Beating the French

The French Defence can give White a lot of trouble below elite player level, and a lot of class players find it annoying, if only since it can often result in closed positions in the theoretically approved main lines, which also can require a lot of understanding and/or memory work. How to cut down the workload for the average player who doesn't want to give up playing 1.e4, especially over an opening he faces far less typically than the Sicilian or 1...e5? I'll offer some suggestions of my own, using the PGN viewer capability of this forum as an aid:


[Event "It"]
[Site "San Remo, ITA"]
[Date "1930"]
[Round ""]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander A"]
[Black "Nimzowitsch, Aaron"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 {White can cut down on the theory already here, e.g. with 2.Nc3 [or 2.Nf3 first] and if 2...d5 3.Nf3, or he might venture a King's Indian Attack by 2.d3 and if 2...d5 3.Nd2, which has some potency vs. the French} d5 3.Nc3 {3.exd5, leading to an open position in a simple way, might be underestimated these days. In my oldest big database, there's no Black wins in about 10 games played at the super-GM level. After 3...exd5, 4.Bd3, 4.Nf3 and 4.Nc3 all have at least a drop of poison for Black. Alternatively 3.e5 requires a lot of study in some lines if White is conscientious, as certainly does 3.Nd2 too.} Bb4 {The popular Winawer Variation. In case of 3...Nf6 White can cut down on the theory with 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bg5 [5.Bf4!?] with ideas of Qf3 or Bd3, even though this is not well respected; also possible is 4.e5, with much more theory to learn, but at least less than in case of 4.Bg5. If 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 White should be happy that Black gave up the centre, though if 4...Bd7 White may wish to avoid the super-solid & defensive Fort Knox idea [of ...Bc6 followed by taking a N developed to f3], notably with 5.c4 Bc6 6.Nc3 intending to avoid Ng1-f3}4.e5 {As White I've ventured 4.a3 at times, but it's risky. A positional approach is 4.Ne2, and 4.exd5 is still possible.} c5 {Other than maybe 4...Ne7, when 5.Bd2 is possible, Black seldom seems to play otherwise nowadays.} 5.Bd2 {Bogoljubov's move. French Winawer players don't face it much these days, and it takes fairly accurate play for Black to avoid ending up in a depressing position. The usual 5.a3 often leads to massive complications, which you might be more willing to go into if you already play the Black side of the Winawer yourself.} Ne7 {As Black I've experimented with 5...cxd4, hoping to complicate things. The move may not be quite as bad as reputed to be. Instead of it, 5...Nc6 and even 5...Nh6 are more respected alternatives.} 6.Nb5 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 O-O 8.c3 {8.dxc5 may be White's best here objectively, though Black can generate play after 8...Nd7 or 8...Nbc6, if he plays incisively [Alekhine's choice, or 8.f4, is natural, but seems to allow Black to slowly equalize with careful play, according to the theory I've seen].} b6 {Better was 8...Nbc6 or 8...f6!?, though White can relax with an edge after 8...Nf5 9.Bd3.} 9.f4 Ba6 10.Nf3 Qd7 11.a4 Nbc6 12.b4 cxb4 13.cxb4 Bb7 14.Nd6 f5 {Psakhis thinks it was already a matter of technique for a player of Alekhine's calibre. Still, a better try was 14...a5!? 15.b5 [15.Bb5 axb4] 15...Nb4.} 15.a5 Nc8 {If 15...bxa5? 16.b5!} 16.Nxb7 Qxb7 17.a6 Qf7 18.Bb5 N8e7 19.O-O h6 20.Rfc1 Rfc8 21.Rc2 Qe8 {If 21...Nd8 22.Rac1 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8 24.Rxc8 Nxc8 25.Qc3.} 22.Rac1 Rab8 23.Qe3 Rc7 24.Rc3 Qd7 25.R1c2 Kf8 26.Qc1 {This tripling of major pieces, with the queen in the rear, is known as 'Alekhine's Gun'.} Rbc8 27.Ba4 b5 28.Bxb5 Ke8 29.Ba4 Kd8 30.h4 h5 {Black is quickly getting into zugzwang.} 31.Kh2 g6 32.g3 1-0

Here's the wiki on the French Defence:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Defence