[Event "Common Chess Structures - Plans/ Ideas: Advance French"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/W0TzSTBl/xWhAw2QR"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C02"] [Opening "French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/noodledmynoodle"] [UTCDate "2019.03.02"] [UTCTime "09:09:55"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/W0TzSTBl/xWhAw2QR"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 { French Defence, common opening for black against e4. Black is trying to counterattack against white's centre, but it does lead to the famous "French Bishop" on c8. This guy isn't having much fun right now! } { [%csl Gc8][%cal Gc8e6] } 3. e5 { [%cal Ge5d6,Ge5f6] } 3... c5 { [%cal Gc5d4] } 4. c3 { this is quite a good example of a chess structure leading to clear plans in an opening. White has more space because of his advanced pawn on e5, as white has more space to put his pieces essentially, while black for example, his knight on g8 can't go to f6 because of this pawn on e5, and the bishop on f8 can only go to e7, so already you can some issues with getting all of black's pieces into the game. } { [%csl Gc3,Gd4,Ge5,Ge6][%cal Rg8f6] } 4... Nc6 { A good rule of thumb with pawn play and pawn structures is to play where your pawns are pointing. Here, white's pawns are pointing towards the kingside, and he has the natural pawn break of f4-f5, breaking open the position on the kingside. White's play will usually happen on the kingside, as that is where his pawns are pointing, while black will try and play on the queenside and attack white's centre. White's pawn break is f5, and Blacks is c5, hitting the d4 pawn, which could become weak, and f6, trying to open up the centre, attack the d4 pawn more, and not just sit back while white prepares his kingside attack. } { [%csl Ge5,Gd4,Gc3,Be6,Bd5,Bf7][%cal Ga1e5,Bf7d5] } 5. Nf3 Qb6 { Already you can see black trying to attack the white centre, as dxc5 will always be a concenssion from white. } { [%cal Gc5d4,Gc6d4] } 6. a3 { This is the mainline, seeking to play b4 in order to reduce the pressure on b2 so the c1 bishop can move, and stopping any annoying Bb4+ at any point, as well as allowing the Bc1 to go to b2 and defend d4 if needed } (6. dxc5?! Bxc5 { is pleasant for black }) (6. Be2 Nge7 7. O-O Nf5 { after something like this, white's centre is under extreme pressure, and black will be comfortably, as white will probably have to play dxc5, which helps black develop his position, and white's e5 pawn will become slightly weaker. }) 6... Nh6 { The knight is coming to f5 if allowed, without blocking the bishop on f8 by going to e7. It does allow Bxh6, but Bxh6 does allow Qxb2 which should be pretty good for black, or even just gxh6, followed by ...Bg7 and ...f6 at a later point. } { [%csl Gf5,Gd4][%cal Gh6f5,Gf5d4] } 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 { Black fixes the pawn on d4 } 8... Nf5 { Black attacks the pawn, so white must defend it } { [%cal Gc6d4,Gf5d4,Bf3d4,Bd1d4] } 9. Bb2 Be7 10. Bd3 { With a roughly balanced position, white will try to use his space advantage and piece play, maybe to launch a kingside attack if allowed. An important tactic that crops up a ton is this d4 pawn being in directly defended. It looks like d4 is hanging, but it isn't because of a nice tactic: } { [%cal Gf3d4,Gb2d4,Bb6d4,Bc6d4,Bf5d4] } 10... Nfxd4?? 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Qxd4 { [%csl Gd4][%cal Gd1d4] } 13. Bb5+! { And the queen is lost. This is a common tactic, that will probably win quite a few games if you can spot it and either avoid it, or encourage it from your opponent to fall for this. } { [%cal Gd1d4,Gb5e8] } *