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. However, when this structure arises there are no clear points to attack in the black camp and Black has ready-made plans in the form of ...c7-c5 and ...f7-f6, moves that seek to undermine the white centre.

In this book, renowned author Cyrus Lakdawala creates a repertoire for Black and navigates through the main lines of the French, providing the reader with well-researched, fresh and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening, and contains instructive commentary on typical middle-game plans. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn.

• Presents a complete French Defence repertoire for Black.
• Thorough explanations of typical pawn structures
• Utilizes an ideal approach to chess study.