Hello all,

Since i sometimes play the French, I am thinking of actually learning some theory in the Advance variation! Smiley
The lines with an early ...f6 recommended in Play the French 3 caught my eye since they seem both thematic and aggressive. I am referring to 5...Bd7 6.a3 f6 or 6.Be2 f6, where Watson often wants to delay ...fxe5 in favor of Qc7, 0-0-0 and even ...g5.

However, I know some of Watson's creative ideas turn out to be risky or even unsound on closer inspection (just an inevitable consequence of his exemplary willingness to think for himself, I suppose). So has anything happened in the last 4 years to suggest Black should avoid these lines? Does any of the recent Advance books by Sveshnikov, Collins and Pedersen have good coverage of this? (I will probably buy at least one of them; recommendations welcome).