I like the French Defense because it naturally seems to help me build a reversed black Queen’s Gambit. I consider it the perfect sister opening to Queen’s Gambit for White but it looks a little bit different. I also like it because the pawn structure on black’s side looks a lot like the Queen’s Gambit declined position. It’s similar enough that it feels natural for someone like me who has played so many Queen’s Gambit games. The following are my notes on some positions and what I think based on my own play style and also what I have learned from other Chess coaches.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
French Defense Two Center White Pawns Variation
This is the most common position you will see after 4 moves. White has two pawns in the center and black has pawns at e6 and d5. This could lead to either an exchange or advanced variation based on what white’s next move is.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5
French Defense Exchange Variation
When I play the French Defense, this is the position I am actually hoping for. The reason is that my light squared bishop is not trapped in the same way. This gives me flexibility to build a Black London System or Black Queen’s Gambit. The exchange variation puts black in a better position than the advance variation. Most players know this and so you will face the advance variation more often. What you will do next depends on white’s next move.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
French Defense Advance Variation
When white moves their pawn forward to e5, black is kind of trapped because they can’t move their queen or knight to f3. If you find yourself in this position, the move that I recommend is c5 because this leads us to a Black Queen’s Gambit. We are hoping the d4 pawn takes it so that we can capture back with our bishop and also removed the defender of the e5 pawn.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6
One of the more interesting things about this position is that by moving the queen to b6, it lines the queen up with the diagonal attacking the weak f2 square and also b2. If the bishop moves, b2 can be captured. If at any time the d4 pawn captures the c5 pawn, we can capture back with the bishop and will have both the black bishop and queen attacking that f2 square. This will lead to complete chaos and white will have a hard time preventing us from getting their without putting either their bishop or knight in the way.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 Nh6 7. Bxh6 gxh6
In this position, black has lost a knight but white has also lost a bishop that was defending the b2 square. This means black is in a better position because it can destroy white’s pawns and maybe even their a1 rook if they don’t defend it correctly.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 Nh6 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5
In this case, white’s bishop didn’t capture the knight when it had the chance. When the knight reaches f5 then both knights and the queen are attacking the d4 square. White will lose material here if they still try to defend the d4 pawn.
Chastity White Rose 