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C00-C19: Newbie to the French.............. (Read 3428 times)

DAX Junior Member Offline zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. .......... Posts: 75 Joined: 10/28/05	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #7 - 11/14/05 at 21:25:34	Post Tools	Print Post
	I just received Talbut's How to play the French & Ulhman's Winning with the Frecnh. A cursory overview of both books has me smiling knowing I could not have made a better selection! WIll dive into them over the coming weeks! Any recomendations to a more modern book on the Frecnh after these two classics?


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Strptzr Full Member Offline I love ChessPublishing.com! Posts: 207 Location: Gent Joined: 11/05/05	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #6 - 11/08/05 at 12:04:40	Post Tools	Print Post
	You might want to consult 'Mastering the French' (Batsford Chess Books 1997)


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woofwoof God Member Offline chess is like life Posts: 929 Location: Singapore Joined: 07/04/05 Gender:	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #5 - 11/08/05 at 08:50:52	Post Tools	Print Post
	If you are serious in making the french as your main line of defense, 3 pts to note: 1) knowing the exchange & the advance is mandatory, since you have no control over whether white plays 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2 or not at all. 2) now assuming white plays 3.Nc3, & you want a more positional game, then its either the Rubinstein or the Burn (as mentioned by MNb earlier) , or steinitz 3....Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4. Playing the classical can lead to the Albin-Chartard-Alekhine attack which is sharp. 3) Now if White plays 3.Nd2 games are pretty positional. But probably black equalises best with 3....c5.

	"I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies which immediately turn out to be wrong." - Murray Walker
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Willempie God Member Offline I love ChessPublishing .com! Posts: 4312 Location: Holland Joined: 01/07/05	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #4 - 11/08/05 at 02:25:00	Post Tools	Print Post
	To answer your 1st question. I suggest looking into the advance variation first. The advance e5 is a recurring theme in many french lines and without a grasp of that pawn structure you wont get far with that opening. The advantage of studying the advance first is that it is a "pure" version, so that you dont have to worry first about other issues (eg in the Winawer you'd typically exchange with Bb4xc3 complicating the pawn structure). But the advance has almost all the typical ideas you can find in the other variations. For the main variations (3 Nc3 and 3 Nd2) you can usually pick from rather passive to quite agressive with a lot of flavours in between.

	If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
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castlerock God Member Offline Erro Ergo Sum Posts: 842 Location: Chennai Joined: 02/24/05 Gender:	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #3 - 11/08/05 at 00:22:25	Post Tools	Print Post
	Unfortunately both Rubenstien and Classical French are not repertoire choices of Ulhman. But imho, nothing teaches French middle game plans like Winning with the French As suggested, taking up Rubenstien first and then slowly building up the repertoire might be the best choice. While you are at it, my suggestion would be to play 5…Qb6 against advance. This will give a better hang of French Motiffs. After all you don’t get your e6-d5 pawn chain in Rubenstien.

	CastleRock
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basqueknight Ex Member	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #2 - 11/07/05 at 23:27:56	Post Tools	Print Post
	If you want a pretty decent quick fix. I would go rubinstein. Its low theory it can transpose into a burn on ocassion but thats blacks fault more or less heh. Somthing i go for in rubinstein is the burn but thats not for every one. The Rubinstien also has independent value sometimes looking like a caro-kann and other times looking like somthing completey original. Good luck with the french i recomended it to every one as it is a very nice defense for any black mentality. agressive, waiting, counter attacker its all there


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MNb God Member Offline Rudolf Spielmann forever Posts: 10757 Location: Moengo Joined: 01/05/04 Gender:	Re: Newbie to the French.............. Reply #1 - 11/07/05 at 21:39:32	Post Tools	Print Post
	Deciding to play the French is only the start of several other dilemma's. White's options are relatively limited (still plenty enough), while Black has to make choices at an early stage. Here is a first try: The Rubinstein Variation 3...dxe4 is rather positional, unless White castles queenside of course. More refined is the Burn Variation 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 but White has 4.e5 of course. Against the Advance Variation you might prefer c5-c4 above f7-f6. If you want to develop a positional style, is the Classical Scandinavian or the Caro Kann not a better choice? I chose the French, because I like sharp tactics!

	The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged. GC Lichtenberg
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DAX Junior Member Offline zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. .......... Posts: 75 Joined: 10/28/05	C00-C19: Newbie to the French.............. 11/07/05 at 18:57:57	Post Tools	Print Post
	After getting shellshocked with the Pirc over the last few years & moving toward a more positional style I'M making the switch to the more solid French. After reading some of the threads in this area I have ordered Ulhman's Winning with the French & Taulbutts How to Play the French. While ancient (as far as opening books go) I belive they should give me a solid foundation to build upon. I'M also toying with the idea of picking up a used copy of Gligoric's old book on the French as well! I have some questions for some of you Frenchers..... 1.) Since I'M gearing for a more positional style what lines in the French should I look toward? 2.) Any recent books on the French other than the Starting Out book? I'M aware of Watsons Play the French but that is for later..... 3.) Anyone check out Solstis's book Pawn Structure Chess? It has an interesting chapter on the pawn structures that arise in the French....how does this info hold up? Thanx 8)
	« Last Edit: 08/02/11 at 20:16:55 by dom »

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