The French Defence took its name from a postal match in 1834 between London and Paris. The Paris team, which included Jacques Chamouillet and Pierre de Saint-Amant, repeatedly answered 1.e4 with 1...e6, and Chamouillet persuaded his teammates to adopt the line. This correspondence contest between rival capitals gave the opening an identity that has persisted ever since.

Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion, dismissed the French as the dullest of all openings. Other masters disagreed. Géza Maróczy became perhaps the first world-class player to make it his primary weapon against 1.e4 in the early 1900s. Later, Aron Nimzowitsch championed the Advance Variation with 3.e5, while Mikhail Botvinnik's analytical work in the 1940s established the Winawer with 3...Bb4 as a key response to 3.Nc3.

The central piece in French Defence strategy is Black's light-squared bishop, initially blocked by the e6 pawn. Black typically seeks to liberate this bishop through moves like ...c5 or ...f6 while launching a queenside counterattack against White's kingside pressure. A 1912 game between Tarrasch and Teichmann at San Sebastián demonstrated the dangers when Black fails to free this piece in time.

The French developed into a family of major variations over the decades. The Tarrasch, with 3.Nd2, proved effective for Anatoly Karpov in the 1970s and early 1980s. Evgeny Sveshnikov revived the Advance Variation during the 1980s. Garry Kasparov experimented with the Exchange line in the early 1990s before returning to 3.Nc3. Defenders of the opening have included Viktor Korchnoi, Wolfgang Uhlmann, and Nigel Short, with modern practitioners such as Alexander Morozevich, Teimour Radjabov, and Ding Liren keeping it alive.

The French has held its position as the third most popular response to 1.e4 for decades, occasionally rising above 1...e5 around 2006. Modern engines have not diminished its appeal, and opening guides note that computer analysis has even revived interest in older lines such as the Classical Steinitz. The opening endures because it offers players a trade: accept a cramped position early in exchange for a concrete plan and the patience to capitalize when opportunity arrives.