Play the French (Cadogan Chess Books)

This book is known for being the best book on the French available. It is a good book, and it is probably nearly essential for French players to have this book.This book is a repertoire book, and does not tend to give complete games, rather it just goes forward move by move. One thing unique about this book is the wide amount of variations it covers. It will offer many ways to play against virtually every system as Black, meaning that you will not need to know how to play anything else against e4, just this, as if one line has been prepared for you have at least 2 or 3 other options, not to mention all of the sub-variations. This book is extremely dense, and while it is definitely way too much to memorize, is a perfect opening manual for the French.Probably the main problem with the book is that it is quite optimistic about Black's chances, which makes sense, but it might evaluate a position as equal when it reality an engine or even a human would prefer White most of the time.Still, it deserves 5 stars, Watson must have put a lot of time in this book, and players playing against the French will have a lot of variations to attempt to refute, as there are so many options!

I have both 2nd and 3rd editions of Watson's "Play the French Defence" as well as his excellent "Dangerous Weapons the French Defence" which is a goldmine of interesting ideas for both white and black, but this latest 4th edition of "Play the French Defence" is probably his greatest work on that particular opening so far, and over 400 pages long.He gives all the latest trends for both white and black, with lots of diagrams and illustrative games to show clearly the plans and objectives of each variation, and includes many original ideas of his own, all of which he double checked with a powerful engine to make certain they are sound.(Most opening book authors dont do this since it is laborious and time consuming).He includes many fresh ideas and improvements over his last 2 editions, and even advocates the MacCutcheon variation with lots of new ideas for both white and black.No author understands the French Defence better than John Watson and this 4th edition has got to be an all time classic.A must have for club players, and fascinating for chess students, outlining plans and objectives in closed as well as open positions.

Amazing in depth analysis!! Its so detailed and and complete in its analysis that the prose isnt a lot of fun. But its perfect for the serious theoritician.

This is possibly the best, and almost certainly the most famous reference for the player of the French Defense, written by American IM John Watson, widely considered in the chess world to be one of the best opening analysts in the world. This is a work for serious lovers of the French Defense, those who are willing to burn some midnight oil to gain hard-fought half- and whole points with the Black pieces. Consistent with the explosion in opening theory, this 4th edition now has blossomed to over 400 large format pages. Every reasonable White line is at least touched on, from mainline Winawers all the way to rare moves like 2.b3. The King's Indian Attack, of course, is also covered, as are all mainlines. In many cases Watson gives the Black player more than one option. For example, in the Advance Var with 6.a3 ( 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3) Watson gives Black two choices, 6...Bd7 and ...Nh6 to choose from. Having two options has many benefits. For example, it allows you to pick the line that is more in line w/ your preferred style of play, it makes it harder for an opponent to prepare for you if you use both lines, and if one line falls into theoretical disrepute, you have something to fall back on. You should be aware that Watson is not fond of 'hand holding', that is, he does not like to spend a lot of time explaining general principles. He believes that the truth of a position is found in fairly dense, complicated variations. So this work will have the most value for more advanced players, perhaps USCF 1700-1800 or so and higher ( a few motivated lower rated players with good memories will also benefit). Lower rated players may find more value in more general opening works before graduating to this 'master class' in the French. Highly recommended for dedicated French players, and those who play 1.e4 can't afford to ignore this either, as their opponents will be using it!

Now I could see why people love this book. John Watson breaks everything down and makes everyhing clear and simple. I been looking for a really good on the french defence and think I finally found a book that would help build my knowledge on this opening. Overall, if you play the french defence or want to learn this opening, this would be a good start right here. Haven't read the other three editions of his book but I'm pretty sure they're just as good as this one. Would recommend it for sure.

Probably my oversight, but I didn't realize this book excluded many important lines either because they were covered in the earlier versions of the book or because they didn't suit the author. That's the sole reason for my 3 star rating.One example: the only line covered after 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 is 4...Bb4, the MacCutcheon.For what it's worth I'm a formerly strong player (top 50 in US) who has't played tournament chess in decades who casually dips into chess books/programs once in a while. Probably the limitations of the book are well known to anyone who's more current, but it wasn't to me.

John Watson has done it again. He's just the best author on chess period. Even if you don't play the French Defence, this book will make you better. Every page has some idea, some plan or tactic where I say "Wow". I have been a 2100 USCF player for thirty yrs and have only started to understand the game through his books.

Great book. The comments saying that it is a book designed for moderate to high level players are misleading. Anyone with determination and some know-how can learn from this book. Watson does a good job of explaining every idea with clean and concise language without going overboard in terms of analysis. It's actually really easy to read, despite it being crowded with variation after variation.

I am a rusty intermediate chess player who returned to Chess after many years. I had never played the French defense and decided to learn it now - which I did primarily from this book. I bought a physical copy and I have found the exposition clear, well organised and useful. It seems that the major lines are well covered and the motivations for the various line are well described. This is something that, to my surprise, I have found missing in chess books on other opening.I also particularly like the fact that Watson has gone to the trouble of researching play, rather than trying to describe lines simply by showing games. In my recent experience too many chess books try to substitute games for useful theory by just providing examples of games. Frequently these games have little analysis or too complex analysis; you play through the game and are really none the wiser about the principles in the opening or how to handle "out of book" moves.This book finds a good balance between explaining the ideas, showing many 'out of book moves' and being comprehensive. I found it very useful, and already have been able to obtain many good opening positions in the French because of it.

Thumbs up...

This is a great repertoire book. Leans a bit too much on the black side, but what repertoire book doesn't.There are some errors, but there's alot of work on this book.

Das Buch hält genau das, was es mit seinem Titel verspricht. Der Leser, oder sollte man bei der Ausführlichkeit des Werkes besser sagen der Student, wird mit der nach 1. e4 e6 entstehenden französischen Verteidigung vertraut gemacht. Dabei ist die Sympathie Watsons für diese Eröffnung gut zu erkennen. Um mit den Worten des momentan arg gescholtenen Regierenden Bürgermeister Berlins zu sprechen: "Das ist auch gut so!" So wird der Leser/Student ermuntert, sich voller Selbstvertrauen ans Schachbrett zu setzen und seinem mit 1.e4 eröffnenden Gegner 1...e6 entgegen zu setzen. Trotz aller Sympathie Watsons für Französisch bleibt er bei der Bewertung objektiv. Wohl deshalb bietet er in der Regel auch mindestens immer eine Alternative an. Wem zum Beispiel die Varianten nach 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3. Sb1-c3 Lf8-b4 nicht mehr gefallen, kann nun mit der Hilfe Watsons überprüfen, ob ihm 3...Sg8-f6 besser liegt. Wichtig ist auch, dass Watson nicht nur Variantenbäume abliefert, sondern auch erklärende Worte. Ein Eröffnungswerk sollte nicht auf dem Auswendiglernen der Varianten durch den Leser/Studenten aufbauen, sondern auf dem Vermitteln von Ideen. Ohne die Varianten geht es natürlich auch wieder nicht, allein dshalb, weil es Sinn macht aufzuzeigen, welche Ideen sich bewährt haben und welche eben nicht. Dem kommt Watson wie bereits geschrieben in großer Ausführlichkeit nach. Der Umfang des Buches mag eventuell für einen schwächeren Spieler schwer verdaulich sein. Für mich (Elo 2200) bleibt als Fazit nur die Vergabe von fünf Sternen.

E' un libro che non può mancare nella biblioteca di un giocatore della difesa Francese. E' aggiornato con le ultime evoluzioni teoriche,