hi, I'm new to french and want a closed game and I can take a little worse off position and be on the defense and need to know do I play the winawer or stick with 3-Nf6

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3

What to say? Both 3.Bb4 and 3.Nf6 are perfectly reasonable. It's really a question of how ambitious you want to be. 3.Bb4 is much more aggressive.

Play through a bunch of games in both variations and decide which one appeals to you more. There's no a right and wrong answer here. Byron Jacob's "Starting Out: The French" has good introductory treatments on both.

I've found that at beginner to intermediate levels, it doesn't matter which one you decide you want to play, because no one ever actually plays 3. Nc3. Playing the French as black, I don't think I've ever faced an opponent below 1500 USCF rating or 1800 internet rating that hasn't played the Advance, Exchange, or 2. Nf3.

But you said you want a more closed game, and you're more likely to get those types of positions from the classical French (3. ... Nf6) than the Winawer (3. ... Bb4). As Ronaldinho said, the Winawer's more aggressive, which in many cases means trading center pawns earlier.

--Fromper

yeah that's right I think I will stick with 3-..Nf6 and try some winawer maybe in some blitz games thxs for replys guys

I find 3. ... Nf6 a whole lot more threatening when playing white, presuming black proceeds down the Classical line.