The French Defence is a solid counter-attacking response for Black when White starts with 1.e4. Black plays 1…e6, preparing to move d5 at the next turn to challenge White’s e4.

The opening moves in the French Defence are 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 .. White’s pawns quickly march to the centre and Black builds a pawn structure to challenge it. Here is how it looks on the board.

World champion Ding Liren has now used the French Defence twice against Gukesh in the first five games of the World Chess Championship.

Here are the important variations in the French Defence

a) Advance Variation: In this White pushes e5 to gain more territory. Black may in response attack White’s d4 with c5. Those following the 2024 World Chess Championship between India’s D Gukesh and China’s Ding Liren would notice this was the variation played in Game 1. Here is how the moves play out ….3. e5 c5 4. 4.c3 Nc6

b) Tarrasch Variation: 3. Nd2….White moves knight to d2, keeping the pawn lineup free. Black may respond with c5 or Nf6. The lines of development are not aggressive.

c) Exchange Variation: 3. exd5 . White simplifies the centre by exchanging pawns, though it does not give sharp positions for either side.

d) Steinitz Variation: This is when Black responds with 3… Nf6. The knight move Nf6 is a challenge to White’s centre pawns. Leads often to interesting play. Here are the moves 1) e4 e6 2) d4 d5 3) Nc3 Nf6

In the French Defence the advantage for White is the strong pawn centre from which it can launch forays into the other half of the board. Black would look to keep its defence solid while target White’s centre pawns.

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