Miedema: The Modernized French Defense - Volume 2: Against the Tarrasch

Autor: Miedema, David
Verlag / Hersteller: Thinkers Publishing
Erscheinungsjahr: 2020
Sprache: Englisch
Buchumschlag: paperback
Seiten: 215

Here we are, together on this page, both interested in the French Defence with 3.Nc3 Bb4. Before telling you what you can learn from this opening, let me tell you a little story about my journey in the French. I started playing the French after reading John Watson's Play the French, which improved my play a lot. I learned that the French is a positional yet concrete opening, and many of my young opponents couldn't grasp its subtleties. Moreover, many opponents were far less prepared against 1...e6 than against 1...c5 or 1...e5. Unfortunately those days would end.

During the 2008 Dutch Youth Championships (U20), I understood that everyone would throw 7.Qg4 in the win at me. In that respect, my opening preparation was simple: I would study the Winawer for Black very intensively and the problem would be solved. In reality, I faced many difficulties. Novelties I'd find in the evenings were promptly refused by the engine the next morning; I was constantly thinking about the French, but I couldn't quite make it work. There was this strange, inexplicable feeling in my stomach, some might call “butterflies”. I fell in love with a chess line! Despite my two losses in the crucial games, I still believed I had a great repertoire with countless novelties to show for it.

269 ​​pages, 2019, paperback, English.