Black can enter the French defence, as a separate opening, on move
one. I believe that seems to be comfortable for him – to have a reliable
defence against 1.е4. The point is however, that chess is becoming
more popular and universal and you should have various weapons in
your opening armour. Still, if you change skilfully your variations inside
the French defence, it may serve you faithfully for Black even if it
is your only way to counter 1.e4.
According to the generally accepted classification, the French defence
is semi-open. I think it can suit the style both of aggressive tactical
players, as well as of the adherents to the patient positional maneuvering.
The philosophical justification of the French defence is quite solid.
Black complies with the fact that he will fail to compete with White
for the dominance of every square on the chessboard, right from the
beginning of the game. On the other hand, he fights fiercely for the
centre and attacks it with undermining pawn-moves like с7-с5 and f7-
f6 and exerts piece-pressure with Bf8-b4, Ng8-f6, Nb8-c6, Ng8-e7-f5,
Qd8-b6.
The arguments pro and against the correctness of the French defence
have begun long ago and continue until now. The main themes
are Black’s lack of space and the consequence of that – the fate of his
light-squared bishop, which is severely restricted right on move one.
Meanwhile, all “French” players know quite well the rule that sometimes,
at the decisive moment of the game, the same “bad” French
bishop inflicts the decisive strike, settling the issue.

In this book you will not find the equivocal answer to principled
questions of the type “Can you equalize by playing the French defence?”,
or “Can White obtain a convincing advantage after 1...е6?”. Chess is a
mini-model of life and the same principles are applicable – there are
many questions and no final answers. We have already seen in the
French defence striking novelties in variations with perfect reputation,
as well as rehabilitation of lines long past and forgotten. Accordingly, I
have decided to present to my readers the French defence – the way I
see and understand it.
I believe that chess players of all levels can find in this book something
new. It will enable some of you to include the French defence in
your opening repertoire and for some others to enrich your opening
knowledge and sharpen the understanding of its ideas.
The time has long passed when you could have played the opening
only according to common sense. Therefore, there are many extensive
analyses of concrete positions in the book and new ideas discovered in
the process of preparation for games and tournaments.
This book has been written from the point of view of Black, but this
should preclude studying it by players who prefer the White side of the
French defence. It is always useful to know something thoroughly. It
may happen that a player, who loves the White side against the French,
might become an ardent fan of it as Black!
Nikita Vitiugov
Saint-Petersburg, April 2010

The variation:
 
Part 1. White avoids the main lines
1.e4 e6
1 2.b3; 2.f4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 2.d3; 2.Qe2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3; 3.e5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Part 2. The Advance Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6
6 6.Be2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7 6.Bd3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8 6.a3 Nh6 7.b4 cxd4 8.Bxh6; 8.cxd4 Nf5 9.Be3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9 6.a3 Nh6 7.b4 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 9.Bb2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
10 6.a3 Bd7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Part 3. The Rubinstein Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7
11 5.g3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
12 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Nxf6 Nxf6 8.Bd2; 8.Bxf6; 8.Be3 . . . . . . . 56
13 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Nxf6 Nxf6 8.Bh4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
14 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6 Nxf6 7.g3; 7.Bd3; 7.Be2; 7.Be3 . . . . . . 71
15 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6 Nxf6 7.c3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
16 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6
Part 4. The Morozevich Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7
17 4.с3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
18 4.e5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
19 4.Ngf3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
20 4.Bd3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Part 5. The Tarrasch Variation with 3...c5
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5
21 4.c3; 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
22 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
23 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.Bb3; 7.Qe2 . . . . . . . 146
24 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Part 6. The Winawer Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nс3 Bb4
25 Various without 4.e5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
26 4.e5 b6; 4...c5 5.Qg4; 5.dxc5; 5.Bd2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
27 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Bd3; 7.h4; 7.a4; 7.Nf3 . . . . . 182
28 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Part 7. The Steinitz Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nс3 Nf6
29 4.Bd3; 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2; 5.Nf3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
30 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217