^^ To both of you above me - Thank you. I appreciate the information and the point in the right direction. 

I will indeed start giving the French a more thorough examination. The theory behind it so I really grasp it conceptually. The fact is, however, that I absolutely love it so far. Regardless of the challenges it presents me on my kingside, I absolutely love the queenside counterplay it produces. 

How early? Its fine in quite a lot of lines, although not everyone plays those lines. Some of the 5.. Bd7 ideas vs the advance feature it quite a bit, and Watson's books tend to give a fair few lines featuring an early f6.

It can go wrong - and nastily with it - if white gets a knight safely established on e5. If you can force him to put a pawn there you're generally rather happier.

Or crude tactics of course.

MartinC wrote on 10/08/13 at 08:40:34:

I like to vary my openings depending on the opponent's style and my form on the day, and the French obviously can be interpreted very solidly. I'm not saying I will actually play it slowly (or should that be Pee-Wee Herman style?) every game 

It's convenient to have the option of avoiding the Nun gambit, since there are some real specialists around. That said, Watson's lines against it in PTF4 look perfectly playable for Black.

@TalJechin Ah yes, the Psakhis books were rather complete weren't they. I have the Advance volume, so will take a look at what he wrote there.

Surely a truly solid player should be overjoyed to be a pawn up with a functional position From what I remember all those anti milner barry early Rc8 things tend to turn really rather random.

As for slow moves in the French, you always have to remember that even things like 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 Bf8!? are playable..... The generalist books on the advance might cover it.

I don't think it can be a pure waiting move as white has a few useful enough semi waiting moves of his own.

Ametanoitos wrote on 02/03/11 at 15:26:39:


It's this line that's interesting to me:
3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.0-0

Now you claim Ng6!+Be7+cxd4+f6 may in fact give Black a slight edge.

How about Grischuk-Ivanchuk FIDE World Cup 2011 where this was played:

8.g3 Be7 9.h4!

This looks pretty good for white. Moskalenko who analyses the game in CBM 145 agrees.

There is the problem that it can be hard to win if White isn't averse to a draw and knows what he's doing, so I'm not sure this is an ideal Swiss variation, but in correspondence or other formats, and certainly in faster time controls, it's a good safe way for Black to equalize and play for more.

I was informed in another thread that there is a line with Nbd2-b3 that is supposed to promise White some chances.  I am also aware of the plan with c4 and d4-d5, which can be uncomfortable as Black has sidelined some pieces on the Queenside.  However, while I can't speak to the former (having never faced it), the latter is tricky rather than a real threat to a well-prepared player.

But like I said above, the real concern is that White will trade everything, force you to play g6 and h5 by threatening to advance on the kingside, and reach a drawn king and pawn ending.  Black needs to get a knight-c6 vs. Bishop-e3 position, or a Queen ending, to have real winning chances.

The variation is fun because unless White knows what to do, Black gets a very favorable version of an ordinary French Defense, and the two tempi spent on the plan aren't too significant with a closed center.  It results in some very, very smooth draws and wins with black: trade pieces, control the c file, wait for the endgame and attack d4.  Even if White gets a decent version of the ending, it's hard not to draw.

I think there's a variation with an early c4 that can get sharp (iirc 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 Nf3 Qb6 5 Be2 Bd7 6 0-0 Bb5 7 c4), and White scores okay, but natural moves should get Black a playable position.  And there's nothing making you play 6...Bb5 either - both 6...Nc6 and 6...cxd4 and 7...Bb5 make sense (maybe even 7...Bb4+).

Oops. 

I should have read the previous posts more carefully. I knew there were already comments on the Wade variation, including some by myself, but somehow I misread the more recent comments about Black deferring Nc6.