Master the French DVDs
by GM Susan Polgar
Reviewed by Michael Jeffreys
Instructional DVDs done the Right Way
After watching a Susan Polgar instructional DVD (and she’s done 14 of them!), one wonders why all chess DVDs aren’t done this way. The quality of her graphics, music, layout, and most importantly chess instruction, are first rate.
Her latest videos are on the venerable French Defense. And thank god. This stodgy defense drives more than a few 1.e4 players crazy. Blocking in your light squared bishop is supposed to be bad, but somebody forgot to tell French players this.
Whenever I played against the French (and this doesn’t happen very often since I am a 1.d4 player), I always felt like I was defending, even though I was White! Luckily, help is on the way.
On the three Mastering the French DVDs, Susan takes you through all the main lines, as well as several important side variations. She not only points out traps that both sides need to be aware of, she is very honest about her opinion regarding a particular line. If she thinks a certain move is poor, even if it is often played, she will say so. I for one really appreciate this, as too often chess authors are afraid to appear biased, and so they hedge. Well, forget that! I want a teacher to tell me exactly what they think and Susan does just this.
The video opens with uplifting classical music and attractive chess graphics. The DVD menu has little blue knights next to each chapter which you can click on to view that particular section.
Here are the contents of all three DVDs:
Mastering the French: Part 1 (Volume 11)
1. e4 e6
Chapter 1: Side Variations 2.d3, 2.b3 and 2.Qe2
Chapter 2: Typical Ideas in the French Advance
Chapter 3: Advance Variations 3. e5
Chapter 4: Exchange Variation 3.exd5
Mastering the French: Part 2 (Volume 12)
The Tarrasch Variation
Entire DVD is on the moves: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 e5 3.Nd2
Mastering the French: Part 3 (Volume 13)
Chapter 1: Steinitz variation 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5
Chapter 2: Classical variation 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5
Chapter 3: Winawer variation 3.Nc3 Bb4 sidelines on move 4
Chapter 4: 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 b6
Chapter 5: 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 with 7.Qg4
Chapter 6: 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 with 7.Nf3
Chapter 7: Rubinstein variation 3.Nc3 dxe4
Here is the full review.
I bought all 3 volumes a few months ago. I’ve been a long time Sicilian player. But I don’t have time to keep up with the theories. So this is perfect for me. The quality of the DVD is great. It’s easy to understand. I highly recommend it.
I love this DVD series!
Thank you Susan!
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