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:
“But as some silly young men returning from France affect a broken English, to be thought perfect in the French language; so his Lordship, I think, to seem a perfect understander of the unintelligible language of the Schoolmen, pretends an ignorance of his mother-tongue. He talks here of command and counsel as if he were no Englishman, nor knew any difference between their significations.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
“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)