I am pleased to present, dear reader, my new work. This book is my first work on an opening repertoire for White. I used to write books advocating Black: I considered such openings as the Grünfeld Defense, the Modern Benoni Defense, the
Volga Gambit. This book is the first part of my opening repertoire for White. In the future, I plan to release parts 2 and 3, where the rest of the openings will be covered. In this work, my main focus is the French Defense and the Caro-Kann Defense. They are fairly similar openings, since the main concept is to hit the center with …d7-d5. The writing of this book was spontaneous. I didn't initially have a direct goal of writing a book, and at first, I just analyzed for myself using ideas on the Internet, but the analysis grew... and it grew more and more. The structuring of the options somehow happened in my head and I decided to write a book.
For whom would I recommend playing the exchange variation of the French Defense?
First of all, for those players who strive for a clear and understandable game with good endgame technique. We would also like to surprise our opponent to some extent, throw him off his preparation, and dull his vigilance. With good knowledge, we can not only claim a theoretical advantage, but also exert some psychological pressure, since the opponent will lose his chances of winning. Perhaps they will become bored, and this will contribute to some kind of aggressive action on the part of our rivals; perhaps this will only lead to a weakening, which is what we are trying to provoke.
In the Caro-Kann Defense, I recommend playing 2.с4!?, the so-called English variation!
So-named because the English maestro Elijah Williams played 2.c4 for the first time in 1845. The idea of exploring this option also came about by chance. I always liked to study the opening and look for new, interesting and non-standard ideas. At some point, the old ideas became boring to me, and I wanted to look for something new. My gaze and attention was drawn to how Oleksandr Bortnyk plays against the Caro-Kann defense. I began further study after the moves: 1.е4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 4.exd5 Nf6. I was surprised by the move: 5. Qа4!? You could say that I immediately fell in love with this move. Later, analyzing this option with engines a lot, I decided to create a file on my computer. The analysis expanded, I found interesting and new ideas, and then I started playing them in online games and the results surprised me.
