Fresh Strategies and Resources

Viktor Moskalenko’s bestselling books The Flexible French (2008) and The Even More Flexible French (2015) were hailed by reviewers from all over the world as eye-opening, full of new ideas, easy to read, sparkling, and inspirational.

Tarrasch and Various Lines

The French Defence is coming back to fashion again! One of the leaders in the 2020 Candidates tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi, successfully staked his chances on it. Lately the World Champion himself also embraced the French several times. A great expert in this opening is the last challenger for the world title Fabiano Caruana.
The French became a real arena of the battle of the engines - neural network genius Leela was confidently repelling the attacks of it´s powerful rivals.

Opening Repertoire

The French Defence provides a good choice for players who want to create a dynamic, unbalanced situation out of the opening but baulk at the level of study required to master the ferociously complex Sicilian Defence. The French is one of Black´s soundest defences to 1 e4 and is very popular at all levels. White often advances with the space-gaining e4-e5 which, in principle, will generate a small advantage.

Ein Leben lang Französisch

Die Französische Verteidigung (1.e4 e6), die erstmals in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts merklich ins Blickfeld der Schachgemeinde geriet, zählt bis heute zu den wichtigsten und populärsten Eröffnungen im Schach. Der Autor des vorliegenden Buchs, der deutsche Großmeister Wolfgang Uhlmann, ist ein weltweit angesehener Französisch-Experte, der diese Eröffnung über seine gesamte Schachkarriere praktisch erprobt und ihre Theorie bereichert hat.

A Practical Guide for Black

 The French Defense looks to be inexhaustible and there cannot be enough books dedicated to it. This book takes a step in the direction of revitalizing our favorite opening! The authors have decided to set the book in order from the less to the more popular and complex lines.

Grandmaster Repertoire 15

The French Defence is one of the most popular and reliable responses to 1.e4. Black invites his opponent to gain space in the centre, with the intention of undermining the enemy position and launching a counterattack. Although the amount of theory has expanded in recent years, the French often leads to positions where positional and strategic understanding prove more relevant than long sequences of computer-generated moves.

The French Defence is one of the most solid and strategically rich responses to 1.e4. Many opening lines have been analysed to death by computer, but the French is relatively resistant to this growing trend, as the characteristic blocked pawn centre leads to situations where a player with superior understanding can overcome an opponent whose expertise lies in computer-assisted preparation.

Grandmaster Repertoire 14

The French Defence is one of the most popular and reliable responses to 1.e4. Black invites his opponent to gain space in the centre, with the intention of undermining the enemy position and launching a counterattack. Although the amount of theory has expanded in recent years, the French often leads to positions where positional and strategic understanding prove more relevant than long sequences of computer-generated moves.

Grandmaster Repertoire 14 – The French Defence 1 introduces the Winawer Variation after the opening moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4, and provides expert recommendations against all of White’s major possibilities, with the exception of the most critical 7.Qg4 line which will receive special coverage in Volume Two of the series. Volume Three will deal with the Tarrasch, Advance and all of White’s other options.

by Nikita Vitiugov

A completely updated edition which presents a Black repertoire based on the French.

Here are Vitiugov's own words: “I received, quite unexpectedly, many comments and opinions following the publication of my first book on the French Defence. These were quite varied, both in form and content. There were renowned experts, who pointed out that some of the variations were not analyzed to perfection. Some meticulous readers looked for, and found (!), possibilities for both sides, which I had omitted in several important, and even not so important, lines. There were people who criticized my rather ambitious concept, according to which I tried to present the opening the way I saw it, instead of just following the branches of the database. However, there were also some appreciative comments.