The Complete French Advance: The Most Uncompromising Way to Attack the French Defence

The Advance Variation is the most ambitious way to meet the solid French Defence. Its popularity among club players is not difficult to understand: by advancing the e-pawn to e5 on the third move, White not only gains space but also blocks in Black’s c8 Bishop and hampers Black’s kingside development by taking away the f6-square. The closed nature of the positions arising from the Advance Variation leads to strategic play where positional understanding is much more important than studying t...