Putting the French to sleep

If there was one opening that stood out at the 2019 Oceania Zonal it was the French Defence. The tournament had 3 or 4 hardcore French players, so it hit the table almost every round. Unfortunately for the French players, almost every French was met with the Exchange Variation.
I played in a couple of games, and should have lost against Tony Dowden in round 2.  But I had a miraculous escape and then noticed other players choosing the same variation (up until a point). As a lot of games ended in a draw, I suspect it was very frustrating for the players with the black pieces, who were often the higher rated player in the pairing.
However a game played by GM Nigel Short shows it could have been a lot worse for them. He chose a slightly delayed exchange variation (after 3.Nc3 Nf6) but whipped up a strong kingside attack and won pretty quickly. Having just played another drawn Exchange French this evening at the club, I may have to look at this refinement for future inspiration.

Short,Nigel D (2648) - Moran,Stephen (2155) [C01]
26th Bunratty Masters Bunratty IRL (1.3), 22.02.2019