Why would White play the exchange varioation in the French defence?

I’m going to bite on this bait, I never given a thought that the French was ambitious so why not just play the e6 Sicilian?

Problem solved.

I'm with OP on this one. Since when is the French ambitious for Black?

You are literally speaking French to me lol.

I enjoy e6 structures in the Sicilian such as the Shevenigan, Kan, Taimanov and Katalimov but was never attracted to 1.e4, e6.

Really?
Out of the 62,445 times in the Chess.com database that 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 has been played:
59,382 continue with 3. Nf3 (Sicilian Defense: French Variation, 3. d4) usually leading to a Kan, Taimanov, or Schvenigen, and...
Out of the 3063 games left, 2,501 continue with 3. c3 (Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, 2... e6 3. d4).

I will be darn.

I have an ingrained habit from my pub days when chess was sociable (as were Cuban cigars) and anytime I saw 1.e4, it was always c5 as the response.

To be fair, 1... c5 opens up your options to the d6 Sicilians as well as the e6 Sicilians, so it's a better option objectively, but if you enjoy the Kan, Taimanov, and Schvenigen variations, 1... e6 isn't a bad plan.

You’re being fooled by the strange way chess.com handles its database. It’s set up to show the games that have reached a target position, not to give a count of the moves played within a position. So it’s counting all the games (tens of thousands) that began e4 c5 Nf3 e6 d4 as part of the numbers for e4 e6 D4 c5 Nf3. Look at other databases, and you’ll see that 3. Nf3 is uncommon there, and people instead usually play the much more critical 3. d5

I should point out that if you're starting out w/ 1. ...e6 in order to play Dutch or transpose into Sicilian lines later, then you run the risk of getting these Symmetric Benoni structures via 1. d4 e6 2. e4 c5 3. d5! exd5 4. exd5 d6 that are just no fun for black. White still gets a central space advantage like a regular Benoni (albeit slightly less since he doesn't have an e4 pawn anymore), but black doesn't get the same queenside counterplay since white's c-pawn hasn't moved. I looked at that a couple of years ago and its the main thing that put me off from playing 1. ...e6 against everything as black.

(The classic example of this is that after e4 f5, chess.com suggests that practically nobody plays exf5.)

Oh really? Thanks for catching that. I'll check the Lichess database and see what the numbers are there. Okay so even in the Lichess database, d5 is played 600k times, Nf3 is played ~500k times, and c3 is played ~400k times, so yeah if you play 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5, watch out for the French Benoni.

I wouldn't recommend 1. d4 e6. Only 1. e4 e6.
Reason being is that (in the Lichess database) after 1. e4 e6, 2. d4 is the most common move (48.8%), in which you can get the e6 Dutch or try to transpose into Sicilian lines.
After 1. d4 e6, however, 2. e4 is the fourth-most common move, only being played in 9.6% of games, while the 3 most common moves (2. c4, 2. Nf3, and 2. Bf4) are played in 72.1% of games collectively.

Wow, thanks for the update.

After a few whiskey shots:

Sicilian players go c5 then e6 or d6 or a6 or Nc6 or g6 or d5 or Nf6

French players go e6 them time c5.

Indian players go 1.d4, Nf6

Than you put your left foot in and your left out…..and shake it all about…

Works for me.

I know a young player that plays this and he's around 1800 uscf and the reason he does this he doesn't like theory.

A lot of white players like to play the exchange because all they have to do is learn a common setup or they dont have to learn anything at all

While I agree 4.Nf3 is White's best move (Alex Fishbein would also agree - see his publication from a year or two ago), I disagree with how much you are pumping into White getting favorable positions.

Black is fine after 4...Nf6! Instead of trying to force the issue of going asymmetrical.

Black can get a balanced position in both the Symmetrical lines and the Reversed Uhlmann Gambit, as Alex shows in game 57 by having Black play the correct move on move 21 in the line where White takes the pawn on c5, and in the line where he castles instead and allows ...c4, Black is fine if he develops the Bishop before the Knight and follows game 58, correcting Black's play at move 13.  White has an interesting line with 13.Rxe7, but the position is unclear and Black should be able to hold.

The extra move does make a difference for White here as the Reversed Uhlmann Gambit Declined should be a draw with a couple of timely, accurate moves by Black.

However, the Uhlmann Gambit I see as somewhat dubious.  If White accepts it, Black's fine.  But Declining it with 6.c5 is a problem for Black as White has time to hold his queenside intact.

If Black must play all out for a win, like in a final round of tournament scenario, I recommend the Reversed Uhlmann Gambit (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5), and if a draw is sufficient, play the symmetrical lines.

The reason the Exchange often works at the amateur level is Black often self-capitulates because he does not have the patience to play symmetrical positions and possibly have a slightly higher draw ratio than say, the Dragon.  They are not GMs.  It is not like you are going to draw 90% of symmetrical positions.  I have beaten many over the board with they Symmetrical Lines up to about 2250 USCF.  And if a draw occurs, so be it.  I have no issue drawing someone 200 points up as Black, and only rarely does an 1800 draw me in the Exchange French.

It is all about immaturity and having "Chess ADHD" when the Exchange should be easy to defend if you study it and take the lines seriously and not just brush it off as a joke.  White has no business ever winning with the Exchange Variation, but do not brush it off like it is as easy to draw as it is to draw as O in tic tac toe.

While the book has a bit of a white bias, if you are a French player, by all means invest in "The Exchange French Comes to Life".  While White wins a high percentage, it is based on it showing White how to execute typical mistakes by Black, and gives the correct moves for Black typically in the notes.  There are a few games, probably around 15 to 20 or so, where Black actually wins, and a good numer of draws.  Just from a skim and not taking the time to count, I'd say White wins about 70% of the 93 games, which is far from the statistical truth, but again, the emphasis is on the White audience.  Black simply needs to understand all the annotations, and in some ways, this is better for Black.  Often in repertoire books, the side the book is written for is like "What is wrong with X instead?"  Here, Black is learning what is wrong with common moves, showing which is right not by seeing brilliant games, but by eliminating the moves that are wrong, similar to the elimination method when trying to solve chess problems.

idk if the exchange variation is good i just don't like playing any sort of advance variation of anything as either side i think its tedious so i just play the exchange

Thanks, ThrillerFan. A very helpful post. 

The move 1...e6 itself is not bad for Black against 1.d4.  It is the fact that he is trying to go into Benoni and Sicilian structures with it.  If you are a French player against 1.e4, and either a Stonewall or Classical Dutch player, Nimzo-Indian player, or QGD player, I would suggest 1...e6.

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 etc avoids 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5 along with the Staunton Gambit (2.e4 you'd play the French)

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 and 3.Nf3 d5 (or b6) all avoid the Trompowsky Attack.  The Torre Attack is still possible - 1.d4 e6 2.Nf6 Nf6 3.Bg5, but the Torre and the Trompowsky are not the same thing at all!

If you hate the Advance lines, why stoop down to the Exchange?  Why not protect the pawn instead with one of the Knight moves?  3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2.

After 3.Nc3, if Black plays 3...Bb4, the only good move is to advance the e-pawn, leading to a closed position.  But after 3.Nd2, even if Black chooses the "Closed Tarrasch" with 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7, almost always it will open back up with an early ...f6 and White is obliged to take in that line.

The reason I would never play the Tarrasch as White is the Open Tarrasch (3...c5) gives Black equality, but it leads to the exchange type positions you mention, but with an extra commitment by Black to an early ...c5 before e5 is played, leading to an IQP.

Advancing and Exchanging are NOT White's only options!

Because as I said previously there's no theory. It's just easy