French Defense basics

 French defense

The French Defense ranks second in popularity only to the Sicilian against white’s 1.e4 and is considers a very solid opening for black to play, and if played correctly you can destroy whites center a good percentage of the time.

Basics

Major plan for black:

• Attack whites center, the d4 pawn!

Common themes for Black:

• Pawnbreak c7-c5
• Pawnbreak f7-f6
• Less center control in the beginning 
• Black tends to keep king in the center as long as possible

The black bishop at c8 is considers a bad bishop. Black can play 3... b6 and Bb7 to avoid this, and eventually trade this bishop for one of Whites good pieces. Black can also play Bd7->Be8->Bh5 once the f7-f6 pawn break has been played.
Black keeps his king in the center, because of the pawn structure is closed, and the white pieces can't get to your king.

Major variations:

Tarrasch Variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 

Winawer Variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 

French defense game collection: Famous chess players losing against the French!

French is considerd being a boring opening, which tend to be drawish, according to chess.coms game explorer 35.3% of the games beginning with 1. e4 e6 ends in a draw.
I hope these game below can show that even grand masters can lose against the French:

Garry Kasparov:
vs Viswanathan Anand: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018264
vs Alexey Dreev: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1039605
vs Vassily Ivanchuk: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1060586

Anatoly Karpov:
vs J Cox: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068296
vs Simen Agdestein: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068840

Vassily Ivanchuk:
vs Magnus Carlsen: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1641014
vs W So: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1565184
vs Dreev: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1039665

Viswanathan Anand:
vs Nigel Short: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018193
vs Dreev: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018620
vs M Sisniega: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1017993

French Defense: Advance Variation

An brief introduction to French Defense: Advance Variation

The most common variation in the French Defense is the Advance Variation

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5

Most common reply by black in this position is 3... c5 attacking whites center directly.
Whites possible move here is:

• 4. c3 - Defending the d4 pawn 
• 4. Nf3 - Also defending d4 pawn

 Blacks plan here is to put pressure and undermine Whites center, by using c5 and f6 pawnbreaks, if d4 falls soon e5 also fall.Also try to exchange c8 bishop with one of Whites good pieces by playing moves like ...Bd7 and ...Bb5.

Also possible third move for black is 3... b6.
This prepares ... Ba6, which is a good way to exchange the light squared bishops but also gives black the chance to recapture ... bxc5 if white plays d4xc5 after blacks move ... c5.
 
Very good video on the advance variation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cF2ZawEV_U (not my video) 

Positional play...

"Positional play will lead to tactics because your pieces are on good squares. Tactical play may leave your position in ruins while trying to force the issue. Then you lose....."

Chess Problems in French Defense #4

Black to move and win!

White:	Denoyelle Arnaud (2218)
Black:	Zimmermann Walter (2225)
Event:	Ch France (accession)
Site:	Montpellier (France)
Score:	0-1	Date:	1991

Chess Problems in French Defense #3

Black to move and win!

Source: 

White:	Matteucci Guido
Black:	Castaldi Vincenzo
Site:	Milan (Italy)
Score:	0-1	Date:	1938

Chess problems in French Defense #2

Black to move and win!

White:	Karklins Andrew (2223)
Black:	Popel Stephan (2150)
Event:	It (open)
Site:	Chicago (USA)
Score:	0-1	Date:	1966

Chess problems in French Defense #1

Black to move and win!

Source:

White:	Aagaard Jacob (2370)
Black:	McDonald Neil R (2500)
Event:	It (cat.8)
Site:	Budapest (Hungary)
Score:	0-1	Date:	1996

Modern chess and its guidelines!

There is a lot of guidelines in chess, telling us things like "A knight on the rim is dim".
But sometimes we need to think outside the box and not follow guidelines:

"…modern players will often neglect development for structure, allow backward pawns in the opening, move pawns in front of their king, attack the front of a pawnchain, and advance flank pawns when the central situation is unresolved.

On the other hand, they will just as often do the traditional thing (develop quickly, avoid backward pawns, keep kingside pawns on their original squares, etc.).   

We found that bad bishops are often not bad at all, that knights can be strong on the edge of the board, and worst of all, that the knight-pair can be superior to the bishop-pair in either very closed, semi-closed, or wide-open positions! You can successfully grab flank pawns in the opening with your queen when you're staggeringly behind in development; or you can do so and quickly be mated. And so forth when it comes to exchange sacrifices, prophylaxis, etc."     
– John Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy