White's 3.e5 shuts down the center immediately. If you enjoy playing closed positions, the Advance Variation is a good pick for you. White avoids the Winawer lines and is prepared for a semi-open or fully open position. The White player can develop sensibly and use their central pawn wedge to their favor. The Tarrasch Variation scores well against the French Defense, with White winning 42%, drawing 30%, and losing 28%.

The variations below show promising results for White. Most of the popular lines in this opening have White winning or drawing most of the games. The well-prepared White player should score well against the French Defense.

White opts for a more solid approach to face the French, aiming for a slight but safe advantage. White's 3.Nd2 avoids the pin on the knight after Black's common 3.Bb4 (Winawer Variation, discussed below). The Tarrasch is one of the most popular variations of the French, and it starts after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2. Below you can read about the most popular variations of this opening: Tarrasch Variation Like many other classical openings that have been around for a long time, the French Defense has a lot of theory behind it.

Black's light-squared bishop is locked in.

The French Defense usually leads to closed, slow games, where piece maneuvering and pawn breaks are of the utmost importance. The downside to 1.e6 is that Black imprisons their light-squared bishop, something that doesn't happen in the Caro or Slav. The starting position of the French Defense. 1.e6 also opens lines for Black's dark-squared bishop and queen, an advantage over the Caro-Kann and Slav Defense (where Black also plays for the d7-d5 push). Black's move by prepares the d7-d5 push to challenge White's center immediately. Usually leading to slower games, this opening is a good choice for players of all levels. It has consistently been a part of masters' repertoire since the 1800s and one of the favorites of positional players. The French Defense is one of the most popular Black responses to 1.e4.

White chess opening moves