French Defense Winawer Plans / Ideas

French Defense Winawer Variations

Winawer variation of french defense is sharp opening, both side have their chances. Now lets start analyzing french defense winawer variations with plans for both side.

What is white’s strategy in winawer variation?

White will have advantage of bishop pair. because black will take on c3 with bishop. after having bishop pair white will take initiative on king side. Black will suffer the absence of dark square bishop. the stratgey is to attack on king with bishop pair.

What is Black’s Strategy in winawer variation ?

after capture of white’s knight on c3 white has weakness so black’s attack on queen side often gets faster as a compensation for bishop. Black pawn structure is very solid. but there is a danger on king side. so in this variation black sometimes castle on queen side, it looks dangerous for black, but black have resources  on queen side. and some time black stays in the center because of solid pawn center. Bonus tip for black is that if he can exchange white’s light square bishop it will be good game.

Note: If you want to play winawer variation then you must study theory otherwise you will be crushed with white’s attack on kingside.

Example Games of Winawer Variation

Flip the board to black side

Game 2

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