Starting Out: The French

The French is one of Black's soundest defences to 1 e4 and is very popular at all levels of chess. Club players enjoy its super-solid structure, while at the top it's played by famous grandmasters such as Vishy Anand and the young Russian star Alexander Morozevich. With his first two moves Black obtains a substantial foothold in the centre, and a structure that is incredibly difficult to break down. In this user-friendly book, International Master Byron Jacobs revisits the basic principles ...