Pingudon wrote on 07/15/09 at 23:26:40:


First question: Is this thread serious or intended as a satirical parody of the French Defence? Judging from the replies, I assume it is serious. 

1...e6 is Black's third most common first move against 1.e4. So I find the claim that the French is 'bad for all players' to be ridiculous, to say the least. I assume that the reason you think the French is a bad opening is because you struggle against it in your own games, and instead of working on understanding the French positions better, you prefer to ignore the problem and attempt to avoid it by rubbishing a very strong opening. If you wish to do this, then that is your business.

You claim that the French is 100% sound, but do not provide any evidence or reasons to support your opinion. If you cannot show me that White achieves an advantage against every single major Black variation, then this opinion is not relevant.

And the French has always been 100% sound for Black. Several world champions, and currently Morozevich, have played and continue to play the French Defence, and successfully. Recently Shulman has defeated several strong GMs as Black as well - these are just two players amongst hundreds of examples. If the French was weak, as you claim, nobody would play the French. 

Your reasoning that you can only win with the French if the opponent makes a mistake goes without saying - no matter what opening you play, you cannot win without your opponent making a mistake. This means that the French is not a forced win for White - if neither side makes any errors, the game will end in a draw. 

If the French was not a strong opening, then there would not be 50+ books and CDs published about it. I don't intend to offend you, but claiming a clear advantage for White in a mainstream opening played by the world's top players is a bit arrogant. 

The French may well be += for all I know, although I have never seen any recent proof of this, so my current opinion is that the French is =.

Whoever said it was bad at the top? I'm playing in the Canadian Open right now and Shirov played the french as black just a round or two ago.

What I am trying to say is: if it is not 100% sound for the very good players it means that it can not be very good for lesser mortals.  Perhaps we struggle with the French and thanks to an error of the other player we win or draw the game. Why not play a 100% correct defence from the start? What do you think? ( I am sorry about my english)