Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nc3/3...Bb4

French Defence, Winawer Variation
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqk1nr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/1b1PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w
Moves: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4

French Defence, Winawer Variation

Black immediately seizes the occasion to get rid of the white knight. An exchange is almost inevitable. By pinning the knight, the e-pawn is left unprotected.

White can put his pawn out of danger with 4.e5 (this is the main line of the Winawer).

It should be noted that the dark squared bishop is the "good bishop" for black, as the light bishop is stuck behind the pawn chain in e6 and d5. The exchange however does give black some compensation after the usual 4.e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3 6.bxc3 as the closed position is quite solid for black and his superior queenside is more agile than the jammed white center. However after the usual and flexible 6...Ne7 white can choose between the tactical and very complex poisoned pawn variation (7.Qg4) or the strategic and hypercomplex lines following either a4 or Nf3. Play can be very difficult with lots of good chances for both players.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4
	4	5
Main line	e5 c5	a3 Bxc3+	=
Transposition to exchange variation	exd5 exd5	... ...	=
Alekhine Gambit	Nge2 dxe4	a3 Bxc3+	=
	Bd3 -	... ...	=

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.