The French Defense Blues

I've been playing chess for over 40 years. In my "youth" I played in a number of state tournaments, and the U.S. Junior Open. I played in several postal chess tournaments in the 70's and 80's as well. So, I got the bug again last year, and I played in the GlobalChess Challenge in Minneapolis. There were about 1600 players there, and it was quite the event. Having not played tournament chess for 25(!) years, I hoped to at least get 1 point out of a possible 9. I was pleasantly surprised to have 3 1/2 points after 6 games. Then, disaster struck. I lost 3 games in a row. In 2 of those games I had white against the French Defense. I've had little experience against it, and I felt totally lost. It almost seemed like I was playing some foreign kind of game. My positions became so suffocated that I was crushed.

So, what is it about the French? Have other players out there had similar experiences? Any suggestions?