Why do people bully the French?

I hate playing against the french defence. I am in a good companionship as Robert Fischer reportedly hated french defence too. At first ihated it because it seems dull and pasive. Now that i studied it a bit i still  hate it. Mayby because it is so frustrating? I always imagine myself being a dog who is just inches before catching a cat, but someobody is holding his tail. You know, white's spatial advantage always turns out to be ilusory. The juicy cat of Black's kingside is always milimiters out of reach, as he firmy holds the tail of d4.

The best way to play against the French is to avoid any fray in the center and play c4 which is the Steiner Variation of the French!

Really one of the worst problems I've had when playing the French is if you go e4 e6 d4 then c5 and transpose into a Franco-Sicilian Defence and they play Nf3 and transpose you into a Sicilian Defence : French Variation and then you play d5 and transpose to a Sicilian Defence : Marshall Counterattack then they can play Nbd2 and transpose you into French Defence : Tarrasch , Open Euwe-Keres Line 

Is there any way to stop the transposition to a French Defence : Tarrasch , Open Euwe-Keres Line?

White has nothing in the Tarrasch.

The problem is that many view the French as an exclusively closed opening.  "I play the French because I like Closed positions" is something I hear a LOT by French players, especially in person at OTB events.  White gets a nagging advantage in 3...Nf6 lines.  The move 3...c5! And if 4...exd5, then 4...exd5!, gives White nothing if Black knows what he is doing.

Problem for many is that they are not looking to play open positions with the IQP, and write it off right then and there, and never consider the poor coordination of the White pieces to offset this deficiency and that Black must play actively, not sit back.  Do you see White sitting back in the Panov-Botvinnik?  Or the White side of the Nimzo with IQP positions?

The open Tarrasch is a whole different game than the advance or winawer, but White has nothing more than an equal game in the open Tarrasch.

Learn all the lines of the Open Tarrasch (5...Nf6, 5...Nc6/6...Bd6, 5...Nc6/6...Qe7+, etc) and shift the worry to 3.Nc3.  That is the real scare in the French.

Against 3.Nc3 there's c6 and b5 which I play all the time in fact there's even a game against an 800 in daily where I practically just overran him with that 

The real worry is the French Defence : Tarrasch , Open Euwe-Keres Line as there is no way to transpose out of it as far as I can see after e4 e6 d4 c5 Nf3 d5 Nbd2 and once that is actually true then what your opponent has essentially done is locked you into their prep with no escape and that isn't really what you want even as a theoretical player of the French Defence!

Funny thing, The kind of position You have criticised is what i actually go for as white.

My main plan is to play Tarash, and if 3... c5 to go for an IQP position. Why on earth "white has nothing"? He has that isolani to play against, a clear plan to put into action ( those lectures on typical middlegame positions came in handy ), no locked in bishops ( as in IQP positions in queen's gambit) and a comfortable open position without the burden of a weak ( let's say it loudly) pawn centre. - something that typical French player does not want. Sure, black's position position has it's pluses (IQP is both a burden and an asset), but i definetally prefer this kind of game to any advance variation.

(replying to ThrillerFan) in the Open Tarrasch White has a small advantage, but I play 4 Ngf3 against 3...c5 which can pose Black problems as well. Anyways I think the Closed French against the Tarrasch is way more popular as many French players don't like Open positions. I also play 3 Nc3 occasionally but I would hate facing the Winawer, no one has played it against me in a serious game but even if I know the theory it always seems like Black has practical chances to me

Yeah I do a transposition to the french from the alapin and get the IQP all the time, it's playable in blitz and rapid, at least for me.

at first I thought the topic was about why people were bullying french people.

Cause getting snails & frog legs up ya is just straight up nasty.  manky rotting  cheese that's had maggots wriggling through it. Bully, more like they need a good clip round the ear drum

    they   tawk     Funni

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3, playing ...c6 and ...b5 is terrible.  You have got to pressure e4 immediately, either directly (3...Nf6) or indirectly (3...Bb4).

As far as your Tarrasch line, which does not arise from your order of moves, but rather - 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5! 4.Ngf3, Black has a number of options.

A) 4...cxd4 - usually recommended for those that play the 4...exd5 Qxd5 line.

B) 4...Nf6 - To play this, you must know the Korchnoi Gambit, or "Universal System", after 5.e5.  That can also come from the Closed Tarrasch after 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 and now 7.Ngf3 instead of 7.Ne2.  With 3...c5 and 4...Nf6, Black does avoid the 7.Ne2 line, which is the line that gives White the nagging advantage in the Closed Tarrasch.  Also, if 5.exd5, then 5...exd5 transposes to the 5...Nf6 line.

C) 4...Nc6 and now the pawn trade transposes to 5...Nc6 lines.  White does not really have any other good options.

So playing 4.Ngf3 instead of 4.exd5 is not scary.

The positioning of White's Knights makes d5 not a weakness at all.  The 3.Nd2 move is the specific reason for 3...c5.  After 3.Nc3, 3...c5 is basically a blunder.  4.exd5! Rather than 4.e5.  Black gets a ton of piece activity while White is spending a ton of time to get his pieces untangled, and with Knights often on b3 and f3, BOTH are 4 moves away from d5.  The dark-Squared bishop cannot hit d5.  That pawn is extremely safe, and Black will play actively before White can untangle.  The position is equal.

Soundness and popularity are not synonymous!  Like I said, many play 3...Nf6 because they have a narrow vision and view the French as a Closed game.  My post from minutes ago show the 3 main responses to 4.Ngf3.  All 3 of them equalize.  I typically go with line C as Black.