French Defense — Middlegame Understanding: Open, Closed, and Gambit Structures
A New Course by GM Davorin Kuljasevic
The second part of GM Davorin Kuljasevic's Understanding the French project is now available. The first course — Understanding the French Defense: Middlegame Structures and Strategy — covered Classical and Winawer structures, the two pawn-structure families that arise from the most theoretically dense lines of the French. With those covered, the project now turns to the three remaining families of central pawn structures arising from 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5: Open French, Closed French, and French Gambit structures.
Together, the two courses form a complete structural foundation for the French Defense. Part 1 addressed the closed, theory-heavy positions where most opening preparation focuses; Part 2 takes on the open, dynamic, and gambit-flavored positions that arise from the remaining variations. Players who have studied Part 1 will recognize the same analytical method here, applied to structures with a different character.
This is not an opening repertoire course. It is something that complements one — a strategic foundation built on understanding what happens in the early middlegame after the opening moves end. The audience for this course is the player who already plays the French (with either color) and wants to navigate typical positions with conviction rather than memorization.
Why this course matters
Most French Defense materials focus on opening theory — what to play on move 8, which sideline to know, how to react to a specific deviation. Useful, but limited. The challenge most players face isn't surviving the opening; it's understanding what to do once the opening ends and the middlegame begins.
Kuljasevic addresses that gap directly. Rather than teaching variations move by move, he isolates the structural skeletons that French middlegames produce, then explains how to play each one — for both colors. The result is a course that improves your French play across every variation you encounter, including ones you've never explicitly studied.
This approach also has practical value beyond the French itself. The Open French structures (especially the IQP and Rubinstein structures) recur across many openings — the Caro-Kann Panov, the Tarrasch Defense, several Sicilian lines. Understanding them at the level Kuljasevic teaches transfers directly to those positions.
What you will study
The course is organized around three structural families, with detailed sub-structures examined inside each.
Open French structures
These arise from an early exchange of one or two central pawns. The result: positions with strong piece centralization, where lead in development matters more than long-term space, and where Black's task is to neutralize White's initiative through accurate piece play.
Six sub-structures are covered:
- O1) Rubinstein structure — c2/c3 versus e6, with an open d-file. White's typical play involves the e5-outpost, the queenside pawn majority, and the h2-b8 diagonal. Black aims for ...e6-e5 breaks and queenside counterattacks.
- O2) Rubinstein with doubled pawns — c2/c3 versus e6-f6-f7. White attacks the weakened kingside, particularly h6, h7, and g7. Black must secure with patient maneuvers like ...Kh8, ...Rg8, and ...Be7-f6-g7.
- O3) Semi-open structure — d4-c2/c3 versus e6-c7/c6. The defining tension is whether Black can achieve the ...c5 and ...e5 breaks; White's task is prophylaxis against both.
- O4) Tarrasch IQP structure — c2/c3 versus d5, the canonical isolated queen's pawn position. White seeks targeted exchanges, the d4 blockade, and the e-file. Black avoids piece trades and develops actively.
- O5) Black pawn-center structure — c2/c3-f2/f3-f4 versus e6-e5-d5. White prevents Black's pawn advance through the d4-e5 blockade and undermines the central pawns. Black aims to push and create piece superiority.
- O6) French exchange structure — d4-c2/c3 versus d5-c7/c6 with an open e-file. White uses the extra tempo for initiative; Black equalizes through the light-squared bishop trade.
Closed French structures
These arise when White declines central tension and builds with d3-e4/e5 versus Black's e6-d5/d4. They produce a different game entirely — slower, more strategic, with attacking potential for both sides on opposite flanks.
Two sub-structures:
- CL1) KIA structure — d3-e5 versus e6-d5. White's plan is the kingside attack with pieces, supported by h-pawn advances and sacrifices on h7/h6 or d5/e6. Black counterattacks on the queenside with ...a4-b4 advances and the ...Nd4 maneuver against c2.
- CL2) KIA structure with c4 — c4-d3-e5 versus e6-d4-c5. The c4 push opens additional possibilities including Nc3 and the e4-outpost. Castling decisions shape the entire middlegame.
French Gambit structures
White sacrifices a central or wing pawn in the opening, gaining quick development and attacking potential. Two structural variants are covered:
- G1) Central gambit structure — White gambits a central pawn for development and king-attack potential.
- G2) Wing gambit structure — Black takes a wing pawn; White prepares a kingside attack with Bd3, h4, Ng5, while looking for the dark-squared bishop trade and the Na3-b5-d6 invasion plan.
Course structure
The material is presented through four complementary components:
Structural overviews. Each sub-structure is introduced with its strategic essence — advantages and disadvantages for both sides, typical plans, key squares, and characteristic exchanges to seek or avoid.
25 model games. These are not isolated examples chosen for tactical fireworks. They are complete games selected to demonstrate how typical structures evolve from opening to middlegame to endgame. Kuljasevic recommends studying them in their entirety — many of the most important lessons appear in the late middlegame and endgame phases, where structural understanding compounds.
5 tabiya analyses. Deep examination of five popular French positions corresponding to the structures studied earlier. Tabiyas are positions that arise frequently and warrant memory beyond mere familiarity — these are the recurring crossroads where French Defense games are decided.
40 test exercises. A diagnostic component placed at the end of the course. Working through these confirms your understanding has translated into pattern recognition and decision-making capability, not just theoretical comprehension.
Throughout the course, Kuljasevic's commentary in model games is marked with DK alongside diagrams that highlight critical moments — the inflection points where structural understanding determines the outcome.
Who this course is for
This is material for players who already understand the basics of the French Defense and want to deepen their grasp of what happens after the opening ends. It works particularly well for:
1.e4 players who face the French and want to handle it confidently. Understanding the structures Black aims for is the cleanest path to navigating any line you choose to play against the French. This course teaches you what to expect and how to respond.
Players who play the French as Black. Knowing the structural foundations of every variation deepens your understanding of why certain Black setups work and why others don't. The transition from opening to middlegame becomes natural rather than mechanical.
Players who own Understanding the French Defense: Middlegame Structures and Strategy (Part 1). This course is the natural continuation of the project, completing the structural picture across every major French variation. Part 1 covered the nine Classical and Winawer substructures — the closed, theory-heavy positions that define mainstream French theory. Part 2 covers the eight remaining substructures across the Open, Closed (KIA), and Gambit families. Together, the two courses form a complete strategic foundation for the French Defense, with Part 1 available here.
Players preparing the French for serious tournament use. Tournament play places different demands than online blitz — the difficulty is sustained over four or five hours of play, where structural understanding rather than memorization determines results.
This course is not designed for absolute beginners or for players who want a turnkey opening repertoire. It assumes a player who is ready to think structurally about the positions they reach, and who values the kind of understanding that transfers across openings rather than the kind that solves a single variation.
A note from the author
In the introduction to the course, Kuljasevic frames the project clearly:
"Our focus here is not on learning move-by-move opening theory of the French defense, even though we will cover many important opening variations and tabiyas. Instead, the primary goal of this course is improving our understanding of the transition from the opening to the middlegame — what I like to call the 'early middlegame.' We achieve that by studying typical French pawn structures, their transformations, and strategic ideas for both White and Black. In other words, this is not an opening repertoire course, but a well of strategic ideas that complements it."
That framing captures what makes the course distinctive: it builds the kind of understanding that lasts past the next theoretical refutation, the next engine update, the next fashionable line. Pawn structures don't change. The strategic ideas that flow from them remain valid year after year, opening after opening.
For the player who wants to play the French Defense — or play against it — with the confidence that comes from genuine understanding rather than memorized moves, this course delivers exactly what its title promises.
For the most complete treatment of the French Defense from a structural perspective, both courses are designed to be studied together. Part 1 — Understanding the French Defense: Middlegame Structures and Strategy — covers the Classical and Winawer structures that define the most theoretically dense lines. Part 2 (this course) covers everything else. Each course stands on its own; together, they leave no major French structure unexplored.