♞Reflex Chess

Locked pawns, one bad bishop, five different games

The French gives Black a solid centre, a cramped position and a light-squared bishop with nowhere to go. Everything tactical in the opening follows from those three facts.

The defining feature is the pawn chain. Black plays ...e6 and ...d5, White decides whether to push past, trade off or maintain the tension, and that single decision produces five structurally distinct middlegames. Push, and the chain locks and both sides attack its base. Trade, and the position becomes symmetrical and quietly dangerous. Keep the tension, and the game turns on whether Black can free the position with ...c5 in time.

The bishop on c8 runs through all of it. In the Advance it creeps out to d7 and a4; in the Winawer it is often the only good piece Black has left after the dark-squared one is traded for a knight. Knowing which line makes it useful and which buries it is most of what separates a French player from somebody who has memorised the first eight moves.

Every motif in French Variations

Work through the section in order Locked pawns, one bad bishop, and a chain with a base to hit. Five graded levels per motif, four positions a lesson. Open the course

Other sections