Best French Defense Courses

The first French decision is yours rather than White's: after 3.Nc3 you choose 3...Nf6 (the Classical) or 3...Bb4 (the Winawer), and each repertoire course below picks one. For 3...Nf6 the best-documented is Rustam Kasimdzhanov's two-volume "Top Choice Repertoire" on ChessBase (€54.90 as of 8 November 2026, about 10 hours 45 minutes), and for 3...Bb4 it is Nicholas Pert's older ChessBase course (€29.90, 7 hours, November 2013). If you face the French as White, note that ChessMood's "French Defence" course is a White course on 3.Bd3, rated 1800 to 2600 by the seller, so it will not help a player of the French.

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Test depth: Public information only. Nobody at ChessCourseFinder has taken these courses. This page is based on published documentation, pricing and reports read on 8 November 2026. How we review explains the limits.

How we picked

This page separates playing the French from facing it, because the course lists mix both. Catalogue research found 20 distinct paid French courses, including ChessBase "60 Minutes" micro-courses (the ChessBase French listing showed six when we re-read it on 8 November 2026, five of them clearly or likely for White). We kept courses for Black with a dated price, a running time and a list of White's tries. For this update we also opened the Modern Chess series pages, which publish chapter titles. A later re-check of Modern Chess pages on 8 November 2026 returned HTTP 429 (too many requests), so we stopped, so Modern Chess figures other than Marin's Winawer and the Advance course below could not be re-confirmed; check them on the seller's page. Counts are lower bounds: Chessable and TheChessWorld could not be fully read, and our single Chessable search turned up only two titles.

Do you need a course at your level?

Not at first. Coaches commonly say that below about 1400 French trouble comes from two problems: White's attack on the kingside when Black's light-squared bishop is shut in, and not knowing when to play ...c5. Both can be learned from your own games and free studies, as received coaching wisdom rather than a seller claim. A course becomes more useful once you keep meeting the same White try and want an organised answer to it, especially the Advance, the Tarrasch or 3.Nc3.

The decision a buyer has to make first: Winawer or Classical

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3, Black has three main replies, and no course can be judged until you know which you want:

That table is why a page that lists "3.Nc3 Nf6" but not the Winawer has no gap. Kasimdzhanov's Vol. 1 simply answers 3.Nc3 with 3...Nf6. You would only have a problem if you wanted to play 3...Bb4. The same logic runs the other way: Pert's repertoire takes 3...Bb4 and so gives no 3...Nf6 chapters.

Black also has choices against 3.Nd2. Kasimdzhanov and the Roiz series play 3...c5, Pert plays 3...Nf6, and King shows 3...c5 and 3...a6 plus the "Fort Knox" 3...dxe4 set-up. Those are different middlegames, so check this before comparing prices.

Theory load

Moderate to high, depending on the line. The Winawer is conventionally treated as the most theory-heavy and double-edged branch, and Marin's Modern Chess page says of his 4...b6 that "concrete theory tends to be less important than positional understanding", whereas the Poisoned Pawn is conventionally the heavily analysed branch. The Classical is more positional but has sharp attacking lines after 4.e5 and 4.Bg5, and Kasimdzhanov's own Vol. 1 contents spend many chapters on 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2. The Advance and Tarrasch are structure-based and the Exchange is quiet, although Modern Chess's sales text argues its reputation for dullness is out of date. A common coaching view is that the club-level problem is misplaying the structure rather than forgetting a long line (we have no data), so a course that explains plans can matter as much as one that lists moves.

Move orders a French buyer has to allow for

Not every French starts 2.d4. On Lichess's page for 1.e4 e6, read on 8 November 2026 with default filters, White's second moves were 2.d4 in 43% of games, 2.Nf3 in 30%, 2.Nc3 in 8%, 2.Bc4 in 5%, 2.f4 in 4% and 2.d3 in 4%, so 57% did not play 2.d4 at once (our calculation). These are all-ratings, all-speeds figures, and some games transpose, for example 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 with a later d4.

What this means for buying: a course that starts at 3.Nc3 or 3.e5 leaves your early decisions to you. The sharpest gaps are 2.d3 (the King's Indian Attack set-up), 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 with the 4.b4 Wing Gambit, and 3.Bd3, the move ChessMood builds its White course on. Modern Chess's Exchange Variation and Sidelines names all three, plus 2.c4, 2.Qe2, 2.f4 and 2.b3. Pert, Kasimdzhanov and King have sideline chapters too, but only King's page names the 2.d3 set-up specifically.

Coverage matrix

"Listed" means the seller's page names the line. "Not stated" means we saw no chapter detail; we have not inferred coverage from a title.

"Not its repertoire" is a choice by the author, not an omission. Modern Chess also sells a Winawer-only course by Marin built on 4...b6 (see the table below), and ChessBase lists a "New McCutcheon" course, which is the 4.Bg5 Bb4 line and so belongs to 3...Nf6, not the Winawer.

Best-documented courses for playing the French

Prices as shown on 8 November 2026; ChessBase prices are euros as displayed. Cost per hour is our calculation from the listed price and running time, and listed hours are not study time.

The four Roiz volumes form one repertoire, so buying one leaves White's other tries uncovered. Modern Chess's terms, updated 29 December 2025, make sales final once access is given, so sample its free preview before committing to a series.

If you face the French: ChessMood and the 60-minute courses

ChessMood's "The Tricky Schlechter Variation against the French Defense" (3.Bd3) is a White course. Its page lists 6h 21m, 113 episodes, a 1800 to 2600 range with no rating system named, and sections by Black's reply: 3...Nf6, 3...c5, 3...dxe4, 5...Nbd7, 5...Bd6 and rare moves, plus an advanced 3...Nc6 section. At a $250 standalone price over 6h 21m that is about $39.37 per listed hour (our calculation), and our ChessMood pricing page covers plan alternatives. On ChessBase, Jana Schneider's Advance Variation course (€32.90, 4 hours, September 2023) is a White course aimed at club players by its own text, and several 60-minute French courses are also for White, for example on the Two Knights or 3.Bd3; they are one hour long by design.

Who should skip a French course

Skip it if you are under about 1200, if you dislike cramped positions, or if you play the French only as a surprise. If the shut-in light-squared bishop puts you off, compare Caro-Kann courses, where that bishop normally develops before ...e6, and for a different 1.e4 reply see Scandinavian courses. For a simple system overall see beginner repertoire.

Free and cheaper routes

The free opening explorer and public studies on Lichess cover the first moves (Lichess studies and practice). ChessMood's free article French Defense: How to Play walks through the Exchange, Advance, Winawer, Classical and Tarrasch at introductory level, though it comes from a seller and says it is keeping a surprise line for ChessMood's own repertoire. If you would rather read, Forward Chess's guide (last updated August 2026) groups nine books by reader level and starts newcomers on First Steps: The French. Forward Chess sells eight of the nine books as ebooks.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• Kasimdzhanov's page lists 3.Nc3 Nf6 and sidelines but no Winawer chapter, because the repertoire plays 3...Nf6. It does not say so in plain words.
• Marin's ChessBase course is about structures and attacks, not a repertoire, though its title could suggest otherwise.
• Pert's and King's pages show full chapter lists, which the shop's French listing page hides, so open the product page before ruling them out.
• ChessMood's "French Defence" URL serves a course for White.
• The ChessBase pages we opened give a stated level of "Advanced, Tournament player, Professional" or "Tournament player, Professional" that does not separate a 1200 from a 2000.