French Defence: free opening course

Key ideas

• Strike at the base of White's pawn chain with ...c5 (against d4) and, later, ...f6 (against e5).
• Pile up on d4 with ...Nc6, ...Qb6 and ...Nf5 (or ...Nh6-f5) when White plays e5.
• The light-squared bishop on c8 is Black's problem piece: trade it with ...b6/...Ba6 or ...Bd7-b5, or activate it after ...f6/...e5.
• When White castles long or advances on the kingside, counter-attack fast on the queenside with ...a6, ...b5 and the open c-file.
• In the Winawer, give up the dark-squared bishop with ...Bxc3+ to damage White's queenside pawns, then attack the c3 pawn and the weakened dark squares.

The 6 variations in the course

• Advance Variation: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 … — White grabs space with 3.e5. Black hits d4 at once with ...c5, ...Nc6, ...Qb6 and the knight route ...Nh6-f5, then expands on the queenside with ...b5.
• Exchange Variation: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. O-O O-O … — White exchanges on d5 for a symmetrical, open position. Black frees the light-squared bishop at once, develops with ...Bd6, ...Ne7, ...Bg4 and ...Nbc6, and fights for the open e-file.
• Tarrasch Variation 3.Nd2 c5: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd6 … — White plays 3.Nd2 to avoid the Winawer pin. Black strikes with 3...c5, accepts an isolated-pawn-free but open position after 4.exd5 Qxd5, and gets quick development with ...cxd4, ...Qd6, ...Nf6 and ...Nc6.
• Winawer: Poisoned Pawn: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 … — Black pins the c3 knight with 3...Bb4 and gives up the bishop to wreck White's queenside pawns. After 7.Qg4 Black lets White take g7 and h7 in return for a ferocious counter-attack on c3 and the centre.
• Classical: Steinitz 4.e5: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 … — After 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 the knight drops back to d7 and Black hits the chain with ...c5 and ...Nc6. White builds with f4, Nf3 and Be3; Black uses ...Bc5 and a queenside pawn storm while White castles long.
• Classical: 4.Bg5 Be7: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 … — White pins the f6 knight. Black unpins with 4...Be7; after 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 Black has traded the bad dark-squared bishop problem away and gets play with ...a6, ...c5 and ...Nc6.

Traps you will learn (3)

• Advance: the overloaded d4 pawn — In the Advance French Black piles up on d4 with knights on c6 and f5 and the queen on b6. If White castles carelessly with 9.O-O, d4 falls; and if White then recaptures on d4 with the queen, Black's queen on b6 takes it.
• Warning: the Bb5+ discovered attack — A warning for Black. When White's bishop sits on d3 blocking the d-file, grabbing d4 with ...Nxd4 and ...Qxd4 looks free, but Bb5+ opens the queen's line to d4 and wins Black's queen. Always play ...Bd7 first to cover b5.
• Winawer Poisoned Pawn: the ...Qc3+ fork — In the Poisoned Pawn, Black's queen on c7 eyes c3. If White carelessly opens the c-file with cxd4 and then takes a knight on d4, ...Qc3+ forks the king and the a1 rook.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.