If you are playing chess as Black, one solid way to respond if White opens with 1.e5 is 1…e6, the French Defence.
As W. R. Hartston notes in The (now out of print) Penguin Book of Chess Openings, by playing 1. …e6,
Black announces his intention of playing [2]… PQ4 [d4], which White can hardly prevent.
The Penguin Book of Chess Openings, p. 136
How White might try to prevent Black from moving 2…. d4, and how Black can frustrate those attempts will be the topic of another blog post. Check it out here! (Ed.)
Heading Towards The Classical Variation…
The key tip in today’s blog post assumes a more classical development in the next two moves in the French Defence and looks at what to do if White develops his Bishop to g5 in the fourth move.
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