French Defense
A rock-solid, strategic defense to 1.e4. Build a resilient pawn chain, strike at the center with ...c5, and outplay opponents in rich middlegames.
Let's begin.
Press Learn to start, then play the moves yourself.
Play pawn to e6.
Variations in this course
Every line runs to a middlegame position with coach commentary at each fork. Playing Black, you'll meet:
- 1
Tarrasch Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2
- 2
Advance Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5
- 3
Exchange Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5
Take it with you
Export this repertoire as a standard PGN — with the coach's notes as comments — to study it in Lichess, ChessBase, or any board you like. Sidelines are saved as PGN variations.
Related courses
More from the Defenses to 1.e4.
Caro-Kann Defense
A super-solid answer to 1.e4 with none of the French's bad-bishop problems. Reach a healthy structure and a comfortable, resilient middlegame.
Modern Defense
Hand White the center, then dismantle it. The Modern fianchettoes the king's bishop and counterattacks with flexible, hypermodern plans.
Pirc Defense
A hypermodern counterattacking defense to 1.e4. Black concedes the center, develops flexibly, and strikes back with ...e5 or ...c5.
Alekhine Defense
Provoke White's pawns forward, then attack the overextended center. The Alekhine is the boldest hypermodern answer to 1.e4.