23
votes
Accepted
Why does black have a higher win rate on Lichess in Exchange French?
One possible reason:
Although black is in no way better after it, the move 3.exd5 is rather unambitious and increases the chances of a draw. Therefore it is more likely to be played in games where ...
- 358
15
votes
Why is Leela so good at beating Stockfish in the French/Slav?
Well, it is a small sample, but assuming that there are a lot more games like these, I think it could be the following things.
First, I am not sure when we first humans first decided that space was ...
- 32.7k
15
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Why does black have a higher win rate on Lichess in Exchange French?
Stefan already pointed out a hypothesis for this phenomenon and it appears to be accurate:
The average rating of people playing the move 3.exd5 in the lichess masters database is 2365, whereas the ...
- 3,646
14
votes
Is the French defense at a 3700 Elo level "completely refuted"?
No
I follow computer chess avidly and so have seen lots of such French games where both engines get massacred as Black.* However, this doesn't mean the French is refuted. With engines as strong as ...
- 28.3k
13
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Why is the French defence not played at the highest level?
I'm a French Defense player. As Peter Svidler opined in his interview on Chess24, "If the white player would prefer a quiet life he will find it harder to find a quiet life in the French than in the ...
- 3,357
13
votes
Why not 5.Bd2 in the French Defense: Exchange Variation?
It appears to be 4...Bb4+ that's the unusual move here. The chess.com database only shows one game with it, and that's the game that continued with 5.c3. When you have the position after Bb4+ on the ...
- 19.9k
11
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Why is Leela so good at beating Stockfish in the French/Slav?
Because of the enormous skill difference between these computers and humans, any kind of analysis will inevitably be post-hoc. We can tell ourselves stories about how "Stockfish should have [insert ...
- 628
11
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Why is Leela so good at beating Stockfish in the French/Slav?
Generally speaking, Leela tends to have a better "intuition" and Stockfish is very good at brute force calculations. So in a structure like the French/Caro-Kann, where calculation becomes less ...
- 19.9k
11
votes
Accepted
Development problems for black after f4 in French Defence
You're playing a very sharp opening line that only works thanks to the option of playing 10...g5!. You should only enter this type of position if you're aware of what you're doing. Otherwise you'd be ...
- 16.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Seeking in-depth coverage of this French defense sideline
There's a 12-page chapter on this position in Cristoph Wisneski's "Play 1...Nc6!: A complete chess opening repertoire for Black." In that book it's reached via 1.e4 Nc6, 2.d4 d5, 3.Nc3 e6. More ...
- 1,028
9
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale behind Black playing e6 in so many openings?
In the French Defense, the modest pawn advance in e6 simply plans to challenge the e4-pawn by d5, without having to recapture with the Queen after a possible capture in d5. The idea is thus similar to ...
- 3,525
8
votes
Why is Na5 not played in this line of the French Defense, Advance Variation?
The Nbd2 --> Nc4 plan to protect the bishop doesn't work because c4 is attacked by black's pawn. Stockfish takes a more direct route to kick the pin:
[fen "r1b1kb1r/pp3ppp/1q2p3/n2pPn2/1P1P4/P4N2/...
- 2,234
8
votes
Accepted
Why is Na5 not played in this line of the French Defense, Advance Variation?
The plan you outlined with ...Bd7, ...Rc8, ...Nc4 is a good strategical plan, but there are a few concrete reasons it doesn't work well:
In the opening you should be focusing on developing all your ...
- 19.9k
8
votes
Accepted
French defense: Key ideas on the Winawer
Since the question is posed very generally, I'll only give a rough overview of some of the more typical ideas behind the Winawer for black. I'll mostly focus on positions after 4.e5 as that is the key ...
- 12k
8
votes
Accepted
How this game is denoted as French Advanced Variation?
I apologize for posting a comment as an answer, but this is the only way for me to include diagrams, which I find helpful.
You have entered Advanced French defense by transposition.
After 1.e4 d5 2....
- 11.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Definition: What is meant by "bishop pair" in this context?
"Bishop pair" is a chess term indicating you have the pair of bishops - i.e. one bishop covering the light squares and one bishop covering the dark squares. If, after a3, Black plays ...Bxc3 ...
- 28.3k
7
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Why is the French defence not played at the highest level?
No source, and I understand you're not asking about this, but I'm writing this anyway because I suspect you'll be interested.
I'm told at the highest level (correspondence chess), 1. e4 e6 is at best ...
- 28.3k
7
votes
Why is the Exchange French considered drawish?
Well, first, when you are lower-rated, there really is no opening that can be considered drawish since it takes a fair amount of skill to be able to draw at will. That is often a skill associated more ...
- 32.7k
7
votes
Seeking in-depth coverage of this French defense sideline
There's also a chapter on it in "Dangerous Weapons: French" by John Watson from Everyman (2007)
- 71
6
votes
Reference for good French Defense games?
First, you need to narrow down your scope a bit. The French Defense has a massive amount of theory and you only need to learn a small portion of that to play it competitively.
You'll most commonly ...
- 7,594
6
votes
Why is it a good idea to retreat the bishop into the pawn chain in this variation of the Caro Kann?
The immediate point of Bd7 versus Bg6 is to prevent White from playing 6 e6 which could give Black's King a lot of trouble.
Generally, Black cannot entirely avoid White's g4 anyway (it's always a ...
- 61
6
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't white play Bd2 after this ...Qa5+?
The point here is that Bd2 blocks your queen's mobility and also leaves the defense of the d4 square. So after say Qb6 you pretty much have to go back with Be3, which will move closer to a draw by ...
- 703
6
votes
Accepted
Why isn't 5. f4 considered strong in the French Advance, main line?
After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.f4, black can put white's center under pressure very quickly. For example, after 5....Nh6 6.Nf3, black is already better after 6....Qb6 or 6....cxd4 7.cxd4 Nf5....
- 5,546
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How to play the French as White
Three most common replies to the French are 3.Nc3, 3.Nd2 and 3.e5, in your question you are ruling out 3.Nc3 and 3.e5, so 3.Nd2, the Tarrasch, seems like a natural suggestion, and it is less sharp ...
- 6,536
6
votes
Franco-Sicilian Defense Theory
It is certainly playable. The main drawback is that you give White the choice between two very different mainline openings:
3.Nf3 transposes to a Sicilian, where Black is already committed to e6 (Kan,...
- 270
6
votes
Development problems for black after f4 in French Defence
I am pretty sure the first 10 moves are pretty ok, but after Kg2 you are supposed to play either 0-0 or g5 (maybe some other moves are fine too; fxe fxe 0-0 is also not too bad I suppose), but Kf7 ...
- 1,326
6
votes
Accepted
In French Defense Advance Variation, why does white play an early f4?
As suggested, I'll convert my comment to an answer. Given this format however, I reckon a list makes more sense. So let's see how the move 5.f4 changes the position:
5.f4 is a slow move that wastes ...
- 8,018
6
votes
Is the French defense at a 3700 Elo level "completely refuted"?
For what it's worth, in high-level correspondence play, the French is considered highly suspect. Maybe black can draw with very accurate play, but certainly he has a much harder job than in either 1. ...
- 2,708
5
votes
Why is the French defence not played at the highest level?
The French is played at the highest levels today. For example, the number # ranked player in the world Caruana uses it. There is no refutation of the French. It's a sound opening. However, it may ...
- 977
5
votes
Why is the French defence not played at the highest level?
The French Defense requires a lot of sharp, tactical play. It is "like" the Sicilian insofar as it tries to avoid e5 as a response to e4, and take away the initiative from White. But although "...
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