Regarding paultopia's win over saintnick & beliefs :
1.In the Advance French, Black should play 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 etc. rather than 4...f6.
2. Most French player likes closed positions.
3. The supposed weakness at h7 isn't a problem unless Black is ignorant. ...O-O isn't mandatory. & Black can often avoid trouble with ...b6, ...Ba6 & a trade of light-squared clerics. For me, the h7 factor has come into play just 2 twice in some 130 games.
4. f6 isn't necessarily the best square for the g8-Knight. ...Ne7-f5 (or ...Nh6-f5) puts a lot of pressure on the weak d4 pawn.
lets see what chessgames.com has to say about it in their opening explorer. (since I don't have chessbase)
the overall percengages for white/draw/black after the first moves of the french advance (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5) appear to be 40.5/28.9/30.6
compared to, say.... the caro-kann mainline-ish... 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 -- 33.1/45.3/21.6 -- in which black wins less, but draws a LOT more and loses less -- better for black than the french.
Or how about the open sicilian?
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 -- 36.2/34.2/29.7 -- again, less wins for white, more draws, and very slightly less black wins. Clearly better for black than the french.
lets see... have I forgotten any really popular ones?
Alekhine's defense 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 -- 39.6/32.8/27.6 probably about equal, the percentage differences are smallish. And, well, everyone knows Alekhine's defense is a bit dodgy :-)
Petrov defense:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 34.1/50.3/15.6 -- so drawish that it's hard to tell, but since black is in theory playing for a draw anyway, note the win percentage significantly lower for white.
The Italian
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 -- 41.3/24.5/34.1 -- similar, but less drawish.
and finally -- the hated Ruy
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 --- 36.1/40/23.9 -- probably about the same. Considering that the Ruy is considered a very strong opening for white...
Originally posted by paultopiaIn the recent "Petrosian team verse the World", involving the likes of Kasparov, Anand and Leko, the French was played fairly often, albeit by the lower ranked players. That's why I specified it's fine for anyone not in the top 10.
Is it still played consistently at the GM level? My understanding is that GMs are mostly playing the caro, or weird versions of the sicilian, against e4...