I agree with HgMan. Sacrificing a pawn, just to overprotect the e5 square does not sound nice. If you want to gambit, you might as well try the Diemer-Duhm Gambit with 3.c4.
But after 3.Nc3 White has sufficient aggressive options: the Geller Gambit against the Nimzovitsj-Winawer Variation, the Alekhine-Chatard, Classical with 6.Bxe7 and castling kingside.
Another option is 2.Nc3 and 2.Nf3 with the aim to transpose to a sideline of the Steinitz system: 2.Nc3 (or 2.Nf3) d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.d4, which avoids the Nimzovitsj-Winawer Variation.

Hello!

I'm looking at lines against the dreaded French Defense (yes, it's a pain in the ____ for 1.e4 players ) and stumbled across an interesting option: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bd3!?

After Black takes the d4 pawn he will have to change his usual method of development as he doesn't have any d4 pawn to pressure! This seems like it will at least gain a small psychological edge.

Part of White's plan is overprotecting e5 (Re1, Bf4 is usual, he can do Qe2 too, but it's always nice to save a tempo in case it later goes somewhere else on the d1-h5 diagonal or if White decides to pressure d4 later with Nbd2-b3) when necessary. He can play on the queenside (a3 and b4, if black responds a5 against a3 White plays a4! and directs a knight to the hole on b5 via a3) or on the kingside (h4-h5, Ng5, Q along d1-h5 diagonal) or in the center (Nbd2-b3 looking at recapturing d4 or at least tying black down to the defense of d4) or he can combine strategies.

You can read Gary Lane's small but insightful comments about this 5.Bd3!? line at the end of his September 2000 column at Chesscafe.com by looking up the archives there (I'm new, is it ok to post links?).

Have any people here played the Black side of 5.Bd3!? or have an opinion? What do you think? What is the best course of action for Black? Is this dangerous for the second player?

I've only been on this site a week, and I already think it's one of the best on the web! Keep up the good work, chesspublishing.com!