Welcome to Part III of My 5 Great Enemies. In case you missed them, here are Part I (which also includes a brief introduction to the series) and Part II. Today I present to you Enemy #3: The French Defense.
Who, or what, is the French Defense?
The French Defense is the third most popular chess opening against white’s 1. e4. It is characterized by the move order 1. e4 e6, followed usually by black playing d5 after white’s second move. It is also characterized by having an extremely bad light-squared bishop and a terminally weak kingside. Stunningly, it can also be reached by transposition even if white plays 1. d4 because, apparently, some players will respond with e6 in the express hope that you will play 2. e4 and enter into a typical French. Baffling.
In order to begin to answer more fully the question of what the French Defense is, I would like to offer a novel classification of opening systems. I am quite confident that once my below ideas have been circulated in the chess community they will become the dominant way of conceiving of the various responses to 1. e4. To the editors of the Modern Chess Openings series: I’m quite sure you will want to use this material in your introduction, and I graciously offer you full and free use of my schematic taxonomy of the options.
There are 8 main moves that black players have employed to respond to 1. e4. These are e5, c5, e6, c6, d5, Nf6, d6, and g6. Fortuitously, these moves can be neatly subdivided twice.
Giving Up Before the Game Has Even Started
The first division is between moves that seek to challenge e4 and those which don’t. The moves e5, c5, d6, and g6 accept that white has played e4 and believe that there is nothing they black do about it. Let us now divide them further.
The Lazy Openings
The moves d6 and g6 in response to 1. e4 will hereafter be known as the Lazy Openings. Why? The answer is that d6 and g6 present not so much a theory of play against e4 as a desperate wish: to not have to learn more than one chess opening. Yes, d6 and g6 are a meek request from the black player for white to go into some kind of King’s Indian line. Rather than developing a broad repertoire and refining one’s chess skills in the great variety of positions that can arise in a game, black hopes to not have to study, to work, or even to ever play any positions outside of his very limited comfort zone. There is no deep strategy behind these moves, they are a cry for help. The black player does not really want to play chess, unless it is absolutely on his terms. Sounds quite boring and a little pathetic, no? Just wait until you find out what these people play as white. Hint: it often starts with Nf3, g2, Bg2, 0-0.
The Cowardly Openings
The other two moves that don’t challenge 1. e4 — e5 and c5 — will from now on be known as the Cowardly Openings. Players who choose the Double King’s Pawn or Sicilian think of themselves as strong and serious players, playing high class openings. But truly they are afraid. They accept that white is better, and that they have no way of disrupting his plans. They leave e4 unmolested entirely and, moreover, they take the first step towards permanently weakening the d5 square as well by pushing forward one of the pawns which controls it.
“Maybe if I embark on my own separate plans or just copy white’s moves I’ll be able to catch up to white eventually,” they think sadly. “Ooh look, I am exerting some control on the d4 square to counteract white’s control of d5.” The latter is, of course, a chimera. White can, and often will, play d4 whenever he chooses. Black’s control of that square is illusory. The opening struggle has already concluded and black has waved the white flag, believing he was unable to join the battle in the first place. He will fight the rest of the way from a position of weakness, both psychological and on the board.
Fighting Back Against e4, Refusing to Yield an Inch to White
The moves e6, c6, d5, and Nf6 take a very different approach. Their proponents argue for fighting white head on, taking up arms and challenging e4 directly. This is, of course, the best and most confident way of approaching the game. Let’s divide these openings again.
The Impulsive Openings
The Scandinavian (d5) and Alekhine’s Defense (Nf6), which we will now call the Impulsive Openings, have admirably taken up the right idea of challenging white’s e4 pawn. The problem is that they rashly lunge at it immediately, without proper support. While their plan is laudable, they only end up squandering many tempos and ceding strong central control to white. This method cannot be recommended. These openings are too hasty, not as calculating and clever as the final two choices.
The Logical Openings
So we are left with the two most sensible moves, known as the Logical Openings. The French Defense (e6) and myself (the Caro-Kann Defense, c6) correctly direct our energies at the e4 pawn, but only after carefully preparing the d5 thrust with a supporting pawn. This is the best way to play against 1. e4. You can see, with all of this explication out of the way, why I view the French as my chief rival. Luckily, of the two choices here, there is a Good Logical Opening (me) and a Terrible Logical Opening (the French). And yet…
What are its Greatest Crimes?
Crime #1: The French Defense is inexplicably more popular than the Caro-Kann!
It pains me to say this, but chess players appear to prefer to play the French Defense to the Caro-Kann by a comfortable margin. According to ChessBase (the free web-based version - as I lack human form I am unable to engage in financial transactions) the French Defense is played 12% of the time against 1. e4 as compared to 8% for me. Other databases show, if anything, worse numbers.
This is incredibly difficult to understand if you are familiar with these openings and the sorts of positions that arise out of them. Let’s use some sample positions to compare. Here, first, is a typical position that might arise out of a Caro-Kann opening:
Black to move
Looks pretty nice, right? Who wouldn’t want a position like that? Friend, if you take up the Caro-Kann, this is the sort of paradise that awaits.
Now let’s look at a characteristic French position:
This is terrible! Black’s pieces are horribly placed and his kingside is under heavy attack. Now, I know exactly what you are saying to yourself right now. “This isn’t fair, I’ve looked at my fair share of games in the French and this is not how they usually turn out.”
You’re right, I concede that in attempting to present a fair and even-handed comparison of the French and the Caro-Kann I went out of my way to show a kind of “best-case scenario” for the French. The above is the Dream Set-up where things have gone about as well as they can for black in the French. Perhaps we should look at a another example where black hasn’t in fact gotten most of what he wants:
If black can first parry the mating threats, he only needs
to play c5, Qa5, Bd7, and Bb5 to get that bishop onto a great square!
Yes, this is more like it. Just miserable. But can it get even worse than this, you ask? Indeed, here is an example from an incredibly real and not invented game of chess arising out of a French Defense:
Please refrain from asking any questions about how the
bishop arrived on a8 or about black’s pawn structure.
Ugly. Painful. Disgraceful. If these kinds of positions keep arising again and again, why do so many players choose to play the French and go into these lines?
Its frustrating because I want to praise French players. They have come so close to chess mastery. Let’s review what they have done right:
a) After very careful, through, and objective study of the position arising after the line 1. e4 they have arrived at the correct evaluation: Black is ok!
b) Deepening their understanding of the key elements of the position, they have also landed on the best plan: to challenge the e4 pawn.
c) They winnowed down the candidate moves from four to two, seeing that Nf6 and d5 aren’t sufficient.
But then, right at the last moment, due to some catastrophic calculation error or, worse, a woefully inaccurate assessment of the resulting positions, they have selected the wrong candidate move! And so many players are making this mistake. Tragic!
2) Crime #2: The French Defense is an atrocious opening and the Caro-Kann is just self-evidently superior in every way!
As I have already gently hinted, I do not think highly of the French Defense. It is simply the case that every line of the Caro-Kann is better than every line of the French. Perhaps the simplest way to demonstrate this is to compare their attributes in the major variations. Conveniently, there are three main ways of playing against both openings. White can Exchange, by playing exd5, white can play Classically by preserving the central tension on e4 and d5, and white can Advance by playing e5. Let’s compare each in turn:
What does black get in the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann?
1) Black has recaptured towards the center and now holds a 2-1 central pawn majority.
2) Black has a half-open c-file to play against, either directly or via a minority attack.
3) Black maintains easy development of the light-squared bishop, the most problematic piece to develop with a fixed light-squared central pawn.
4) White’s half-open file is less useful and he has no obvious weak points to attack.
Ok, what about about the Exchange Variation of the French:
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First of all, this is absolutely the most boring position in all of chess. Its not even that this is particularly good for white, its just miserable to play. Probably the best course of action for either player when faced with this position is to resign and go do something more enjoyable. Perhaps get a colonoscopy (unpleasant, but recommended for adults aged 50-75!), or put together some Ikea furniture. Why anyone would even sit down at a chess board with the plan to play a move that allows this position to arise is beyond me.
Now I already hear you Grandmasters heading down into the comments to say “Well actually, if you check out the theoretical developments in the Exchange French in the last 3 issues of TWIC you’ll find that there are some interesting nuances and clever new tri”- STOP! Stop right there, pedantic hypothetical GM. We’re not idiots, we can see with our own two eyes how boring this position is. If you wanted to play some Exchange French training matches with your friends where you chuckle together about some odd novelties and funny move-order tricks, have at it. But leave the rest of us out of it!
Any way, I digress. Here are the attributes of the Exchange French.
1) Black has recaptured with a central pawn instead of a c pawn, for no net gain of central control.
2) There is no half-open file to play down, only the fully open e file which will surely be controlled by white.
3) The position is completely symmetrical and white has the move.
4) Having no other obvious benefits, at least its the case that this is the one and only line in the French where black can quickly and comfortably develop his light-squared bishop to an active square.
Just kidding, 4. Bd3
Alright, now let’s look at the Classical Variations. First the Classical Caro-Kann:
What’s going on here?
1) It is not disadvantageous for black to resolve the tension by capturing with tempo.
2) Light-squared bishop will easily come out onto a good diagonal.
3) Still no obvious weak points for white to attack.
4) Huge variety of options for play, including opening the g file for a kingside attack, castling on opposite sides as white’s king, or simply waiting for white to overextend white h4-h5 and maneuver into a superior ending.
And the Classical French?
1) Exchanging to resolve the tension is considered bad and scores poorly.
2) Nightmare dealing with the bad light-squared bishop on c8.
3) Best try appears to be bringing out the one bishop that isn’t bad and then exchanging it for the c3 knight, giving white the two bishops.
Finally let’s look at the Advance Variations. First the Caro-Kann Advance:
1) The light-squared bishop is coming out and will be well placed.
2) Kingside will therefore have more defenders in the event of an attack.
3) Depending on variation, black again can play on either side of the board. h6-g5 or f6 are legitimate counterattacking options as alternatives to the typical c5 break.
And the French Advance?
1) c8 bishop is criminally bad.
2) Kingside minor pieces will be extremely hard to develop.
3) c5 can be played all at once without expending a tempo on c6 first.
And here it is. The one (and only) feature that French players constantly bring up to argue for the superiority of their opening. You’ve wasted a move with c6, they say, and you are a tempo down. The reply is almost too obvious to state, but for the record: comfortable development of the c8 bishop more than compensates for the loss of the tempo!
This is not a mere matter of opinion and I wanted to bring factual analysis to bear on this dispute, so I got in touch with a few of my friends - the Chess Engines - to ask them to weigh in. First I contacted Stockfish to ask for the eternal and verified values of:
a) a bishop outside of the pawn chain relative to a bad one locked behind it.
b) the worth of an extra tempo in a position with a closed center.
Here is the statement of Stockfish’s official spokesperson: “We have run the engine on the world’s strongest supercomputers for months and have definitively concluded that a bishop outside the pawn chain is seven-tenths of a pawn stronger than one behind it. We also determined that an extra tempo in a closed position where there are other compensating factors for the player down the tempo is worth one-tenth of a pawn.”
The exchange with Komodo was far more complicated. K asked “why is there even a bad bishop?” When I explained the French, K asked “still don’t understand why they wouldn’t just play c6?” Understood.
I think its fair to say this issue has been resolved and the Caro-Kann’s comprehensive superiority established.
Mitigating Factors
The French is terrible and eventually people will realize it and switch to the Caro-Kann!
Summary
Checkmate, French Defense (as you might have guessed, the checkmate was on the kingside).
Don't play it!
hes speaking what we are all thinking