Trouble with USCF and Staunton the shipping price to my part of the world is often more than the book...., hence I won't buy from either of these suppliers.

It is also available from House of Staunton on their E-bay site. 

Book Depository say it will be available from them in three days....

I haven't seen an excerpt for the second edition to compare with the first edition....Asked  the publisher on three occasions whether they were going to put an excerpt to the second edition on  their website but got no response.

Leon_Trotsky wrote on 06/02/18 at 22:15:00:


Two weeks ago on the Homepage of Russell Enterprises the title moved from „upcoming titles“ to „current titles“.
But so far no chess shop in North America or Europe seem to have it on stock!?
Now someone who should know (involved in distributing chess books) told me that the book will be available 
only in October or November?!

tracke

Hallo!

Russell Enterprises has announced a second edition of Langrock´s book for June 2018
"revised and expanded with 35% more material" , 278 pages (instead of 208), $25

https://www.russell-enterprises.com/upcoming-publications/french-defensebthe-sol...

tracke 

But the fact that it will be and the fact that this thread will be around after it does makes your comment stagnant. These threads are not so time dependant.

What about this one?

http://www.amazon.com/French-Defense-Solid-Rubinstein-Variation/dp/1941270050/re...

tracke 

fling wrote on 02/21/13 at 08:15:48:

I can add that Lars Bo Hansen's book "How Chess Games are Won and Lost" also discusses this pawn structure in some detail.  LBH says he preferred to aim for that structure as Black so he may be a potential role model if that's what you're going for.  Probably Soltis's Pawn Structure Chess covers it too, but that is a book I'm not familiar with.

Speaking of Soltis, he wrote the old book "Fighting French" covering 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.QN-x dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 covering structures with Nxf6 or Bg5xf6 and gxf6.  Blacks plan is f5, Bb7 (after either b6 or Morozevich's a6 and b5), often with Nd7 and c7-c5.

Since everyone's focused on McDonald's book and the Fort Knox variation, what about other lines of the Rubenstien? 

Maybe 10 years ago, I picked up a book called "Action Chess" by CJS Purdy, which is a collection of his articles where he recommended an opening repertoire that could be learned quickly and easily without much study. His recommendation included the Rubenstein French, but with a very early Be7 that I haven't seen anywhere else. The line is 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3/d2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Be7. Anyone know about this line? Has it stood the test of time?

Personally, I stopped playing the Rubenstein because I found it boring, and stick to the MacCutcheon/Steinitz these days.

fling wrote on 02/21/13 at 08:15:48:


Probably learning about typically pawn structures and their evaluation is probably more useful than learning variations in openings anyway. So i guess this is a useful way to deal with new openings ...

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I'm aware of the fact that learning openings will probably not get me very far. I'm trying not to spend too much time on openings and have been sticking to my repertoire for more than two years without changes and like most users here (i guess) I have a thing for opening theory. Generally reading into openings keeps me motivated for the game in general.

At the moment i play the (hyper)accelerated dragon mostly according to A. Greet, so I have a good choice for playing actively and winning games with black which i can still use. Sometimes tho, not loosing can be more important than winning, for example in team events, and I figure the Rubinstein might be a good choice for this?!  I generally don't mind defending slightly worse but overall very solid positions if need be. I would really love to play "proper" variations against 3. Nc3 and 3. Nd2, but I guess getting ready to play 1. e6 would cost an awful lot of time in that case ...


katar wrote on 02/19/13 at 22:23:27:


That's a good and probably very valid point. Thanks for pointing that out. So i guess the McDonald book and maybe the Collins-DVD fling mentioned would be enough material overall.

You also have some material on it in Mastering the French. And also a discussion on the pawn structure I think by Sam Collins in a DVD by chessbase, IIRC.

Your best source would be to get a subscription to the Chess Publishing French Defense section.  ChessPub offers in-depth analysis and current theory that is updated monthly (which you won't get from a traditional book.)

Regarding the Rubinstein itself, I am not a "fan" of that choice and would not advocate myself because I don't like the style of play it produces.  You have to decide how much work you are willing to do, but I personally prefer either a Winawer or Classical/McCutcheon repertoire versus 3.Nc3.  It will result in richer, more interesting play - and therefore will aid you in your chess development (and make chess more fun... isn't that what it's about?) versus the "duller" Rubinstein option.  

On the flip side, your comment about how often you will see it in club / lower level play is valid.  In truth, below 2000 you should be spending less time on learning opening theory and more on general play or upgrading typically neglected endgame skills.   You are also unlikely to run into theory "gurus" on the White side at that level anyway so you don't really need intense study of the main  lines.   At least you will becoming familiar with a repertoire that will stand you in good stead if you do continue to advance in your level of play.

Bill