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Welcome to BK Academy of Chess.
Learn how to play with and against
the French Defense.
Reveiw basic themes,
basic structures,
and where to place the pieces.
This course moves quickly so
use pause to slow the video down.
Let us get started. This is
typical pawn structure
Black attacks on queen side
and attacks the middle with
f6, as follows:
opening the f-file
or the a7-g1 diagonal.
White attacks on the king side
For example, White tries to
play the Alekhine–Chatard attack,
as follows:
Notice this common attacking theme.
Saccifices the bishop on h7, followed by
Ng5+, theatening mate on h7 via Qh5+.
Notice Black must give up the queen but
captures 3 minor pieces in return.
How white advances the pawns
on the king side.
White can also try to stop Black
from attacking on the queen side
as follows:
Black can have problems with it's
light square bishop like in the game
S. Tarrasch versus R. Teichmann,
San Sebastián 1912
Black's bishop is blocked in
by it's own pawns.
Here are some ways to use
the light square bishop.
by attacking the c-pawn;
by transfering to the king's side;
by exchanging bishops
alone the a6-f1 diagonal.
white likes to play Bd3
so Black plays Qb6.
But Black must beware of
the following maneuver.
A discovdered attack with check!
So Black first plays Bd7.
White oftens sacrifices the d-pawn
as follows: This is known as the
Milner-Barry Gambit, named after
Sir Stuart Milner-Barry.
the long-term advantages lie with Black,
so White is forced to
attack by various methods
The classic bishop sacrifice (Bd3xh7)
should be evaluated at every move.
Viktor Korchnoi who, along with Botvinnik,
talked about how he would psychologically
lure his opponents into sacrificing material
and would win in the endgame, easily.
The Main Line of the French Defense: 3 Nc3
Black's 3 main options, 00:06:20,00,0:00:06:000 the Rubinstein Variation
the Winawer Variation
the Classical Variation
Variation by IM Helmut Reefschlaeger
This variation is named after
Akiba Rubinstein.
the Fort Knox Variation
played by Alexander Rustemov
4...Qd5 as avocated by IM Jeroen Bosch
Winawer Variation: 3...Bb4
named after Szymon Winawer
pioneered by Nimzowitsch and Botvinnik
the Poisoned Pawn Variation
Experts on the 7 Qg4 line include
Judit Polgár.
Winawer Advance Variation 7.Nf3
Sidelines
the Alekhine Gambit
the Armenian Variation, enriched by players
from that country such as Rafael Vaganian
Winawer Advance Variation
7.Nf3
Classical Variation: 3...Nf6
Burn Variation
a favorite of Evgeny Bareev
as played by
Alexander Morozevich and Gregory Kaidanov
devised by Adolf Albin and played by Chatard. Known as
the Albin–Chatard Attack or the Alekhine–Chatard Attack. 0:14:36.000,0:14:40.000
Garry Kasparov used it successfully
against Viktor Korchnoi in 2001
often seen in amateur games.
the McCutcheon Variation
The Steinitz Variation,
named after Wilhelm Steinitz.
the Shirov–Anand Variation
Pause the Video. If White plays
Be2, how should Black play?
Pause the Video. Why play cxd4?
The Exchange Variation: 3.exd5 exd5
An extreme example, Capablanca–Maróczy, 1926.
A less extreme example, Mikhail Gurevich–Short, 1990.
GMs Normunds Miezis and Maurice Ashley
as played by Tatai–Korchnoi
If c4 is not played,
White and Black have two main piece setups.
The first setup:
The second setup:
a third option, though not as common
The strategy for castling.
The Advance Variation: 3 e5
intending to take en passant
if White plays b4
White must plan prophylactically
and reply to 6...Nh6 with 7 Na3
preparing to defend the d4 pawn with Nc2.
5...Bd7 was mentioned by Greco as early as 1620
was revived by Viktor Korchnoi in the 1970s
Tarrasch Variation: 3 Nd2
is named after Siegbert Tarrasch.
during the 1970s and early 1980s
Anatoly Karpov used it to great effect