The French: Tarrasch Variation with dxe4 — Your Guide as White

The Tarrasch is known for being a quiet, positional way to meet the French. Black has taken your e4 pawn, but your knight on e4 already occupies the centre and stands actively. Your main trumps are a slight space advantage and easier development — your king's knight can go to f3, your king can castle quickly, and the d4 pawn remains solid. Black, meanwhile, often struggles to find a good square for their light-squared bishop, which is locked behind the pawn chain on e6 and d5. This is the classic French bishop problem, and you, as White, get to exploit it. Keep an eye on moves that open the centre and give your pieces more scope, especially the e4-knight which can be a powerful outpost. Your goal in the early middlegame is to finish development, keep the position under control, and gradually convert that +0.54 edge into something more tangible.

Stockfish's top recommendation at this position is Nd7 (followed by Nd7 Nf3 Ngf6 Nxf6+). This might look unusual — why does the engine prefer a quiet knight move over the more popular Nf6? The idea is that after Black plays 4...Nd7, they plan to develop quickly with ...Ngf6, challenging your central knight. Your best response is 5.Nf3, and when Black plays 5...Ngf6, you trade on f6 with Nxf6+, doubling Black's pawns on the f-file and giving them a compromised kingside structure. That doubled pawn is a long-term asset for you — it's a fixed weakness Black has to babysit through the middlegame. The engine values this positional plus over faster development. While the database shows Nd7 scores only 45.0% for White (meaning Black scores well with it too, because Black chooses this line when they know the follow-up), the engine's evaluation says you should welcome it and play for that favourable pawn structure.

Black has several ways to continue, and the statistics reveal a clear pattern. Here are the big ones to know: Nf6 (988,117 games) — Black challenges your knight immediately. White scores 51.2% here. Your best is to trade on f6 with Nxf6+, giving Black doubled pawns, or retreat the knight with 5.Nf3, keeping the tension. Nc6 (307,581 games, White scores 51.8%) — Black develops a piece and eyes the centre. Continue with 5.Nf3, preparing to meet ...Nf6 with the same trade or possibly Bb5 pinning the knight. Be7 (125,972 games, White scores 47.6%) — A solid developing move. Again, 5.Nf3 is natural, and you'll castle quickly. Bd7 (112,903 games, White scores 46.3%) — Black frees their queen but the bishop is passive here. Develop naturally and you'll retain your edge. Notice that White scores best against Nf6 and Nc6 — those direct central challenges are actually what you want. The positions where Black plays more quietly (Be7, Bd7) are slightly trickier statistically, but your underlying advantage remains.

Among Black's options, f5 stands out — and not in a good way for them. Played in about 90,000 games, it's flagged as an inaccuracy that loses roughly 0.8 pawns of advantage. Stockfish says Black should have played Nd7 instead. Why is f5 so bad? It forces your knight to move, but it seriously weakens Black's kingside — the e6 pawn becomes backward and can become a fixed target, and the e5 square becomes a beautiful outpost for your pieces. Moreover, Black has rushed a pawn forward without completing development, and the resulting hole on e5 is permanent. White scores a commanding 54.5% against f5, the highest win rate against any Black reply. When you see 4...f5, simply retreat your knight (5.Nf3 or 5.Neg5) and enjoy the long-term positional edge. Black's kingside is now a target, not a strength.