Anish’s French Opening Clinic

World no. 10 Anish Giri is here to answer your questions on the French Defense, 1.e4 e6, on which he recently published the Chessable course, Lifetime Repertoires: French Defense. At 17 chapters, over 55,000 words and almost 12 hours of video, it’s almost as epic as the trailers, and if you’re a chess24 premium member you can now get advice from the man himself. The format is the same as Jan’s Opening Clinic – simply leave a question in the comments below.

It would be rude not to play the French Defense in Paris...

When a top player shares deep analysis of an opening there’s always the fear that they’ll hold back because they want to be able to play any new ideas in their own games, but in this case Dutch no. 1 Anish Giri has side-stepped that problem (or has he!?) by playing an opening he’s barely played in a decade! As with many players, Anish has a love-hate relationship with meeting 1.e4 with 1…e6:

Ian Nepomniachtchi currently leads the Candidates Tournament after playing the French three times with Black, but even if most of his colleagues are wary of playing it at the very highest level it’s perfect for club players who want an aggressive but sound approach to 1.e4 that allows them to dictate play early on. As Anish comments in a free 13-minute introduction:

What I really like personally about the French, as opposed to many other 1.e4 weapons, is that it is not only correct but also very compact. I think it's very hard to combine these two and the French is one of the few openings that does. It's not that hard to learn…

You can find the full details of the course on Chessable: Lifetime Repertoires: French Defense (if you hurry you can also catch the "Back to School Sale"!)

Anish hasn’t been holding back in promoting the course, with Paris and his wife Sopiko Guramishvili starring in one video…

…while Anish has also perfected his accent in tribute to our very own Laurent Fressinet:

If you want to see how the opening looks in practice, check out Anish’s recent Banter Blitz here on chess24:

Anish is following in the hallowed footsteps of Jan Gustafsson, who tackled the behemoth of e5 in his Lifetime Repertoires: Jan Gustafsson’s 1.e4 e5. And now Anish is taking over Jan’s Opening Clinic, at least for one week! The format is simple:

1. Go Premium, if you’re not already (BANTERSERIES is currently the best code, giving 30% off!)  
2. Post your question on the French Defense in the comments below – one per user, please, to give a chance to as many users as possible
3. Sit back and enjoy the live show (exact time to be confirmed!)

See also:

• Lifetime Repertoires: French Defense