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The French Defense isn't playable

french is very much ok (ofc. not 1.e4 e5 level but fairly decent from the theoretical standpoint) and has some advantages in practical OTB play between humans/amateurs.

E.g. being pretty concise for a major opening or offering the ability to farm some CM-level players :P

There are some flaws too, e.g. being maybe less good at "shutting down" vs much stronger opponents, but well - you can't have it all.

french is very much ok (ofc. not 1.e4 e5 level but fairly decent from the theoretical standpoint) and has some advantages in practical OTB play between humans/amateurs. E.g. being pretty concise for a major opening or offering the ability to farm some CM-level players :P There are some flaws too, e.g. being maybe less good at "shutting down" vs much stronger opponents, but well - you can't have it all.

@squirrel36 said in #89:

The results of the games prove the practicality of the opening. The way the blog is written it seems black lost many games in the french but the french has many other results with interesting positions. After a game the scoresheet is signed 0-1 not Well white was winning but blundered.

The study mostly is about the Hector variation (Millner Barry without cxd4) and the 7...Qb6?! Boleslavsky variation. 2 very specific topics. And you can't discard the game results as a data as it is a sign of a very likely pro-white bias in game selection. The blog post starts with the author saying he started his investigations with a clear objective in mind.

@squirrel36 said in #89: > The results of the games prove the practicality of the opening. The way the blog is written it seems black lost many games in the french but the french has many other results with interesting positions. After a game the scoresheet is signed 0-1 not Well white was winning but blundered. The study mostly is about the Hector variation (Millner Barry without cxd4) and the 7...Qb6?! Boleslavsky variation. 2 very specific topics. And you can't discard the game results as a data as it is a sign of a very likely pro-white bias in game selection. The blog post starts with the author saying he started his investigations with a clear objective in mind.

@playingsomerapid said in #91:

Let's forget about your small hit :)

I am working on making the french defense work.

The 3rd part of this blog is coming with a more playable approach for the black pieces.
If I realise that there's yet no easy way to play with the black pieces over 2200-2300 level, then I won't change my mind.

The Advance variation is a really good weapon against the french and since I have to find a solution for a student of mine, I'll release some novelties for you (the Lichess humain beings)

@playingsomerapid said in #91: > Let's forget about your small hit :) I am working on making the french defense work. The 3rd part of this blog is coming with a more playable approach for the black pieces. If I realise that there's yet no easy way to play with the black pieces over 2200-2300 level, then I won't change my mind. The Advance variation is a really good weapon against the french and since I have to find a solution for a student of mine, I'll release some novelties for you (the Lichess humain beings)

My study about the Millner Barry from black perspective. I don't think it's that bad but it needs some homework.

h.ttps://lichess.org/study/JwrZZRBz (minus the dot)

https://lichess.org/study/JwrZZRBz

My study about the Millner Barry from black perspective. I don't think it's that bad but it needs some homework. h.ttps://lichess.org/study/JwrZZRBz (minus the dot) https://lichess.org/study/JwrZZRBz

quick question how is this study?

https://lichess.org/study/4maabtQg

just wondering as it is my first public intended to public study.

quick question how is this study? https://lichess.org/study/4maabtQg just wondering as it is my first public intended to public study.

@Folichon said in #94:

My study about the Millner Barry from black perspective. I don't think it's that bad but it needs some homework.

h.ttps://lichess.org/study/JwrZZRBz (minus the dot)

Alright, so the main line (pratically playable) is Rc8 instead of Nge7.
The idea is if b4, then Nxb4 and all the captures are forced and should give a humanly difficult position to play, even though the engine says it's equal.

@Folichon said in #94: > My study about the Millner Barry from black perspective. I don't think it's that bad but it needs some homework. > > h.ttps://lichess.org/study/JwrZZRBz (minus the dot) Alright, so the main line (pratically playable) is Rc8 instead of Nge7. The idea is if b4, then Nxb4 and all the captures are forced and should give a humanly difficult position to play, even though the engine says it's equal.

8...Rc8 9.Nbd2 didn't convinced me. But 9...Rc8 I saw the idea and played it once on lichess.

https://lichess.org/3hhJwVpD/black#36

(The end is probably a mousslip, Qd7 is good to hold e6 and prepare g5)

8...Rc8 9.Nbd2 didn't convinced me. But 9...Rc8 I saw the idea and played it once on lichess. https://lichess.org/3hhJwVpD/black#36 (The end is probably a mousslip, Qd7 is good to hold e6 and prepare g5)

@loristavernier said in #93:

Let's forget about your small hit :)

I am working on making the french defense work.

The 3rd part of this blog is coming with a more playable approach for the black pieces.
If I realise that there's yet no easy way to play with the black pieces over 2200-2300 level, then I won't change my mind.

The Advance variation is a really good weapon against the french and since I have to find a solution for a student of mine, I'll release some novelties for you (the Lichess humain beings)

So first of all Black is not obliged to play the Qb6 lines, Bd7 and Nge7 are fine too and disarm some MBG lines fine enough. I agree that there is some potential for White players to negate skill differences in the Qb6 lines, but it's fine to avoid those things vs lower rated players or MBG afficionados.

Second: I think you overstate the practical difficulties Black has in French. In the last 1-2 years I got 3/3 OTB in advanced French vs players ranging between 2000-2250. Their understanding and handling of the resulting positions was...not exactly optimal.

It is ofc subjective but I do not think I would have had that success vs weaker (on paper) players with let's say 1.e4 e5 or Sicilian.

There are downsides to French too like the difficulty to completely "shut down" the game vs GMs or strong IMs. But overall I choose French exactly for its practical strength and find your concerns quite overblown for (high) amateur level.

@loristavernier said in #93: > Let's forget about your small hit :) > > I am working on making the french defense work. > > The 3rd part of this blog is coming with a more playable approach for the black pieces. > If I realise that there's yet no easy way to play with the black pieces over 2200-2300 level, then I won't change my mind. > > The Advance variation is a really good weapon against the french and since I have to find a solution for a student of mine, I'll release some novelties for you (the Lichess humain beings) So first of all Black is not obliged to play the Qb6 lines, Bd7 and Nge7 are fine too and disarm some MBG lines fine enough. I agree that there is some potential for White players to negate skill differences in the Qb6 lines, but it's fine to avoid those things vs lower rated players or MBG afficionados. Second: I think you overstate the practical difficulties Black has in French. In the last 1-2 years I got 3/3 OTB in advanced French vs players ranging between 2000-2250. Their understanding and handling of the resulting positions was...not exactly optimal. It is ofc subjective but I do not think I would have had that success vs weaker (on paper) players with let's say 1.e4 e5 or Sicilian. There are downsides to French too like the difficulty to completely "shut down" the game vs GMs or strong IMs. But overall I choose French exactly for its practical strength and find your concerns quite overblown for (high) amateur level.

(on the night before an important round)
If I turn Stockfish 17 on Najdorf Sicilian,,,,, it will ruin the elegance of sicilian defense.......
If I turn on Engine on Taimanov Sicilian,,,,, it will ruin the system in just 10 minutes.......
If I turn Engine on Dragon Sicilian.........Aren't you afraid what will happen?......
If I turn Engine in Sveshnikov Sicilian for sometime,,,,, White will be proved superior......

If I turn Stockfish 17 on Modern Defense,,,,,, black will live in a mess..........
If I turn on Engine on King's Indian Defense,,,,,, Black will lose very easily......
If I turn Engine on Pirc Defense,,,,,, You will start to hate it.......

If I turn on Engine on Benko Gambit,,,,,,, You will stop playing it......

If I turn on Engine on French Defense,,,,, Black will perfectly hold, but no win,,,,

If I play caro-kann defense,,,,,,,, Black will perfectly hold, but no win.......

"Yeah, I will play e5 to win as c6,e6,c5,g6 are nonsense!"
"But.... will I win?"

...................

(on the night before an important round) If I turn Stockfish 17 on Najdorf Sicilian,,,,, it will ruin the elegance of sicilian defense....... If I turn on Engine on Taimanov Sicilian,,,,, it will ruin the system in just 10 minutes....... If I turn Engine on Dragon Sicilian.........Aren't you afraid what will happen?...... If I turn Engine in Sveshnikov Sicilian for sometime,,,,, White will be proved superior...... If I turn Stockfish 17 on Modern Defense,,,,,, black will live in a mess.......... If I turn on Engine on King's Indian Defense,,,,,, Black will lose very easily...... If I turn Engine on Pirc Defense,,,,,, You will start to hate it....... If I turn on Engine on Benko Gambit,,,,,,, You will stop playing it...... If I turn on Engine on French Defense,,,,, Black will perfectly hold, but no win,,,, If I play caro-kann defense,,,,,,,, Black will perfectly hold, but no win....... "Yeah, I will play e5 to win as c6,e6,c5,g6 are nonsense!" "But.... will I win?" ...................