Wonderful explanations! I don't currently play the French Defense, but learning key motifs are still useful and very often these patterns repeat themselves in similar situations through different openings.
I'll say it once again. No chess UA-cam channel - and I've come across many in the last two years, especially the most well-known ones - is able to explain the game plans behind openings with such precision, clarity, and detail. The one who comes closest is Naroditsky, but he produces content of a different nature, so I don't know how meaningful it is to compare his channel with yours. This video is truly extraordinary.
Winawer is probably the reason I fell in love with the French Defense. Currently I'm having fun with the 6...Qa5 Portisch-Hook and the Kf8 Eingorn variations but I'll give the early b6 a try. Your videos are a pleasure to watch, thanks for providing a great resource to us Francophiles!
Sure feels like it, but according to the lichess database 3.Nc3 is actually played by 21%. I find the Advance is fairly easy to play against (easy to keep equal, at least), so most of my attention is on improving my play against Nc3 and Tarrasch.
Great video! What a crazy idea to play the bishop back to f8 but it makes sense the way you explain it. When I hear you talk about the French defense it sounds to me like these games are played in a completely different dimension than normal chess, almost as a new game.
Thanks! This thing with Bb4-f8 is something quite unexpected from the opponent's perspective, and I think these kind of moves and ideas can really make a difference in a real game. As a surprise weapon, but also as the main weapon in the Winawer. In this game I didn't mention the idea of playing c5 instead of h6 and a5, which is also quite interesting for Black. Overall, there is a lot of space to explore this further.
I love your videos, especially on the French! The videos are high-quality and easy to follow. As a player who employs both Slav and French as black, your videos are just perfect. I normally use d4 as white, but after seeing your English video, I'm almost tempted to go all-in on that :-). And it is not just the selection of videos as such, but how you explain it so well and bring up all the key concepts without complicating things. Artful! Is there any chance for a French Classical variation (and here is what I mean by "classical": 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nd7 Bxe7)?
Your feedback means a lot to me. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I'll definitely look into creating a video on the French Classical variation. Next one, by the way, will be on the Tarrasch French, as it is already in production! :)
I have always found French defense really mysterious and this is no exception. Excellent showcase!
Wonderful explanations! I don't currently play the French Defense, but learning key motifs are still useful and very often these patterns repeat themselves in similar situations through different openings.
I'll say it once again. No chess UA-cam channel - and I've come across many in the last two years, especially the most well-known ones - is able to explain the game plans behind openings with such precision, clarity, and detail. The one who comes closest is Naroditsky, but he produces content of a different nature, so I don't know how meaningful it is to compare his channel with yours. This video is truly extraordinary.
Wow! Thank you so much!! I need such confidence boost to continue and create/publish more often! 🍀
Winawer is probably the reason I fell in love with the French Defense. Currently I'm having fun with the 6...Qa5 Portisch-Hook and the Kf8 Eingorn variations but I'll give the early b6 a try. Your videos are a pleasure to watch, thanks for providing a great resource to us Francophiles!
The thing with the Winawer is it's not really played. 90 percent of games are either advanced/exchange.... And maybe 10 percent will be a Winawer.
Sure feels like it, but according to the lichess database 3.Nc3 is actually played by 21%. I find the Advance is fairly easy to play against (easy to keep equal, at least), so most of my attention is on improving my play against Nc3 and Tarrasch.
Tremendous work!!
Great video! What a crazy idea to play the bishop back to f8 but it makes sense the way you explain it. When I hear you talk about the French defense it sounds to me like these games are played in a completely different dimension than normal chess, almost as a new game.
Thanks! This thing with Bb4-f8 is something quite unexpected from the opponent's perspective, and I think these kind of moves and ideas can really make a difference in a real game. As a surprise weapon, but also as the main weapon in the Winawer.
In this game I didn't mention the idea of playing c5 instead of h6 and a5, which is also quite interesting for Black. Overall, there is a lot of space to explore this further.
I love your videos, especially on the French! The videos are high-quality and easy to follow. As a player who employs both Slav and French as black, your videos are just perfect. I normally use d4 as white, but after seeing your English video, I'm almost tempted to go all-in on that :-). And it is not just the selection of videos as such, but how you explain it so well and bring up all the key concepts without complicating things. Artful!
Is there any chance for a French Classical variation (and here is what I mean by "classical": 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nd7 Bxe7)?
Your feedback means a lot to me. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I'll definitely look into creating a video on the French Classical variation. Next one, by the way, will be on the Tarrasch French, as it is already in production! :)
Subscribed, very good