The Unexplored French Defense

Unlock Hidden Power in the French Defense with a Unique Approach

The French Defense is considered one of the “four horsemen” against 1.e4 – and for good reason. Not only is it incredibly solid, but it also allows room for rich, strategic play to craft some masterpiece games – look no further than to those of Mikhail Botvinnik, Viktor Korchnoi, and Fabiano Caruana!

But in the age where everyone is booked up on their openings, that second part – strategic play – is what matters more and more. And you need a unique and powerful middlegame plan in every scenario to make sure that score sheet reads “0-1.”

That’s where International Master Yuriy Krykun comes in with his brilliant course The Unexplored French Defense.

The highly sought-after chess coach and serial Chessable author has done it again with a powerfully unique and fresh repertoire that unlocks a hidden power in the French few have seen.

IM Krykun’s approach is as simple as it is effective:

♜ Trade off your worst piece for your opponent’s best piece right out of the gate. The bad ‘French bishop’ is a thing of the past. With this repertoire, you’ll learn how to trade it off for your opponent’s MVP light-square bishop right away, taking the wind out of any would-be kingside attack

♜ Take your opponent out of their prep by playing very rare or novel lines that keep all the solidity of the French with interesting fighting opportunities. For example, in the 3.Nd2 and 3.Nc3 lines, you’ll play the rare 3…Be7. This idea appears in less than 1% of games, so most players won’t be ready for it. Combine its surprise value with some interesting kingside attacking possibilities — including an amazing …g5! thrust — and you might just win in a stunning miniature

♜ Focus on developing middlegame plans that target multiple weak points. If your opponent doesn’t botch the opening in the face of your ‘unexplored’ variations, you’ll zero in on their weaknesses in the middlegame and endgame with simple but ruthlessly effective strategies. Avoid forcing lines, and play simple but powerful chess!

♜ Learn ideas and plans, not just moves. Just like his other courses, IM Krykun is careful to focus on the ideas and plans of each variation, not just memorizing moves – namely with an entire chapter dedicated to pawn structures and ideas. You’ll also get highly-annotated model games for each chapter – more than 20 in fact – so you can be prepared in any scenario without endless memorization

♜ Cover all the major bases. Advance (3.e5), Exchange (3.exd5), Tarrasch (3.Nd2), Normal/Classical (3.Nc3), Schlechter (3.Bd3), King’s Indian Attack – you’ll have interesting plans and strategies to fight all of them, with IM Krykun’s detailed explanation in each and every one of them

IM Krykun has tested this repertoire with his students with astounding success. That’s in part because this repertoire is extremely practical – the moves are based on the most common database moves by club players, meaning you will face these variations in your games.

And it’s also in part to IM Krykun’s amazing teaching ability. He’s one of the most popular authors on Chessable for a reason, after all! His clear explanations make all of his courses perfect for club players getting serious about their opening repertoire – as well as seasoned pros who are curious to hear a different approach.