Play the French Defense Opening in Chess

The French Defense is one of the best known, and effective openings at black's disposal. Chess algebraic notation is used in this article to explain the moves.

Steps

  1. e4 e6
    • e4 - Moving the King Pawn two spaces forward is the most common move played in professional and amateur chess.
    • e6 - Moving the king pawn a conservative one space forward is the defining move of the French Defense. Although it does not control the centre squares as e4 does, it can lead to many strong positions.
  2. d4 d5
    • - Moving the Queen Pawn forward two spaces now completely dominates the centre squares.
    • d5 - Moving the Queen Pawn two spaces forward now forms a strong pawn chain (both the Classical and Winawer Variation of the French Defense complete this move).
  3. Nc3 Bb4
    • Nc3 - Again a logical move, white is now covering the pawn on e4 and has developed another piece. Also playable here are e5, exd5 (the Exchange Variation), c4 (the Diemer-Duhm Gambit), Bd3 (the Schlechter Variation), and Nd2 (the Tarrasch Variation).
    • Bb4 - Moving the bishop to B4 (forming the Winawer Variation) successfully pins white's knight to the king. This move allows development of another piece while prohibiting the movement of White.



Tips

  • Aaron Nimzovich in the book, "My System" built a case for the advanced pawn variation for white (to build a space advantage and a king side attack) but the counterattack on the queen side by black usually comes long before white can start a king side attack and this variation favors black.
  • The French Defense is known for solidity and resilience, but it can give rise to a cramped position for black in the early stages. Black often gains counterattacking possibilities on the queenside, while white tends to concentrate on the kingside.

Things You'll Need

  • Chess set

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