classical French, 4.e5 or 4.Bg5 better?

Sort:
Avatar of NTCM214212

I noticed the newest Stockfish has a strong opinion about the classical French (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6). It evaluates the position after 4.e5 as +0.4 while 4.Bg5 only gets +0.2. I must say that 4.e5 seems to play easier, but what is the verdict of the experts?

Avatar of NTCM214212

Sorry about not posting this in chess openings, but apparently I don't have the permission to repost it in the right category.

Avatar of satan_llama

I think Bg5 is easier, but e5 is the most logical and theoretically solid one.

Avatar of blueemu

Bg5 makes both the most sense (swap off White's bad Bishop for Black's good Bishop) and also the least sense (trading pieces when you have a space advantage)?

Avatar of CaroKannEnjoyer02

Bg5 if you like open positions more, e5 if you wanna do closed positions (note in the e5, you can long castle if you want a fighting game)

Avatar of darlihysa

Black made no pressure upon d4 so it is not french anymore!! Those moves are the same with little impact but e5 wins no future space for free

Avatar of NTCM214212

Thank you all. I think I was looking for the most theoretical move. Still, I wonder if 4.Bg5 is easy for black. I think it gives black many ways to put up a very solid defense, starting with like 4...exd4 or 4....h6.

Have a blessed Christmas.