It's not easy finding a good opening to play against 1 e4, especially if you don't have endless time available to study the latest theoretical developments. If you choose fashionable openings, it's often a necessity to keep pace with modern theory if you want to succeed with Black.

This book provides a solution. Neil McDonald advocates his favourite opening the very popular French Defence but chooses a repertoire for Black that requires only the minimum amount of move memorization. The lines he selects are very easy to learn and play perfect for those who are unwilling to be slaves to opening theory. But there is also something here for more experienced players, as McDonald goes on to offer a second repertoire based on counter-attacking lines against 3 Nc3 and 3 Nd2