Anish Giri - Chessable Lifetime Repertoires: French Defense

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[White Introduction]

[Black Introduction]

[Result *]

1. e4 e6

{ The topic of this course is the French Defence, which arises after the moves 1.e4 e6 and is the third most popular opening against 1.e4. The French Defence, named after a correspondence chess match between the cities of London and Paris in 1834 @@StartBracket@@god bless Wikipedia@@EndBracket@@ is a fighting, yet reliable weapon at any level from the amateurs and club players, all the way up to the very top. It is strategically positioned between 1.e4 e5 which is too symmetric and 1.e4 c5 which is too risky @@StartBracket@@I dont know how else to sell you this opening@@EndBracket@@ and has been used by many strong players throughout history.I personally have played the French as my first childhood opening and although I havent returned to it all too much, I still have a soft spot for it, in particular for the fascinating Winawer variation @@StartBracket@@we will get to that!@@EndBracket@@. }

2. d4 d5

{ These moves are usually played automatically @@StartBracket@@although sidelines on move 2 will be carefully examined in this course too of course@@EndBracket@@ and now White is choosing between 3.e5, 3.Nd2 and by far the most critical, as well as the most popular move: 3.Nc3. Oh, and of course there are people who play 3.exd5 here. }

3. Nc3

{ 3.Nd2 This is really the most solid move. I have suffered in the positions that arise after 3Nf6 all of my childhood, but fortunately now that I am old and wise, I know better. 3c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 and as the d4-and c5-pawns get traded, we get a particular structure that requires some care and experience. I will give you care, but you will have to gain the experience yourself. 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 This is one of the tabiyas here. 3.e5 This move is clearly principled too and some even claim this to be the best way to punish our petite French adventure. Not so easy. 3c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 and while structurally, White has a lot of potential on the kingside, due to his advanced e5-pawn and the h4-h5 potential, in reality he has to deal with nasty pressure on the d4-and b2-pawns. As we will see, Black is in good theoretical shape here, if he knows what he is doing. 3.exd5 exd5 It is very possible to outplay and get outplayed in a position like this. In particular, the fact that Black hasnt committed to Nf6 yet, gives us some flexibility with plans involving Ne7. We will get to that. }

3 Bb4

{ This is the starting position of the Winawer variation. Most cultured opponents would automatically go 4.e5 here, but there are the diehards who try to be funky with moves like 4. Qg4, 4.Nge2, 4.a3, 4.Bd2 4.Bd3 and what not. Recently I even saw 4.Qd3 passing by. And of course, there are those who have studied Harikrishnas excellent Chessable course and will attempt to French toast our Winawer with 4.exd5. }

4. e5 c5 5. a3

{ This is almost universally played, though I have encountered 5.Bd2 as well. The other moves are really odd, when White will struggle to keep control over the key central squares d4 and e5. }

5 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7

{ This is a major tabiya of the Winawer. Traditionally, White is choosing between the main and the most principled 7.Qg4, the simple 7.Nf3 and the cunning side pawn moves 7.h4 and 7.a4. Credit to humanity, both 7.h4 and 7.a4 were in fashion long before the infamous AlphaZero shook the chess world by reintroducing this concept of pushing the sidepawns down the board. Lets briefly discuss the merits of the theoretical moves and the general plans of both sides here. 7.Qg4 attacks the g7-pawn and forces an immediate decision from us. Against it, I recommend sacrificing the g7 pawn with Qc7. 7.Qg4 0-0 is the alternative, but as I promised, I prefer to never castle short, as White develops an initiative there far too quickly and I couldnt save Blacks position there. Besides Qg4, Whites other main idea is to push h4-h5 and create a desirable pawn structure on the kingside of e5+h5 vs e6-f7-g7-h6, when a long term f4-g4-f5-f6 breakthrough is on the cards. Black, in turn, has 2 sound positional ideas. One idea is to go b6-Ba6 and trade the light-squared bishop. Against that, White can either ignore it - as for example in the 7.h4 line - and proceed with his own kingside play. Or he can meet b6 with Bb5+ like in the 7.Nf3 line, and after Bd7 drop back to d3/e2. Or he can go a4, Bxb5 axb5 and once again focus on his kingside play with h4-h5, while Black tries to create some play on the queenside. Another idea for Black and the one we will mostly resort to is to eventually prepare 0-0-0 with Nbc6 and Bd7, Qa5/Qc7, closing the queenside with c4 and focusing on the f7-f6 break. The lately fashionable 7.h4 is particularly interesting, because it keeps the option of Qg4 open, while for example 7.Nf3 limits White to the slow plan of h4-h5 with the long-term bind. 7.a4 in turn prepares against both our plans - as 7b6 is now met with 8.Bb5+ disrupting our Ba6 plans, or the even more rough 8.Nh3! preparing Nf4-Nh5 after the bishop trade. And also against our 0-0-0, c4 and f6 idea, 7.a4 is quite useful as White will have the Ba3-Bd6 idea. Anyway, enough talk, lets look at the moves. }

7. Qg4

{ This is by far the main move and understandably so. White immediately goes after our weakest spot in the position - the g7 pawn. }

7 Qc7 8. Qxg7

{ Apart from the 8.Bd3 move that we have discussed at length, there is no other major alternative to this move at this point in time. }

8 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6

{ Taking on c3 first is possible too. The text move is traditionally considered the most flexible, though I have seen some creative people trying out some Na6-Nc5 set-ups, which believe it or not, deserve some investigation as well. 10dxc3 11.f4 Bd7!? 12.Qd3 Na6!? was played by the English Grandmaster Nicholas Pert twice and is surprisingly interesting. }

11. f4

{ Most of my childhood games went straight into this position and here it was considered very smart to start with 11Bd7 and not go 11dxc3 just yet. Many things changed ever since, but remarkably the line remains very topical. I had to face it myself against Magnus Carlsen in Wijk aan Zee just a couple of editions ago and Nepo was ready to go for it in the Candidates tournament. If its good enough for them, it should be good enough for us. Right? }

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[Event ?]

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[White Quickstarter Guide]

[Black Winawer 4.a3]

[Result *]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3

{ This is a sideline that I deal with in some detail in the theory section. }

4 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 dxe4 6. Qg4 Nf6 7. Qxg7 Rg8 8. Qh6 c5

{ There are many ways to play, but I advise the most straightforward continuation. }

9. Ne2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6 11. Bb2 Bd7

{ Intending to dominate the light squares on the queenside with Rc8 and Na5, while the king can find safety on g8. This is of course just a very brief summary of what the lines in the theory section are about. }

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[Event ?]

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[White Quickstarter Guide]

[Black Winawer 4.Nge2]

[Result *]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Ne2

{ is a very healthy sideline. I had some bad experiences here as Black, but for this course I decided not to kid around and recommend the most reliable of the options. }

4 dxe4 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 Nc6 7. d5

{ There is a serious alternative in 7.Bb5 which is dealt with in detail in the theory chapter. See here. }

7 exd5 8. Qxd5

{ White has got the bishop pair but his queen is quite exposed in the center, so Black gets some initiative in return. Often Black is fine in the endgames as well, because the weak c2-pawn is a constant issue for White. }