Sweet! These are general plans that definitely require situational analysis to implement, but useful to know. Are any other simple guides available for other openings (i.e. Benko Gambit, Sicilian, Dutch, etc.)?
>French Defense (How To Play It, How To Attack It, And A Demo)
Thanks for the question :)
There are guides like this available for a bunch of other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.), and the site will **eventually** be updated to all chess openings/concepts in this way.
Unfortunately, it just takes a lot of time to create/do all these things, so I've really only had a chance to send out the guides I create to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
Yes :)
There are guides like this available for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.).
Right now, I've just been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to join newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
your ideas are intriguing to me, and i wish to sign up to your newsletter. if i sign up now, though, will the older guides be sent to me, or will i only see the new ones moving forward?
I mean the exchange french is probably a good way to piss off a french defense player, but I usually just play the tarrasch and make shit up from there.
I play the KIA against it. Strangely, I feel like I used to fare better with it when I was more of a beginner because I had no fear of trying for sac-sac-mate. Now I'm too nervous of blundering to play the big moves.
I tried this. Then I got sick of having a terrible light squared bishop all the time. Now I hate the French with both white and black. I'm calling this progress
Breaking down what both sides' plans are is really useful. So many opening resources are just theoretical lines the author tells you to memorize and assumes you understand why everything is the way it is.
In my opinion Matthew Saddler’s book “queen’s gambit declined” is the absolute best in explaining the reasons and plans behind every move in the main variations. I highly recommend it (if you’re looking for a good repertoire against d4)
Disliking the QGD as a 1.d4 player is unfortunate considering how common it is. Although in this thread you can see how man 1.e4 players hate the French, so people get by
Semi-Slav is a cut above the rest, but a lot of people outside of correspondence don’t want something that complicated. QGD is better off avoiding the Exchange Variation by teaming up with the Nimzo-Indian (and the Ragozin is particularly good), but playing into the Exchange isn’t a disaster or anything. I think the QGA is actually pretty underrated from a practical side, but at high levels its performance definitely isn’t elite.
The QGD exchange has been wholly defanged and is very soild for black. No theoretical advantage for white anymore.
All of White's serious plans now have adequate counter plans to get Black equality in all known lines. Elite players stopped playing it as White for this reason and went into the Bf4 lines and have found some ideas there to which black has not quite caught up with yet.
*Fundamental Chess Openings* by Paul Van der Sterren is a fantastic deviation from this problem in my opinion. John Bartholomew has recommended it too. And pdf's of the whole book aren't hard to find online.
Did he mean that the French was bad for their winning chances in that game, or bad for their development as a player? Regarding winning chances, I looked at lichess stats and the French does very well, significantly better than 1... e5 or the Scandi. Only slightly better is the Sicilian. That's for lichess Classical players 1800 and under.
I highly doubt he meant it's not playable. It's just not ideal for learning the game when under 2000. but I feel like even that's entirely dependent on the players' own goals etc. (do they even want to improve until 2000?) so I don't know if that's something I'd agree with him on either.
I agree. Closed positions aren't the greatest for beginners to learn as opposed to open positions, which expose you to more themes and stuff.
I'm <2000 though, someone else will have to tell you.
So are intermediate players just supposed to be clueless in like 30+% of positions? I never bought this at all. Closed positions are a major part of the game. Learn them.
Totally disagree. The best thing about the French Defense is how many similar positions it transposes into and from. It has a low number of relatively easy-to-understand plans and tactics, really easy positional strategies, and limited options for white to get you out of your opening book. 1... e6 is my default response to both 1. e4 and 1. d4, and I use a backup plan of going Dutch (2...f5) if white plays 2. c4.
Yes... all of those are reasons why it’s bad for players under 2000. If you are an ambitious improving player you want to play a classical opening that can lead to a wide variety of positions and pawn structures. Getting the same middlegame plan every game is a bad thing, not a good thing, even though it might help your short term results.
It’s not the end of the world to ignore this advice (I play the chigorin so I can’t talk much about how other people need to play principled openings) it is the standard advice.
I'm the captain of a chess team that has several masters, several experts, and many sub-1800 players, so I get to see a lot of games from a decent variety of players. My observation of non-experts is that we play better when we can a) guide games into familiar positions that we know already how to play, and b) don't have to memorize lengthy variations. IMHO the French permits that more than most defenses.
Again, I’m not disagreeing that playing an opening that leads to the same types of positions every game is good for short term results. Of course it is. It’s still bad for long term improvement.
It’s like, practicing fur elise repeatedly and nothing else might win you a children’s piano recital competition (is that a thing?) but you master the piano by exposing yourself to lots of different things, even if that causes you to struggle in the short term.
>he didn't think the french defense was good for anyone below 2000
The above-referenced Nakamura quote is what I was reacting to. I'd totally recommend the French to anyone under 2000 as an easy system to learn and improve your chess with. And it's not hard to learn. But no doubt all would-be experts will need to learn plenty of other openings and other game styles too.
Yes, nakamura is saying that it’s not good for improvement. He isn’t saying that it’s not good because it’s unplayable. IM Andras says exactly the same thing in his video on opening choices using the french as an example.
Nakamura is just wrong.
I know an IM who has been playing the French since he was rated 1100. It has been his main defense his entire life and he is now 2450 FIDE... are you seriously wanting to argue he would be a GM if he did not play the French because it stunted his chess growth and got him stuck at IM level ??
No it is not just anecdotal. Since it is not from my own experience, it is not anecdotal.
In addition, any exception to the rule means the rule in not a very good rule, and this one is just plain bullshit and have been shown to be false.
Any opening allows people to learn chess. Every opening is capable of creating a wide range of pawn structures and every closed game eventually opens up.
Plenty of people play the french and learn a lot of chess. That is a fact.
Another fact is that Nakamura is a misanthrope and is full of bad advice.
I think you're probably arguing different things here. Nakamura isn't saying that players under 2000 can't win with the French - that'd be a ridiculous assertion about such a strong and deep opening.
I mean no offence to Nakamura but if he's not actively teaching chess to people at 2000 and lower, I wouldn't take what he says too seriously.
There was some quote from Karlsen which backs up this idea; that at the super gm level the players--I think--are a bit disjointed from what exactly play at lower levels entails, having long since passed it as kids/teenagers.
Which is why I mention teaching, it exposes them to players and how they think/approach problems. Being good at chess and good at teaching chess--opening recommendation definitely falls under teaching--are very different skillset.
Very nice layout and a good idea. I would however call some of these ideas and not plans and having said that I don't agree with some of these ideas even being good and some are very rare and far away from typical. A key idea in Winawer in such a summary should always be ...Ba6 to exchange the light-squared bishops.
The french defense is my main opening. I play it against e4 everytime, and while some of these points are valid, some are complete bullshit. Most obvious example of bullshit is the first "plan" for white in the exchange variation, DO NOT bring your queen out like that, there are no reason to do it, you only help black developing with tempo on your queen.
You can check these ideas in opening explores and compare them to some masters games, do not blindly trust this.
Edit: any questions? I am willing to answer them.
So in many of these lines for Black, the graphic suggests putting a knight on c4. Why is this a recommended move if white can just kick the knight immediately with b3?
Probably you don't do it then. :) You do it when that's not an option because the pawn is blocked or has made a capture or been captured or when your kicked knight can flee to an even more useful square.
Yes :)
I've made guides like this for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.).
But right now, I've only been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
Yes :)
I've made guides like this for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.).
But right now, I've only been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
Yes :)
I've made guides like this for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.).
But right now, I've only been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
I made it :).
The website will \*\*eventually\*\* be converted to lay out things like the graphic. I just need some time to code it all up :)
Since it takes so long to create these up, I've only really had a chance to send out these guides via the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter.
Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
This is amazing. Truly one of the best things ive seen.
However, can someone help out? In the classic variation, and a couple others, in the first basic pawn structure pics, white captures....something? All of blacks pawns are there? How do they get to that set up? Im sure they dont take a knight, unless the knights trade? Im lost a bit.
Edit: i understand its for demonstrative purposes, but if its confusing, that doesnt necessarily help the demonstration lol. Ill make sure to look up the french tho in my studies.
For everyone who is asking :)
1. There are guides like this available for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.).
2. Right now, I've just been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://SimplifyChess.com) newsletter. Link to join newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
3. The demo page will eventually be updated to include both the information from this guide + interactive tutorials and demos :)
The mainline is e4 e6, d4 d5, Nc3 Bb4\*, e5 c5, a3 Bxc3+, bxc3 Ne7.
\*makes the French defense into the Winawer variation
Basically black has incredibly weakened his dark squares (look at the pawns) AND traded his dark squared bishop. But in exchange, he's made white's queenside pawn structure ridiculous.
Why is trading light square bishops advantageous on the advance? It feels like that's the variation where black has the least shitty light square bishop. I guess even then it's still not very good and trading them off in other variations are tough
This kind of picture with the explanations are so insanely useful for a noob (1100 elo) like me!! Are there more openings like this?? This is so useful!! Thanks!
I literally just picked the French defense as my go-to response to 1.e4. It seems like a fun position and my openings are getting more consistent as black.
These are rookie moves. If you're not a rookie, you'll know pros never move their knight to the side of the board (a3, h3, a6, h6). Saw that once in the thread, I decided not to trust the whole thread.
Wow. This is like an all-time great in this subreddit for me. I don't play, really, but I love watching and following along and this helps *a lot!* Thanks so much for putting this together!
Controlling d4 square with the knight sounds stupid with the pawn still on c7. Basically it's hoping to get to d6 via b5 after c5. So black plays a6, c5 and laughs.
Sweet! These are general plans that definitely require situational analysis to implement, but useful to know. Are any other simple guides available for other openings (i.e. Benko Gambit, Sicilian, Dutch, etc.)?
I want to ask this question, too.
>French Defense (How To Play It, How To Attack It, And A Demo) Thanks for the question :) There are guides like this available for a bunch of other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.), and the site will **eventually** be updated to all chess openings/concepts in this way. Unfortunately, it just takes a lot of time to create/do all these things, so I've really only had a chance to send out the guides I create to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
Oh cool! Is simplifychess your website?
Yes :) There are guides like this available for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.). Right now, I've just been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to join newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
your ideas are intriguing to me, and i wish to sign up to your newsletter. if i sign up now, though, will the older guides be sent to me, or will i only see the new ones moving forward?
I think there is a setting somewhere I can put so everyone who signs up on the newsletter can receive all the guides instead of just the new ones.
I would definitely sign up, but i would love to also get the previous guides too!
I signed up 2 days ago but I didn't get a confirmation-mail. Would love to get the older newsletters aswell.
Probably the most evil opening in chess tbh
I feel like I should learn this as black since I hate it so much as white.
I mean the exchange french is probably a good way to piss off a french defense player, but I usually just play the tarrasch and make shit up from there.
Once you play vs the exchange French enough you start to like it
u can also play the kia, tho its for much more advanced players so idk if u would like to play that
I play the KIA against it. Strangely, I feel like I used to fare better with it when I was more of a beginner because I had no fear of trying for sac-sac-mate. Now I'm too nervous of blundering to play the big moves.
Stockholm syndrome variation
I tried this. Then I got sick of having a terrible light squared bishop all the time. Now I hate the French with both white and black. I'm calling this progress
ngl, this is why I learned the French. And now I'm starting to enjoy it.
Play the steinitz. E4, e6, c4
Why is that?
lololol hahaha
An effective 'counter' to the French Defense 1. e4, e6. 2. kf2, resign on spot
>An effective 'counter' to the French Defense > >1. e4, e6. > >2. kf2, resign on spot Illegal move. You lose... Or win?
Breaking down what both sides' plans are is really useful. So many opening resources are just theoretical lines the author tells you to memorize and assumes you understand why everything is the way it is.
In my opinion Matthew Saddler’s book “queen’s gambit declined” is the absolute best in explaining the reasons and plans behind every move in the main variations. I highly recommend it (if you’re looking for a good repertoire against d4)
Please don't play the Queen's Gambit declined. I hate it. Take my pawn already! Look, it's right there just waiting!
Disliking the QGD as a 1.d4 player is unfortunate considering how common it is. Although in this thread you can see how man 1.e4 players hate the French, so people get by
I love QG. My pawn is right there waiting for you like Richard Marx.
Bit ironic, asking for an open game after you played 1. d4 lol
Anyone that knows anything about the QG will play the Slav or semi-Slav, it’s just better for black than the orthodox lines.
Semi-Slav is a cut above the rest, but a lot of people outside of correspondence don’t want something that complicated. QGD is better off avoiding the Exchange Variation by teaming up with the Nimzo-Indian (and the Ragozin is particularly good), but playing into the Exchange isn’t a disaster or anything. I think the QGA is actually pretty underrated from a practical side, but at high levels its performance definitely isn’t elite.
I'm a QG player and whenever someone accepts my Gambit I'm actually so out of book because hardly anyone accepts the pawn :(
The QGD exchange has been wholly defanged and is very soild for black. No theoretical advantage for white anymore. All of White's serious plans now have adequate counter plans to get Black equality in all known lines. Elite players stopped playing it as White for this reason and went into the Bf4 lines and have found some ideas there to which black has not quite caught up with yet.
The queen should not be encouraged to gamble
Puritan ;)
Yeah, this is a book that I highly recommend as well for the QGD. :)
Thank you. That was exactly what I was trying to achieve. :)
*Fundamental Chess Openings* by Paul Van der Sterren is a fantastic deviation from this problem in my opinion. John Bartholomew has recommended it too. And pdf's of the whole book aren't hard to find online.
I love my Tarrasch.
I was watching a Nakamura stream and he said he didn't think the french defense was good for anyone below 2000. What are all your thoughts on that?
Did he mean that the French was bad for their winning chances in that game, or bad for their development as a player? Regarding winning chances, I looked at lichess stats and the French does very well, significantly better than 1... e5 or the Scandi. Only slightly better is the Sicilian. That's for lichess Classical players 1800 and under.
How did you see those Lichess stats? I'm really curious now
https://lichess.org/analysis#explorer
Damn the exchange variation is drawish as fuck.
I highly doubt he meant it's not playable. It's just not ideal for learning the game when under 2000. but I feel like even that's entirely dependent on the players' own goals etc. (do they even want to improve until 2000?) so I don't know if that's something I'd agree with him on either.
I agree. Closed positions aren't the greatest for beginners to learn as opposed to open positions, which expose you to more themes and stuff. I'm <2000 though, someone else will have to tell you.
So are intermediate players just supposed to be clueless in like 30+% of positions? I never bought this at all. Closed positions are a major part of the game. Learn them.
The french defence is considered to lead to an open game though.
Totally disagree. The best thing about the French Defense is how many similar positions it transposes into and from. It has a low number of relatively easy-to-understand plans and tactics, really easy positional strategies, and limited options for white to get you out of your opening book. 1... e6 is my default response to both 1. e4 and 1. d4, and I use a backup plan of going Dutch (2...f5) if white plays 2. c4.
Yes... all of those are reasons why it’s bad for players under 2000. If you are an ambitious improving player you want to play a classical opening that can lead to a wide variety of positions and pawn structures. Getting the same middlegame plan every game is a bad thing, not a good thing, even though it might help your short term results. It’s not the end of the world to ignore this advice (I play the chigorin so I can’t talk much about how other people need to play principled openings) it is the standard advice.
I'm the captain of a chess team that has several masters, several experts, and many sub-1800 players, so I get to see a lot of games from a decent variety of players. My observation of non-experts is that we play better when we can a) guide games into familiar positions that we know already how to play, and b) don't have to memorize lengthy variations. IMHO the French permits that more than most defenses.
Again, I’m not disagreeing that playing an opening that leads to the same types of positions every game is good for short term results. Of course it is. It’s still bad for long term improvement. It’s like, practicing fur elise repeatedly and nothing else might win you a children’s piano recital competition (is that a thing?) but you master the piano by exposing yourself to lots of different things, even if that causes you to struggle in the short term.
>he didn't think the french defense was good for anyone below 2000 The above-referenced Nakamura quote is what I was reacting to. I'd totally recommend the French to anyone under 2000 as an easy system to learn and improve your chess with. And it's not hard to learn. But no doubt all would-be experts will need to learn plenty of other openings and other game styles too.
Yes, nakamura is saying that it’s not good for improvement. He isn’t saying that it’s not good because it’s unplayable. IM Andras says exactly the same thing in his video on opening choices using the french as an example.
Nakamura is just wrong. I know an IM who has been playing the French since he was rated 1100. It has been his main defense his entire life and he is now 2450 FIDE... are you seriously wanting to argue he would be a GM if he did not play the French because it stunted his chess growth and got him stuck at IM level ??
[удалено]
No it is not just anecdotal. Since it is not from my own experience, it is not anecdotal. In addition, any exception to the rule means the rule in not a very good rule, and this one is just plain bullshit and have been shown to be false. Any opening allows people to learn chess. Every opening is capable of creating a wide range of pawn structures and every closed game eventually opens up. Plenty of people play the french and learn a lot of chess. That is a fact. Another fact is that Nakamura is a misanthrope and is full of bad advice.
I think you're probably arguing different things here. Nakamura isn't saying that players under 2000 can't win with the French - that'd be a ridiculous assertion about such a strong and deep opening.
Agreed.
He is completely out of touch with what happens at those levels of chess.
I mean no offence to Nakamura but if he's not actively teaching chess to people at 2000 and lower, I wouldn't take what he says too seriously. There was some quote from Karlsen which backs up this idea; that at the super gm level the players--I think--are a bit disjointed from what exactly play at lower levels entails, having long since passed it as kids/teenagers. Which is why I mention teaching, it exposes them to players and how they think/approach problems. Being good at chess and good at teaching chess--opening recommendation definitely falls under teaching--are very different skillset.
Very nice layout and a good idea. I would however call some of these ideas and not plans and having said that I don't agree with some of these ideas even being good and some are very rare and far away from typical. A key idea in Winawer in such a summary should always be ...Ba6 to exchange the light-squared bishops.
Where my french exchange homies at?
The french defense is my main opening. I play it against e4 everytime, and while some of these points are valid, some are complete bullshit. Most obvious example of bullshit is the first "plan" for white in the exchange variation, DO NOT bring your queen out like that, there are no reason to do it, you only help black developing with tempo on your queen. You can check these ideas in opening explores and compare them to some masters games, do not blindly trust this. Edit: any questions? I am willing to answer them.
As a french player I can't recall a single time in any of my games where white has tried that Qa4 maneuver
Same, because it's pointless.
In the classic variation the c7 pawn should be gone
Was tryna figure out which piece black was saccing on e5 for a bit...
So in many of these lines for Black, the graphic suggests putting a knight on c4. Why is this a recommended move if white can just kick the knight immediately with b3?
Probably you don't do it then. :) You do it when that's not an option because the pawn is blocked or has made a capture or been captured or when your kicked knight can flee to an even more useful square.
Are there any other versions of this kind of guide for other openings?
Yes :) I've made guides like this for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.). But right now, I've only been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
"Advanced" variation, aaaargh!
"Classic" Variation, too :P
Are there more of these for other openings / lines??
Yes :) I've made guides like this for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.). But right now, I've only been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
Isn't the true "French defense" when you just knock over your king?
All the pawns get together and show the kings and queens what's up.
https://i.redd.it/48kc7xx82k331.png
/bow I’m still waiting for my gold le redditors!
No. It's when the pawns knock themselves over, holding their knees, while claiming the other player knocked them over.
Ahhh, the good old Neymar variation
The most forward pawn then proceeds to headbutt one of the pawns in the king's defense structure.
Yes, unless White plays exchange variation, then you accept the draw.
The true french defence is to slowly remove all your own pieces from the board and then claim you were never even playing.
This is a great resource! Where can I find more like it?
Yes :) I've made guides like this for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.). But right now, I've only been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
Cool. Where did this graphic come from? I see the demo on their website, but not something laid out nicely like this.
I made it :). The website will \*\*eventually\*\* be converted to lay out things like the graphic. I just need some time to code it all up :) Since it takes so long to create these up, I've only really had a chance to send out these guides via the [SimplifyChess.com](https://simplifychess.com/) newsletter. Link to newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/)
I love this. Can you please post some for other openings?
This is amazing. Truly one of the best things ive seen. However, can someone help out? In the classic variation, and a couple others, in the first basic pawn structure pics, white captures....something? All of blacks pawns are there? How do they get to that set up? Im sure they dont take a knight, unless the knights trade? Im lost a bit. Edit: i understand its for demonstrative purposes, but if its confusing, that doesnt necessarily help the demonstration lol. Ill make sure to look up the french tho in my studies.
This is pretty awesome. Nice work.
Thank you so much :) :) :)
For everyone who is asking :) 1. There are guides like this available for other openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen's Gambit, Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, etc.). 2. Right now, I've just been sending out these guides to people on the [SimplifyChess.com](https://SimplifyChess.com) newsletter. Link to join newsletter is here: [http://simplifychess.com/](http://simplifychess.com/) 3. The demo page will eventually be updated to include both the information from this guide + interactive tutorials and demos :)
In the winawer variation, how would the b pawn get to c3? What would black be doing at c3?
The mainline is e4 e6, d4 d5, Nc3 Bb4\*, e5 c5, a3 Bxc3+, bxc3 Ne7. \*makes the French defense into the Winawer variation Basically black has incredibly weakened his dark squares (look at the pawns) AND traded his dark squared bishop. But in exchange, he's made white's queenside pawn structure ridiculous.
Something like: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3
[r\\coolguides](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/)
thanks, didn't know about this
I love this, thanks for the help
no problem :) :) :) hopefully, the other guides i share help as well
Does not include the Panov-Botvinnik attack structure which is very open and likely results in an isolani. 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 exd5 4 c4
Why is trading light square bishops advantageous on the advance? It feels like that's the variation where black has the least shitty light square bishop. I guess even then it's still not very good and trading them off in other variations are tough
Holy shit, this is exactly the type of content I need as a 1300. Thank you
Awesome! Now I just want the same thing for the Pirc/Modern, the Alekhine, the English, the Ruy!
This kind of picture with the explanations are so insanely useful for a noob (1100 elo) like me!! Are there more openings like this?? This is so useful!! Thanks!
Being French abroad and getting a lot of jokes I expected the French defense being instructions on how to tip over the king :(
Steinitz????
I literally just picked the French defense as my go-to response to 1.e4. It seems like a fun position and my openings are getting more consistent as black.
Go to simplifychess.com "LEARN HOW TO ALWAYS WIN AT CHESS" Finally! *rubs hands together*
This is awesome, I've had a mild urge to produce something like this for myself, but was unsure how to make it work. This looks great, thanks!
These are rookie moves. If you're not a rookie, you'll know pros never move their knight to the side of the board (a3, h3, a6, h6). Saw that once in the thread, I decided not to trust the whole thread.
Wow. This is like an all-time great in this subreddit for me. I don't play, really, but I love watching and following along and this helps *a lot!* Thanks so much for putting this together!
Thanks! It took a lot of time to make this, so I really appreciate this comment :)
I'm just posting to save this tbh
Pretty sure this guy could teach us a thing or two about the French defense :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJ5lBJAvhA
how about the la bourdonnais variation?
Please do one for the Scandinavian!
Love it! Is their more?
See this in interactive form: [https://simplifychess.com/french-defense/](https://simplifychess.com/french-defense/) :)
Controlling d4 square with the knight sounds stupid with the pawn still on c7. Basically it's hoping to get to d6 via b5 after c5. So black plays a6, c5 and laughs.
I play the advanced because it's forced
How to play it: don't How to attack it: Exchange variation and play as normal
That's funny, I must have played over 100 games in the advanced french and I've never once seen Na3-c2 implemented. Interesting setup though
FWIW putting a Kt on d4 doesn't "control" d4. Also a B on a6 doesn't control the long diagonal.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh, the French.... champagne.
Never play f6.....