard Attack.