Practical French for Black – Part 2 + PGN June 25, 2026

Where White Stopped Looking

Modern French preparation has narrowed. A handful of fashionable tabiyas now absorb most of White’s attention, and the analysis around them runs deep. GM Felix Blohberger’s second volume goes the other way — down older, classical roads that White players have quietly stopped studying.

That choice is the connective tissue of Part 2, which completes the repertoire begun in Practical French for Black — Part 1. Where the first volume handled 3.Nc3 and the early sidelines, this database covers everything that remains after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5: the Advance, the Tarrasch, and the Exchange.

Classical structures by design

The clearest example is the Tarrasch. After 3.Nd2 c5! 4.exd5, Blohberger steers into the historical 4…exd5! and the isolated queen’s pawn — a structure today’s White players analyse far less than 4…Qxd5, which tilts the practical balance toward Black. The same instinct governs the Exchange, where 4…Nc6!? and a quick …a6 win the bishop pair and break the symmetry of a line famous for its dryness, in the style of GM Matthias Bluebaum.

The Advance is where the repertoire is most careful. Blohberger avoids the heavily worked 5…Qb6 and 5…Bd7 tabiyas with 5…Nge7!?, holding the …Bd7 lines in reserve and entering them only once White commits to the Na3–c2 manoeuvre. Against the Tarrasch’s 4.Ngf3, 4…Nf6! 5.e5 Nfd7 transposes into a familiar Classical structure — but only after Ngf3, which removes White’s quick f2–f4 and the d2–f3 knight tour.

Map of the repertoire

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5

3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nge7!? — the Advance → Chapter 1

• 6.Na3 Bd7 7.Nc2 Qa5 8.Bd2 Qb6 (the main tabiya) → Chapter 5
• 6.Na3 Bd7 7.Nc2 Qa5, 8th-move sidelines apart from Bd2 → Chapter 4
• 6.Na3 Bd7 7.Bd3 and rare moves → Chapter 3
• 6.Bd3 and other less critical 6th moves → Chapter 2

3.Nd2 c5! — the Tarrasch

• 4.exd5 exd5! (the historical IQP) → Chapters 6
• 4.Ngf3 Nf6! 5.e5 Nfd7 (the classical transposition, only after Ngf3) → Chapters 7

3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6!? — the Exchange

• 5.Bb5 a6!? (winning the bishop pair, Bluebaum-style) → Chapter 9
• 5.Bd3 and rare 5th moves → Chapter 8

Author and reasoning

Blohberger’s framing is consistently practical: by his own account, the more classical 4…exd5 draws less of White’s attention than 4…Qxd5, so opponents arrive lesser prepared — an edge that works quietly in Black’s favour. Chapter 1 opens with an overview of the whole 5…Nge7 complex, explaining the choices without overloading the reader, and the Qb6 tabiya in Chapter 5 is filled with novelties.