The Classical French - Move by Move

This is the usual book from Mr. Lakdawala. It is selective in the material in includes and therefore limits the study that one has to do. It focuses on the Steinitz, Burn, and McCutcheon variations. This is a fairly aggressive repertoire for playing the classical French and gives Black plenty of counter play.The games seem well chosen and instructive. The text is very readable. I do wish there was an index of variations. The would help in study after playing a game and reviewing it. If the book had that it would definitely be a 5 star all the way.

Reading a book by the author is like sitting down with a titled International Master who is a great teacher and has a good sense of humor to boot. Lakdawala knows the openings he writes about and is confident enough of his own expertise that he will, when prudent, disagree with the conclusions of current opening theory.It is hard to imagine a chessplayer disappointed with this book. All of the games are well annotated and the wisdom and advice continues until the end of the game. You end up learning about a lot more than the opening. A really fine chess book.

I'm an amateur club-level player, so I can't speak to how good the lines are, but I enjoyed looking at the games presented. The games were easy to follow because the author stopped to answer most of the questions I would have had, and the I found the commentary to be entertaining. Like all of the Move by Move books, entire games are included so there's also exposure to middlegame plans and endgames. One caveat about the book: it only covers variations where white plays 3 Nc3, so if you want to play the French Defense as black, you'll need other resources for the Exchange and Advance Variations.

The entire series (move by move) is absolutely a credit to its creators, and this particular volume is no exception.

Great

I cant believe he left out the Albin-Chatard attack! Disappointed!

Very good and thorough book. (459 pages!) This is one of my favorite openings as Black and this book is written from Black's point of view. The author says that he has been playing the Winaver for most of his chess career, but after having worked on this book he wishes he had played more classsical French! The Classical French starts withe the moves: 1. e4, e6 2. d4, d5 3. Nc3, Nf6. Lakdawala covers most of the lines in excellent style, but he does not cover 4. ..., Be7 after 4. Bg5. That's the only thing I have against this excellent book.

very good.

From a book like this I expect useful model games, explanations of the main strategic themes and an overview over the most important variations. I do not expect a complete encyclopedia with all variations and computer evaluations. Lakdawala delivers just that, it is obvious that he practices what he preaches and speaks out of personal experience. A very useful book!

Must have book for every french defence player.

Un buen trabajo de Lakdawala sobre la Francesa Clásica. No trata todas las opciones pero las que analiza son extensas y con buenos ejemplos