I think this thread from 2004-2005 may be the one I was thinking of:
C00: The "Anti-French" 2.Qe2 http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1077642864/all

But if white plays 1.e4 e6 2.d3 c5 3.f4 and leaves out Qe2, I wasn't able to find any discussion in the French section. There was a brief mention of 3.g3 here:
C00: SOS article on King's Indian Attack http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1120757406

an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 10/11/18 at 17:17:58:

Exactly how would you continue against the Big Clamp setup with g3, f4 etc. eventually intending c3 and d4 ?

an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 10/11/18 at 17:17:58:

I was half-aware that 3.b3 is an option there, as I've been thinking of trying 2.Qe2 from the White side. This is turning into a sort of b3 Sicilian, and as Black I would be temped to respond with something Kanish/Hedgehogish with 3...a6 or 3...b6, similarly to how I would meet 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 when I played the Kan.

The setup with ...e7-e6, ...c7-c5, and ...g7-g6 is quite correct whether white plays Ng1-f3 first, or f2-f4 first. From the move order 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 c5, Botvinnik (1960) One hundred selected games recommended 3.b3(!), to stop 3...g6. If I recall correctly, Botvinnik's opponent played 3.f4 instead, and Botvinnik was not impressed. I have won two nice games against fairly strong opposition using 3.b3 to reach an ideal double-fianchetto setup. The one time I faced 2.Qe2 with black, I chose 2...g6!?, hoping for 3.f4 c5. The game went 3.d4 Bg7 4.c3 b6 5.g3!? Ba6 6.Qc2 Bxf1 7.Kxf1, and after further adventures ended in a draw by repetition.

Edited:

MNb wrote on 10/11/18 at 07:21:08:

Nice game, but it has nothing to do with the topic of the thread. The question was what to do when White does not play an early Nf3.

The setup Kasparov played seems promising and is on my radar. But from the French move order I think it's easier to start with 1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 if Black intends to play with ...d7-d5 anyway. When Black plays 2.d3 c5 he usually wants something without an early ...d5, like a Botvinnik system, Hedgehog setup or Scheveningen setup.

This old issue still bugs me a bit. I have gone as far as switching to the main move 2.d3 d5 just in case White is planning some 2.d3 c5 3.g3 trickery! But it would be nice to have 2.d3 c5 as an option.

Has anyone seen Marin's recent French databases for Modern Chess? I haven't bought them yet, but I have a lot of respect for Marin and some hope he thought of addressing this.

I've had a good look at French Defense: The Solid Rubinstein Variation by Hannes Langrock, and it has the same problem as Williams' repertoire book: Recommends 2.d3 c5 (in Langrock's case following up with 3.Nf3 b6 and an interesting and fresh Hedgehog setup), but pretends that 3.Nf3 is the only possible answer! No mention of White alternatives on move 3, like 3.g3 or 3.f4, as far as I can see.

What's perplexing is after Chigorin's 2.Qe2 c5 Langrock is perfectly happy to consider a range of White tries: 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3, 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.c3, 3.f4 and 3.g3. So after 2.Qe2 c5 White has lots of options, while after 2.d3 c5, 3.Nf3 is somehow forced?? It just doesn't add up. 

Otherwise Langrock's book looks excellent btw., so I'm not condemning the entire effort based on this small oversight. It even covers the French Advance line OldGrizzly asked about in great detail. But I think I will contact some of these authors and ask them to fill this 2.d3 c5 3.g3/3.others gap.

I also checked Rogozenko's old Anti-Sicilians book. He very sensibly meets the Big Clamp with a Botvinnik system with 1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 e5 (wih 6...Nf6 as a backup line), which means his coverage is not useful for a French player.

You can find links to everything you want to know about The Big Clamp here:
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2011/02/big-clamp.html

I think the most clamp-like line against the French is 1.e4 e6 2.f4!? d5 3.e5, but Day prefers the KIA-type set ups or Chigorin's 2.Qe2.  In my Big Clamp game collection -- which adds some games to those in Day's book -- I include games with all of these ideas.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1020360

OldGrizzly wrote on 05/12/15 at 08:11:10:


I would like to know it..because GM C.Bauer played this line as Black vs me in rapid game some years ago. I recorded two good lines for White :

6.Nbd2!? Sveshnikov-Drazic,Ljujana 1997 as given by Sveshnikov, but ... no more moves...(Sveshnikov liked to advice the Advance, but not giving so much analysis)

6.Bd3 and then
A) 6...Bb5?! 7.Bxb5 axb5 8.dxc5 (pleaser note this move giving a bad pawn structure) Bxc5 9.b4 Bb6 10.Na3 (Eingorn)
B) 6...cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb5 8.Bxb5 (8.Bc2!? Eingorn) axb5 9.oo +=
C) 6...Nc6 7.oo (7.Be3 Dom)  cxd4 8.cxd4 Qb6 9.Bc2 += (or a Milner Barry or Korchnoi gambit with Nc3 or Nbd2)
D) 6...Qb6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.oo Nc6 (8....Bb5 9.b4 Be7 10.Be3 +/-) 9.c4 Nge7 10.Nc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 +=

good system for White