Openings · C02

French, Advance

3.e5 — take the space, close the centre, and spend the rest of the game defending d4.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Your move 1 of 30/3
  1. 1.e4e6
  2. 2.d4d5
  3. 3.e5

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

The chain e5–d4 gives White more room and shuts Black's light-squared bishop in behind its own pawn on e6, which is the French's structural problem stated as sharply as it can be.

Black attacks the base of the chain with …c5, …Nc6 and …Qb6, so every White move after the third is really an answer to the question "and how is d4 defended?". c3 answers it, a3 and Be2 support it, and the attack, when it comes, comes on the kingside where the extra space is.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Playing the Milner-Barry without meaning to

After 10.Nc3
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
The mistake
Developing with 6.Bd3 while d4 is attacked three times and defended twice.
Why it costs
This is a named gambit rather than an oversight, but it is a gambit: after 7…Bd7 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 the pawn is gone and the engine rates Black slightly better. The compensation is the black king stuck in the centre, and it exists only for somebody who knows the line move for move. (Black must not take at once: 7…Nxd4? 8.Nxd4 Qxd4 9.Bb5+ uncovers the queen on d1 and wins Black's.)
Instead
6.a3, the main line, or 6.Be2. Both defend everything and keep the space advantage that 3.e5 was played for.

Relieving the pressure by taking on c5

After 6…Bxc5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
The mistake
Taking on c5 to stop being attacked.
Why it costs
The pawn on c5 was the attacker. Taking it hands Black a free developing move for the dark-squared bishop, opens the position for the better developed side — which is not White any more — and dissolves the pawn chain. The space disappears with the pawn that created it.
Instead
Hold it: c3 and a3, or Be2, and let Black be the one who has to decide when the tension breaks.

Letting the knight reach f5

After 6…Nf5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
The mistake
Ignoring 5…Nh6, on the grounds that a knight on the rim is Black's problem.
Why it costs
The knight is not going to h6, it is going to f5, where it attacks d4 for the third time and cannot be driven off by a pawn without g4 — a move that wrecks the wing White wants to attack on.
Instead
The usual answer is Bxh6. The dark-squared bishop has little future behind the pawn chain anyway, and the doubled pawns and the missing knight are worth more here than the pair of bishops.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 3 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. c5+0.3
  2. Ne7+0.3
  3. Bd7+0.3
  4. a6+0.5
  5. Nh6+0.6
  6. h6+0.6

The engine's main line from c5: c5 c3 Nc6 Nf3 Qb6 a3 c4 Nbd2.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The French, Advance is a variation of the French Defence, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

Analyse a game you played in itAll openings