The Tiger Chess French Defence Course is an advanced, stand-alone opening course which builds on the treatment of the French presented in the Building an Opening Repertoire course. It features over 11 hours of video which explain key games and ideas plus a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations that can be built upon, extended and important into software such as Chess Position Trainer. The 88 games presented are also included in pgn format, but without annotations.
The French is an excellent defence to choose as Black, it is solid and helps foster positional understanding. The choice of variations is designed to make it easy to learn and remember, with the focus being on reaching and playing certain typical key middle game and endgame positions. All the variations are examined more deeply than in the Building an Opening Repertoire course and some new lines have been introduced.
The main change from the Building an Opening Repertoire lines is that are new ways of meeting both 3.Nd2 and 3.Nc3 instead of the Rubinstein Variation with 3...dxe4. Against 3.Nc3 it is still possible to reach a Rubinstein after 3...Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7, though in this case White has lost many of his best anti-Rubinstein options because his bishop already stands on g5. White also has 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 available, but here Black has a good line in 4...Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6, aiming to get counterplay with 8...b7-b5.
Against the Tarrasch Variation with 3.Nd2 the recommended line is 3...c5 after which 4.exd5 Qxd5 produces a pawn structure that is very similar to those that arise from the Rubinstein Variation. Black often obtains a favourable endgame by centralising his king and then advancing his kingside pawns. White has a major alternative in 4.Ngf3 after which the recommendation is 4...cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6.
The recommended line against 3.e5 is still 3...c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nge7, but the lines are examined in greater depth and with more ambitious options on offer for Black. The same is true of the Exchange Variation where 4.Bd3 is answered by 4...Nc6 and 4.Nf3 by 4...Bd6. There is also the same plan against the King's Indian Attack and 2.Qe2 lines where Black delays playing ...d7-d5 until he has castled so as to make room for his knight on e8.
This course is suitable for players over 1700 Elo who want a high quality defence against 1.e4 that is based on plans and strategy rather than tricks and traps. You need to be a Tiger Chess member to get it and continue to view it, which is why it priced at just $15.95. You can get it at the add-on videos page but need to be a logged on member to see the option to purchase it.
Nigel Davies
