Attacking Chess: the French by Simon Williams lives up to its name. This lines chosen in this book are for the player who wants to employ the French Defense in an aggressive style, and not for the player who wants to just sit back and equalize.
I read this book when considering going back to the French Defense a couple of years ago, and found many of the recommendations intriguing. Ultimately, I recognized that this kind of play is just not my style and I didn’t adopt the book’s suggestions … but if uncompromising play with Black is your style, you will be very happy with your purchase!
Even though I haven’t “used” this book, I don’t regret buying and reading it. Good repertoire books are hard to find, but I know one when I see it.
About the Author
Simon Williams. Photo: ChessBase
Simon Williams is well-known as a chess commentator, having teamed up to cover events with Irina Krush, Jovanka Houska, Elisabeth Pähtz, and Fiona Steil-Antoni, among others. He is a mainstay of the Gibraltar Chess Festival.
He is an unabashed attacking player, and has scored wins against chess heavyweights like Ivan Sokolov, Boris Gelfand, and Radoslaw Wojtaszek in classical chess.
Committed attacking or counterattacking play can be exciting and very effective! Attacking Chess: the French is a good example.