French Defence

The French Defence is a chess opening. It is characterised by the moves

1. e4 e6.

The French has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages. Black often gains counterattacking possibilities on the queenside while White tends to concentrate on the kingside.


Read more about French Defence:  Basics, General Themes, Main Line: 3 Nc3 (Paulsen Variation, ECO: C10), Exchange Variation: 3.exd5 Exd5, Advance Variation: 3 E5, Tarrasch Variation: 3 Nd2, Early Deviations For White, Early Deviations For Black, History, ECO Codes

Famous quotes containing the words french and/or defence:

    The French Revolution gave birth to no artists but only to a great journalist, Desmoulins, and to an under-the-counter writer, Sade. The only poet of the times was the guillotine.
    Albert Camus (1913–1960)

    Education must have two foundations—morality as a support for virtue, prudence as a defence for self against the vices of others. By letting the balance incline to the side of morality, you only make dupes or martyrs; by letting it incline to the other, you make calculating egoists.
    —Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)