I play the French as black in response to e4 and don't particularly like the exchange variation which a lot of people at my level will play as white. Sometimes white will telegraph their intentions with 2 Nf3. Not always but most times if I respond with d5 they will exchange.
I noticed a lot of people play c5 after 2 Nf3 as black. I wonder if these are fellow French players trying to avoid the exchange or if they are sicilian players just playing a different move order. Is it worth learning a bit about the sicilian so you have the option to transpose or should I just learn to play the exchange better?
I hope this question makes sense. Thanks for reading.
If you want to play the French, learn to deal with the exchange variation. If you want to play the Sicilian, then why not play 1 e4 c5?
I'll caveat this by saying I don't play the french so will not try and give advice with regards to it, but I will say (particularly before the 'you shouldn't waste your time with openings at your rating level' brigade arrives) that learning an opening that might arise by transposition to what you normally play will be very useful. Plus the Sicilian is fun and there are many many variations of it which will mean your games should remain interesting! Don't let people try and tell you there's too much theory involved with it, you don't have to learn all of it. It's surely one of the richest openings in chess so I say dive in
@NeverBeenTimid Do you like to fianchetto?
These lineare playable and (bonus they are rare so there is no extra theory for black) [Sum of the two opening''s equals aprox. 200
lichess.org/study/rGeBVqvn/UR9UmB6s @imakitty I am learning how to deal with it. I would like the option to transpose from openings I do not favour if they telegraph their intentions with Nf3. I think that is sensible.
@CharlieL I think your advice is great, thanks. I know spending too long on openings isn't advised but everyone has to open a game so surely it makes sense to try and learn something that will make your middle game more comfortable.
@howchessYT Never considered g7. Will do more research on those lines.
Thanks everyone.
I think it doesnt hurt to try out the e6 sicilians - you might discover you prefer it over the French! Having said that, it is a lot more work than learning more deeply the exchange variations. That is because you have many different ways within the Kan or Taimanov to play as White.. even in the systems designed to cut down on theory. Also there is the popular 3. b3 and delayed Alapin with 3.c3
For your comment on french players transposing with c5 anfter 2.Nf3, its more likely that they are trying to avoid the exchange as you say rather than a different move order to enter the Sicilian.
As an aside, Eingorn wrote a repertoire book based on the french and recommended transposing to the 4 Knight sicilians I believe after 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 c5.
The French exchange is much better for black than the e6 Sicilian. In the French exchange you immediately have equality, while in the e6 Sicilian you have to work hard to achieve that.
There are many valid reasons to prefer the e6 Sicilian over the French, but the exchange variation is not one of those.