More particularly, the lines where white doesn't go for immediate c4. I don't need a ton of theory, just general ideas of what to do. Currently, I usually go for Bb4 first, long castling and pawnstorm on the kingside, but this tends to get too wild, I'd prefer something more quiet for a change.
How is this supposed to work, should you just calmly develop (Nf6, Bd6 etc) and hope white eventually creates something you can lash on to? Or, like, trade everything and go into a drawish endgame?
Well if a person does french exchange
It's mainly drawish
Exchanging e pawns then c pawns
Then pinning king side knights
Controlling e files with rooks
And exchanging it
It's wholeheartedly drawish line
Well unless you blunder
And if white doesn't initiate draw you also don't initiate it then it can give advantage to black
Notice that without c4 (immediate or later) you end with a pawn structure like this:
white: a2, b2, c3, d4, f2, g2, h2
black: a7, b7, c6, d5, f7, g7, h7
In such a position blacks black-coloured bishop is his "attacking" bishop and the light-squared bishop is his defeinsive piece. For white it is the other way round. Black tries to neutralise whites white-squared bishop (either by exchanging them or by trading it for a knight), black tries to do the same with whites white-coloured bishop.
This is the reason why black, after 1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. exd exd, 4. Nf3 ... should NOT continue with i.e. 4. ... Nf6 but 4. ... Bd6!. The knight g8 should go to e7 so that the square f5 is immediately covered by the knight and the bishop c8, so that a bishop on d3 can be forcibly exchanged if necessary. (More on that in Nimzowitschs "My System".)
If you want to play for a win as black you can try to preserve your bishop-pair while getting the opponents bishops either both or at least the dark-squared one. Then try to attack whites queenside pawns and create a passer there while the white king is busy on the kingside or the center.
Notice that, once your pieces are developed, you should try to gain space on the queenside as black, usually by b7-b5 and a7-a5. If white tries to counter with b4 then block the queenside off with a4. you will later, in the endgame, attack the white pawns from behind with i.e. Bf4-c1-(b2) and eventually taking on c3 or a3. This is why you need to preserve your black-squared bishop.
As for the placing of the pieces: black should - generally - try to achieve the following setup:
Bf8->d6
Ng8->e7 (->g6)
0-0
Rf8->e8
Nb8->d7->f8 (covers h7! and stifles most of whites attacking ideas)
Bc8->d7
Qd8-> c7
I hope this helps.
krasnaya
okay?
Look at some games by french specialists. That Bd6 + Ne7 setup is good against Nf3-e5, especially after 4.Bd3 playing c7-c5 yourself, castle on opposite wings and so on.
krasanya we can play bb4 if white play early c4
its a good move
I would suggest you to build up your position and then try to play on the Kingsside.
c6, Bd6, Bg4, Nf6, Nd7, both Rooks on the e-File.
If your opponent tries to chase your Bishop with h3 and g4, you can often sacrifice a piece on g4.
Alternatively: Try to play Be6, triple on the e-File and fight for the e4 Square with f5.
Also: You can try to bring the Queen on b6, play a7-a5-a4, Be7 and Be6 and try to ruin his Pawn-structure on the Queensside.
Or: I like to just exchange in an Endgame and then wait for the opponent's mistake.
When I played the French Exchange as Black, my favourite choice for playing for a win was 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.0-0 Bg4 7.c3 Nge7, when Black can choose between a sharp game with long castling, or a more strategic battle with short castling (also, depending on White's setup).
Indeed, 4...Nf6 5.Bd3 Bd6 is very solid, but it's not easy for Black to play for a win unless White deliberately takes risks, or makes a lot of small errors over time.
A possible middle ground would be 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5/4.Bd3 c5, which gives a reasonable IQP position where Black is solid but can also try to use the unbalanced structure to outplay a weaker opponent. The price Black pays is that this is objectively marginally worse than the other two lines, but if you like the positions, that's unlikely to be a real issue at the amateur level.
When white plays exchanged variation, it usually means he doesn't know much theory. You said you prefer calm positions, so you should be glad to equalize on move 3 already. Here it is not about opening or theory anymore but just playing chess. If you desperately want to win, you have to risk of course, I prefer lines with early c5 and c4. If you are interested in that you can analyze those positions in the database