French Tarrasch tactics
A move that avoids one problem completely and creates a smaller one that lasts exactly as long as it takes to untangle.
- 120 positions in the course
- Difficulty 1095–2388
- Section: French Variations
- 5 levels
What the Tarrasch produces tactically
Developing the knight to d2 rather than c3 means it cannot be pinned by ...Bb4, which is the whole reason for the move and a genuine gain. The cost is that the knight on d2 blocks the queen and the dark-squared bishop, so White's queenside pieces are tangled for several moves and the b4 square is softer than usual.
Black strikes at the centre at once with ...c5, and the tactics come from the resulting mess. Pieces still on the first rank when the centre opens. An isolated d-pawn left behind after the exchanges, with the standard tactics around it in both directions. A check on b4 arriving one move before White has untangled.
How to spot it
- Look at b4 in every position. In this variation it is a square, a check and a tempo all at once.
- Count how many white pieces are still on their starting squares before you open the centre. If it is three, open it.
- When the exchanges leave an isolated d-pawn, switch to isolani thinking: the square in front of it, and the pieces that can blockade it.
- The knight on d2 wants to go to f3 or b3. Ask which, and what leaves when it does.
Three Tarrasch positions
Three positions from the 120 in this skill, easiest first. The highlighted squares are the move your opponent has just played. Work it out before you open the answer.
Position 1
White to move. Find the best move.
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18...Nxe8 19.Rd8#
The line ends in checkmate. The Tarrasch keeps White's pawns healthy at the cost of a slower queenside, and its middlegames are where that shows up or does not.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1324 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 2
White to move. Find the best move.
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19...Kd7 20.Rc7#
The line ends in checkmate. The Tarrasch keeps White's pawns healthy at the cost of a slower queenside, and its middlegames are where that shows up or does not.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 1818 for difficulty. The answer reaches checkmate.
Position 3
White to move. Find the best move.
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18...Bd7 19.Qd3 Nxe5 20.dxe5
The line comes out 2 pawns ahead. The Tarrasch keeps White's pawns healthy at the cost of a slower queenside, and its middlegames are where that shows up or does not.
The position comes from the middlegame of a real game, rated 2070 for difficulty. The answer reaches a clear advantage.
Playing it from both sides
The Tarrasch is the most practical anti-French system for a player who does not want to memorise the Winawer. It has clear plans, it avoids the shattered queenside that the Winawer produces, and the price is a slightly slower development that only matters if Black knows how to punish it.
For Black the instruction is simple and easy to get wrong: hit the centre before White completes development, not after. The ...c5 break is strongest at exactly the moment White's pieces are least coordinated, which is usually two moves before it feels comfortable to play it.
Questions people ask
Why play 3.Nd2 instead of 3.Nc3?
To rule out the Winawer pin with ...Bb4. After 3.Nc3 Bb4 White's queenside pawns usually get doubled; 3.Nd2 avoids the whole discussion at the cost of blocking in the queen and the c1 bishop for a few moves.
What is Black's best reply to the Tarrasch?
The two main systems are the immediate 3...c5, hitting the centre while White is undeveloped, and 3...Nf6, inviting a space advantage that Black then undermines. Both are fully sound, and they lead to very different structures.
Nearby patterns
French Tarrasch sits in French Variations. The rest of that section: