French - Many Sophisticated Move Orders!

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who reaches out to me, shares new ideas, and inspires me to explore new directions. Thanks!

In the previous post we covered the ancient Caro Kann Defence from the White side. This time, we will tackle another venerable opening from the White side, the French Defence. In recent years, top players have been taking the French very seriously, as shown by the fact that Ding Liren employed it in his World Championship matches against Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh, while Aronian has also become a frequent practitioner of the opening.

The main line with 3.Nc3 has recently encountered several obstacles. After 3...Nf6, Black can meet 4.e5 with 4...Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2, while 4.Bg5 is answered by 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7. As a result, other approaches such as the Advance, Exchange, and Tarrasch Variations deserve closer attention.

In this article, we will focus on the Tarrasch Variation, and more specifically on Black’s 3...c5, a move that many regard as the most annoying reply.

For those who are new to the blog: I try to keep things honest here and that’s something readers seem to appreciate. I’m not going to promise things that aren't there. That means I can’t promise any objective advantage against the French. Chess is 0.00. The French is 0.00. And if anyone ever promises you more than that, healthy scepticism is advised. What we can aim for, however, is to ask some difficult practical questions over the board. And that’s exactly what we’ll try to do here. Let’s see how it goes!

5.Ngf3 or 5.Bb5+ (Move Order Debate)

5.Bb5+ Bd7 (Independent Line)

5.Bb5+ Nc6 (Modern Tabiya)

Have fun with this idea in the French Tarrasch! Please let me know in case you got the chance to try it out in practice :)

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Feel free to reach out to me or use the forum. Insights, questions and suggestions are very welcome!
~LittleSoapBubble