WIN against the French Defense with this strong GAMBIT!

In this video I show a strong gambit line against the French Defense that scores very well for White, partly because it is objectively a powerful idea and partly because the Black player often goes wrong quickly, choosing the too-greedy plan of capturing our pawn in the centre.

[@kedduff1814]

Can also get into this gambit through the more traditional French opening lines. But yes this is an effective opening against French defense. Leads to absolutely crushing attacks against black. Black must be a very good defensive player to withstand.

[@kennethlewis3870]

I saw this in a "Starting out: 1.e4" book by Neil McDonald. He called it the Korchnoi gambit. I thought it looked really dynamic.

[@xCupressocyparis]

Great video! Enjoyable as always, thanks Alex.
I first came upon this line against the French many years ago, on a rather good 1.e4 repertoire Chessbase DVD by Sam Collins. I tried it a few times, with great success. Only a few times though; I'm generally (too) nervous about sacrificing material. This video may persuade me to give it another go though! Although I must admit, I didn't know that White goes THREE pawns down in one line! Gulp...

[@iambarrykatz]

For beginners out there, at 5:45, he meant they get "forked," not "pinned."

[@alexastaneh]

Indeed ;)

[@brandondaniels9471]

Amazing lines! I've studied lots of anti French lines. But I've never seen these before. And I've always said... the French isn't as much of a defense as it is an EVICTION of the black king 🤣

[@alexastaneh]

Glad to hear it's been helpful for you, let me know how it goes if you play the line Brandon :)

[@lassesolbu1360]

The best cover of the Korchnoi gambit I have found so far, with (as far as I can judge) several new ideas. It really requires quite a lot of study, because there are so many great tactics. Thank you very much for pointing the way in interesting directions. Btw, do you have any suggestion what to do if black plays 7...f6 rather than 7...Qb6?. Unforuntaely Ng5 doesn't quite work, though nearly works. Its worth a try in blitz, though.

[@nikhilr4525]

Hi Alex, can you do a video on how to play against the Stonewall attack/defence?
A lot of players play that against me and I find it really annoying to play against especially with the clamp they have on e5/e4

[@alexastaneh]

That's a good suggestion actually, because I have faced it too myself and often gotten into not-so-good positions, I should look into that...!

[@gossedejong9248]

thank you!

[@wrathofpunjabi]

Damn good video!

[@TimJapan]

Wow I really like this. What do you play if black exchanges on move 3?

[@sundew_ii]

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