French Defense

Chain against chain

Solid
Pawn chain

Black answers 1.e4 with e6 and follows with d5. Black gets a solid centre and play on the queenside, but pays with the c8 bishop, which ends up locked in by its own pawns. French games revolve around pawn chains: White advances on the kingside, Black hits the base of the chain.

Interactive Opening Board

7.Be3

♚

Black

♔

White

7.Be3

Speed:

Moves

(13 plies • 7 moves)

7.Be3Tabiya

The bishop covers d4 and lets White relax. A positional fight begins: White has space, Black has the c-file.

1–7moves
#WhiteBlack
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1.e4 The king's pawn takes the centre.

1…e6 The e6 pawn prepares d5 and starts the French Defence.

2.d4 White takes the centre with two pawns.

2…d5 Black hits e4 and does not let White spread out.

3.Nc3 The knight defends e4 and pressures d5.

3…Nf6 Black attacks e4 again.

4.e5 The pawn goes forward and drives the knight away. The d4–e5 chain appears.

4…Nfd7 The knight retreats to d7; from there it will hit e5.

5.f4 White props up e5 and the chain becomes sturdy.

5…c5 The main answer to a chain: hit its base, d4.

6.Nf3 The knight reinforces d4.

6…Nc6 A second blow at d4.

7.Be3 The bishop covers d4 and lets White relax. A positional fight begins: White has space, Black has the c-file.

Defining move

1…e6! — a pawn for d5

The move that sets the French apart from the Caro–Kann

The e6 pawn prepares d5 and holds the centre firmly. But it also shuts in the c8 bishop and condemns it to a long idle life. That price decides everything: Black gets reliability, but must find a way out for the bishop.

Tabiya

The classical chain

A position where the pawns have locked into chains: White has d4–e5–f4, Black d5–e6. Black has already hit d4 with the c5 pawn and the c6 knight. Black now plays …Qb6 or …a6, while White builds an attack on the kingside. The c8 bishop is still shut in, and the verdict on the position depends on its fate.

The centre

Chain against chain

White has the d4–e5 chain, Black d5–e6. Black hits the base of White's chain (d4), White the base of Black's (e6).

Key squaresd4e5c8

Outposts

d4The base of White's chain
The c5 pawn, the c6 knight and the queen all aim here. If d4 holds, White's centre holds.
c8The French bishop
The bishop is locked in by the d5 and e6 pawns. Its fate is the central question of the French.

Thematic breaks

c5Black
The …c7-c5 strike
Attack the base of White's chain, the d4 pawn.
What follows: If d4 falls, the whole chain collapses and Black gets room.
f6Black
The …f7-f6 break
Hit the e5 pawn, the second link of White's chain.
What follows: The centre opens, and the c8 bishop gets some air.
f5White
The f4-f5 advance
Open the f-file and create weaknesses around e6.
What follows: If it works, Black's chain breaks and White gets an attack on the king.

White’s plan

Hold d4 and reinforce the chain: f4, Nf3, Be3.
Advance on the kingside with the f and g pawns.
Do not let the c8 bishop escape.

Black’s plan

Hit the base of the chain: …c5, …Nc6, …Qb6.
Undermine e5 with …f6.
Find a road for the c8 bishop: …b6 and …Ba6, or …Bd7.

History

The defence got its name from a correspondence game between the London and Paris clubs in 1834, in which the Parisians chose this reply. Since then neither Rubinstein nor Botvinnik nor Korchnoi has given it up.