Openings · C01

French, Exchange

3.exd5 — symmetrical pawns, one open file, and the line French players worry about least.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5played 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.

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Your move 1 of 30/3
  1. 1.e4e6
  2. 2.d4d5
  3. 3.exd5

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

The idea

Taking on d5 releases every tension in the position at once. Black's bad bishop stops being bad, the pawn structure is a mirror, and the only open file is the e-file.

It is not a bad opening, but it is an opening with one plan and several ways of having none. The version with a point is 4.c4, hitting d5 immediately and heading for isolated-queen's-pawn positions where somebody has to know something. The version without a point copies Black's moves and offers a draw on move twelve.

Common mistakes

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

Playing it for the draw

After 7…Bg4
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Choosing the Exchange because symmetrical pawns look like a handshake, then mirroring Black's development.
Why it costs
Symmetry is not equality; it is a position where the first player to break it holds the whole initiative. Black moves second, so Black chooses when that happens — and the player who thought the game was over is the one still copying when copying stops working.
Instead
4.c4, and be ready for an isolated pawn on one side of the board or the other. If a game is not wanted, the Exchange is a worse way of avoiding it than not playing 1.e4.

Castling into the mirror

After 7…c6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Castling short opposite a position identical to your own, and then looking round for an attack.
Why it costs
There is nothing to attack with: no space, no weaknesses, and no pawn break but c4. Kings on the same side of a symmetrical position is the drawn French that nobody enjoys playing.
Instead
Castle long. O-O-O and a pawn storm is how the Exchange is turned into a game, and it is a decision to make on move six rather than a mood on move twenty.

Giving up the only file

After 7…Re8
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Spending the seventh move on c3 and letting …Re8 take the e-file.
Why it costs
The e-file is the only asset the position contains. Whoever puts a rook there first decides whether the rooks come off on it, and in a position with no other imbalance that is the entire game.
Instead
Re1 before the quiet pawn moves, and Bg5 to make the knight on f6 uncomfortable about leaving.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.

  1. exd5+0.2
  2. Qxd5+0.6
  3. Nf6+0.9
  4. h6+1.3
  5. a6+1.3
  6. Bd6+1.3

The engine's main line from exd5: exd5 Nf3 Nf6 Bd3 c5 O-O c4 Re1+.

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

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