Playing the French (Grandmaster Guide)

I have purchased far more chess books than I will ever read. This is one I plan to read all the way through, even though it recommends the 3...c5 line against the Tarrasch which I have never played. This book strikes a balance with enough verbal explanations, clear recommendations without overwhelming number of alternatives or any sense of a data base dump. It is authoritative without dismissing other options. Quickly I began to trust the authors, who give you enough to play a line, but not so much that it becomes confusing. I have purchased other French books recently including Vitiugov's and Moskalenco's but tended to get bogged down in them. A nice feature of this book is critical positions to assess before each chapter which also serve as a good review after each chapter.

This book is presented in an interesting format: a short analysis section followed by a complete games format. The format is somewhat unusual, but completely fine.The book is good in that it explains its moves fairly well, and that for the most part the moves are sound. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because in a few sections the moves it recommends seem to give Black an uncomfortable position, and underestimating White's chances, for instance, once it recommends accepting a gambit that gives White more than enough play for a pawn.Still, this is a good book, and I will probably use many of its ideas in my future games with the French.

This book is one of the best opening books I have seen, and I have 100s. Aagaard provides an excellent repertoire that coincides with mine: 3.Nc3 Nf6 and MacCutcheon with 4.Bg5 Bb4, and Steinitz with 4.e5 with an interesting 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.a3 Qa5!? line. In the Tarrasch, he indicates why 4.Ngf3 Nf6 may not quite equalize. The Advance covers the solid Euwe line with 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 and 7...Ng6. Aagaard is one of my favoriate authors, and you can't go wrong with his entries in the Grandmaster Prep series, too.

I play french for mant years,and i can said this book is exelent!!!...very clear concepts and ideas,perfect book for play the french

Some good ideas but lots of losses by black. More of how to play against the French than play the French.

Good book, which also was shipped fast!

Can't preview the book through table of contents online? Stupid and lazy. Would never even consider the purchase. Willing to take this review down when the gaping deficiency is corrected.

A good, well written book on the various variations on the French Defence. The majority of the book is dedicated to variations where white moves their Queen's Knight on move 3. The Advance and Exchange variations make up the first two smaller chapters.I've knocked a star off due to this focus on the Queen's Knight variation. As a club player, I'd prefer the book to have more emphasis on the Advance and Exchange variations. The majority of my games were either Advance or Exchange variations and so the details put into the Queen's Knight chapters was ultimately wasted on me.The Advance chapter was good and I felt confident playing it. The Exchange chapter covers symmetrical play and unsymmetrical play. I was never convinced though with the author's recommendation to break the symmetry (c5 with the idea to head into an IQP).I would've liked to see a section on opposite side castling for both White and Black in the Exchange variation. Perhaps at grandmaster level its unsound, but having played against it at club level it certainly seems like an interesting way to break the symmetry.

This book is great ! You will ready to meet your e4 opponents in every tournaments or matches. I recommend this book !

I like the style of this booking, well written and good analysis. There are a lot of recent books on the French Defence and this is one of the better ones.

Good update on theory with some new ideas.

Gli autori condensano in una libro relativamente breve e ben pensato per il giocatore pratico un ottimo lavoro che più che fornire un prontuario di varianti, aiuta nella comprensione dell' argomento. Estremamente ben fatto