FreeRepublic - You're welcome! And thanks for mentioning 6...Qc7 7.h4. I hadn't really looked into 7.h4 previously. The first game in MegaBase is from 1995, so it's no wonder that Moles and other older books don't mention it. Hans Olav Lahlum, the guest author for the 6...Qc7 section in the 2003 third edition of Watson's Play the French, considered 7.h4 "too ambitious", citing the obvious pawn snatch with 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 Qc3+ 9.Bd2 Qxd4. He said Black is able to consolidate after 10.Nf3 Qb6, citing the game Van Delft-L.E. Johannessen, Guarapuava 1995, but an examination of that game shows that White was better until a series of inaccuracies handed the advantage over to Black. 

Watson's comments in the French section and a quick look at the database indicate that many players meet 6...Qc7 7.h4 with 7...Ne7, looking to transpose into the trendy line that arises more frequently from the 6...Ne7 7.h4 Qc7 move order. And speaking of that transposition, it was played in the wild blitz game between Carlsen and Rapport that Watson covered in his Jan 2023 update. Pretty hair-raising stuff!

Thinkers Publishing has a book on 7.h4 in their "Expected" section of their website.  Judging from the diagram on its cover, the book deals with 6...Ne7 7.h4, but I wonder if it will also cover 6...Qc7 7.h4 as an independent line.

Nernstian59 wrote on 04/01/23 at 01:51:20:


Thanks for the excellent post.

Chessgames.com also has some recent games, but only through 2021. Looking for games from top players, I found Karjakin-Ponkratov and Anand-Rapport. In both games White answered 7...f6 with 8Nf3. Both games were drawn.

6...Qc7 can also be answered by 7Nf3 or 7h4, with much more to explore.

I too look forward to a 5th edition of Play The French by John Watson.

Nernstian59 wrote on 03/21/23 at 01:38:06:


Thanks for the excellent posts on French Defense literature. The quote above is very relevant to me.

I played in my first open tournament when I was 15 years old. My opponent in my first game was an old man. I played 1.e4. He gave me a hard, searching look, then his hand shot out to play 1...e6. I still don't know what that was about. Anyway, the French defense was mostly the French Classical to me until Watson's book came out.

His approach to the French was almost hypermodern. Black attacks White's pawn center and is willing to sacrifice material in order to obtain the initiative. I think he greatly popularized the French. However, I don't think the passage of time has been kind to the Winawer. Perhaps I am not alone. Here's an excerpt (Forward Chess) from Miedema's book:

"Alas, that variation, with 7...0-0 and 8...Nbc6, is almost refuted nowdays."

I consider that to be a major line! Black has interesting alternatives on move 8, but I'm sure Miedema looked at them.

I think 7.Qg4 is looking good for White these days in human and computer evaluations. The thing to remember is that great precision may be needed by White to make the most of his initiative. Perhaps the central question is whether White will make all the right moves.

Here's a position that has caught my fancy:



"An interesting sideline that deserves a closer look," ChessPublishing.

If my computer is to believed, White has the advantage. I suspect that is the true but it would not be so easy to work out over the board.

If I decide to take another look at the French, Miedema's book will be at the top of my list!

If you can find the older book Mastering the French with the Read and Play Method, I highly recommend it.  It's my favorite of the general, "how to play the French" books.

Dink - you're welcome.  Glad to hear that my comments were of some use.

And Pawnpusher is absolutely correct that Berg's trilogy is worthwhile.  I didn't comment on those books because NoNoo had mentioned them, but for the sake of completeness I'll add a few remarks.  Quality Chess published Berg's books in 2013-2015 as part of their Grandmaster Repertoire series.  Berg's analysis is usually quite deep, which is consistent with the other volumes in this series, although some updating is obviously needed considering when the books were published.  

The distribution of material is interesting.  Volume 3 covers the Tarrasch (answered with 3...Nf6), the Advance (met by 4...Qb6 to prevent Kupreichik's 5.Be3 and then 5...Nc6), the Exchange, the KIA, and "Odds and Ends".  The other two volumes in the trilogy are devoted to the Winawer.  Volume 1 has White's deviations on moves 4, 5, and 7 plus the positional Winawer.  Volume 2 covers two recommendations against 7.Qg4: the mainline Poison Pawn with 12...d4 and 7...0-0.  It's a bit unusual to see 7...0-0 as a repertoire suggestion - the other instance that comes readily to mind is the 3rd edition of Watson's Play the French from 2003.  Berg's three volumes are exceeded only by the four books by Psakhis described in my previous post (and the Psakhis books covered both sides).  Still, I wonder what Berg's work would look like if Quality Chess had allowed five volumes, as they did with Kotronias' series on the King's Indian.  

And speaking of 7...0-0, I'll take this opportunity to mention a personal favorite of mine: Französisch Winawer Band 1: 7.Dg4 0-0 by Kindermann and Dirr.  Its analysis was good for its 2001 date of publication, and the authors used the best engines of the day.  However, Berg's level of analysis shows how much technology and chess itself had advanced in the intervening decade plus.  

The main reason I like Kindermann/Dirr is how the book was done.  It begins with a history of the Winawer, complete with a timeline showing significant innovations from both Black and White.  Next is a section on characteristic pawn structures and tactical motifs, including a set of exercises.  The substantial theoretical section comes next, offering complete coverage from both sides.  The following section is a particular favorite: all of the preceding analysis is repeated in a tabular format reminiscent of ECO, with Informant symbols and footnotes indicating where a particular line is covered in the theoretical section.  Finally, the last part of the book includes a section with the complete game scores for every game cited in the book and a brief chapter with thumbnail overviews of each of the main variations covered in the book.  In my opinion, this is how a good opening book should be done.

I especially liked the book's typography.  Main lines were given in red type, and a unique two-arrow symbol and other icons were used to designate the beginnings of variations branching off from the main line.  Sadly, this style of presentation never seemed to catch on, and we chessbook readers are sometimes forced to contend with analyses that resemble massive, intimidating walls of text with little help in discerning where one variation stops and another begins.  It's also unfortunate that Kindermann/Dirr was never translated into English, unlike some of Kindermann's other German-language books.  "Band 1" (Volume 1) implies that the book would be the first in a series, but no others followed, which is most regrettable as well.

Edited to add two minor comments.

Neil McDonald, How to Play Against e4 2008 is another good one.  It is more basic but has some nice explanation of the Be7 Tarrasch and the McCutcheon and the 7. ... Be7 Steinitz.

NoNoo made some very useful suggestions, so I'll just add a few of my own that I hope are of some help.

Since we're on the ChessPub forum, John Watson, the French expert on ChessPublishing, comes to mind readily.  His Play the French books (of which the 4th edition is the latest) have been used by French players for decades.  The 4th edition, like the preceding ones, offers multiple repertoire choices for Black in many variations.  For example, both the Winawer and the Classical 3...Nf6 are offered in response to 3.Nc3, with 3...Nf6 leading to the Steinitz or McCutcheon variation.  And even within the Winawer, Watson offers the mainline Poison Pawn and 6...Qa5, which he refers to as the Portisch-Hook variation.  The two choices for the Advance are the traditional 4...Nc6 + 5...Qb6 and the less common 5...Nh6.  On the other hand, 3...Nf6 is the only choice given for the Tarrasch.  However, it does give rise to the e5/d4 vs. e6/d5 pawn structure that the OP finds fascinating.  Given that the 4th edition was published in 2012, some of Watson's analysis is out of date and should be updated ...with Watson's analysis on ChessPublishing!

IMHO, the recent book with the best analysis on the Winawer is IM David Miedema's 2019 Modernized French Defense Volume 1 from Thinkers Publishing.  It comes to similar conclusions on some variations as Giri does in his Chessable course.  Also like Giri, Miedema offers both 12...Bd7 and 12...d4 in the Winawer Poison Pawn.  

Miedema's Volume 2 from 2020 covers 3...c5 vs. the Tarrasch, but with the uncommon approach of meeting 4.exd5 with 4...exd5, opting for the IQP positions that have generally been considered slightly better for White. In his analysis, Miedema admits White generally retains a tiny advantage with best play, but states that Black can equalize with accurate preparation.  In contrast, Giri meets 4.exd5 with 4...Qxd5, often yielding pawn structures more reminiscent of the Scandinavian rather than the French, with most of the central pawns exchanged off.  Thus 4...Qxd5 as presented by Giri does seem to offer a simpler path to equality, with numerous exchanges removing many of the pieces, though there are instances where Black has to rely on active counterplay to hold pawn-down endgames.  Neither of these 3...c5 recommendations will produce the locked e5/d4 vs. e6/d5 structure that interests the OP, except for Miedema's suggestion of meeting 4.Ngf3 with 4...Nf6, where 5.e5 Nfd7 transposes to the Universal variation that more commonly arises after 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5. Ngf3.

Sadly, Miedema gave up chess before completing Volume 3 covering the Advance, Exchange, and other White options.

I agree with NoNoo's comments on Kryvakin's two books.  To add a few more details, the recommendations are bit off the beaten track, such as the Armenian (5...Ba5 in response to 5.a3 in the Winawer), which I don't recall being covered in any other French repertoire book.  On the other hand, Kryvakin's other recommendation for the Winawer, the Portisch-Hook, is becoming a more common repertoire choice for avoiding the crazy complications of the Poison Pawn.  It's also suggested by both Watson (as noted above) and Tillis in the Chessable course mentioned by NoNoo, though Tillis calls it the "Shulman Variation".

One of Kryvakin's suggestions against the Tarrasch is 3...c5, heading for IQP positions, although different than those proposed by Miedema.  The other Kryvakin repertoire choice vs. the Tarrasch is the Guimard (3...Nc6), which he recommends for those needing to play for a win or seeking to surprise their opponent.  Again, I don't remember this being a recommendation in any other French repertoire.  If nothing else, the Guimard often produces the e5/d4 vs. e6/d5 structure that is of interest to the OP.

I'm currently working through Steve Giddin's The French Winawer move by move.  It's not a repertoire book, but rather a good introduction to the principal ideas in all of the variations within the Winawer.  In particular, Giddins provides a fine explanation of the evolution in the positional Winawer over time, from Botvinnik's early treatments in the 1940s through Korchnoi's refinements in the 1970s and up to the 2012 date of publication.  Given that date, the book is lacking in coverage of more recent developments such as Huschenbeth's 10.Qd3 in the Winawer, while the coverage of 7.h4 is a bit sparse considering how the popularity of this variation has increased in recent years.  In fact, Thinkers Publishing has an entire book devoted to 7.h4 in the "Coming Soon" section of their website.

In considering the French repertoire books that have come out in the last decade or so, the one with the author having the highest rating is The French Defence Reloaded by Nikita Vitiugov, published in 2012.  Many of the recommendations are mainstream, such as the mainline Winawer vs. 3.Nc3 and 3...c5 + 4...Qxd5 against the Tarrasch.  However, Vitiugov also gives some interesting alternatives, such as 6...Nc6 (instead of the usual 6...Ne7) in the Winawer, and the Morozevich variation (3...Be7) vs. the Tarrasch.  Other alternatives include the Classical (3...Nf6)  vs. 3.Nc3 and meeting the Tarrasch with the Rubinstein (3...dxe4).  Here again there's a need to update the analysis in the book.

Note that several of these French repertoire works were published around 2012.  There was a flood of such books in the 2010-2015 period, making it a great time to be a fan of the French.  It seemed like every few months there would be a new book on the market.  Unfortunately, these books are now in need of updates, and the flood has become more of a trickle.  Updated books are looking less likely given the popularity of alternatives such as Chessable, online database offerings such as those from Modern Chess, videos, and even ChessPublishing itself.  It may be wishful thinking on my part, but a new edition of Watson's Play the French has come out roughly every decade, so I hope there's a 5th edition in the works for the 2020s.

The latest French books from Everyman are The French Defence move by move by Damian Lemos (2021) and Opening Repertoire: The French Defence by Cyrus Lakdawala (2019).  The Lemos book doesn't offer a repertoire, but rather seeks to explain the major ideas behind the opening.  To me, the author avoids the thorny theoretical questions in the mainline Winawer by opting to cover the more obscure 4...Qd7 and 4...b6 variations.  At least Lemos covers both 3...Nf6 and 3...c5 vs. the Tarrasch.  

One's opinion of the Lakdawala book may well depend on how his style of writing comes across: entertaining or overly florid?  And by some odd coincidence, Lakdawala also recommends 4...b6/4...Qd7 in the Winawer.  He points to Petrosian's success with this approach, which immediately reminded me of Giddins' comment in his French Winawer move by move about trying to play like "Iron Tigran": " There really are not many Petrosians around, believe me."  Giddins also added Psakhis' lament about playing the 4...b6/4...Qd7 variation: "If this system were judged purely on the results of my games, it would be prohibited by law, so low is my score with it." When a well-regarded French expert like Psakhis expresses such an opinion, it does give one pause about adopting the variation.  

Lakdawala suggests 3...c5 against the Tarrasch and opts to go in for the long, complex variation involving the sacrifice of a white knight with 15.Nxg7.  This recommendation doesn't seem very practical, and Giri avoids it by deviating at move 10.  Also a comparison of Lakdawala's analysis with that presented by Aagaard and Ntirlis in Playing the French shows that Lakdawla doesn't cover as many White options.  

One point in favor of Lakdawala's book is that it's one of the few that recommends 5...Bd7 vs. the Advance.  Play can transpose to the Milner-Barry Gambit, and despite its relatively recent publication date, the book was written before the deferred form of the gambit became a hot item.  In contrast, Giri's Chessable course and Kryvakin's book (both from 2020) do offer some coverage, although both oddly never refer to the gambit by name.

The Uhlmann book mentioned by the OP is a collection of the author's notable games playing Black in the French.  Nearly all are won by Uhlmann, though he does include his loss to Karpov in the Tarrasch from Madrid 1973.  The games run from 1951 to 1990, at least in the English edition (Winning with the French), which was published in 1995.  The book presents numerous thematic ideas in the French, some of which were introduced by Uhlmann himself.  Given the publication date, it isn't an up-to-date coverage.  However, many of his wins are quite inspirational to a beginning French player.  For those who read German, there were several updates of Uhlmann's book, with the last, the 4th edition, appearing in 2018.  The author did include a few 21st century games in these later editions, although those were by other players, which maybe isn't that surprising given Uhlmann's advanced age by that time.

Finally, regarding Psakhis - Batsford published his four-volume set on the French in 2003-2004.  This was one of the last works to attempt a complete coverage of the French from both sides.  I seem to recall reviews concluding that the books were informative, but a bit of a mess when it came to their organization.

As NoNoo noted, the choice of repertoire books will depend on which variations are preferred by the OP.  I've tried to point out the main recommendations of most of the books I've covered here.

I am interested in learning how to play the french. I am a little fascinated by it at the moment. for what ever reason I am under the impression that everytime white plays d4 and e5, with that pawn structure I begin to believe that that position can be turned to something advantegeous for black.

this might or might not be true but i see that pawn structure as what every french player wants from the opening to dissolve the center with c5 and f6.

for what ever reason I think the advanced french should always be won by black if the french is really what its supposed to be, a weapon.


anyhow, those are my thoughts and feelings about the opening. I am interested in knowing if you guys know what the best resources might be on the opening to learn how to play it.

there is the quality chess emmanuel berg books, theres the uhlmann books, theres the psakhis books, there seems to be some resources.

anything else, like videos, or dvds, or any other product i would be happy to hear about it. I would like to become a new french connosseur.