French Defence, Winawer Variation

French Defence, Winawer Variation
	a b c d e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h
	Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) r1bq1rk1/pp2nppp/2n1p3/2ppP3/3P2Q1/P1P2N2/2P2PPP/R1B1KB1R w
	Moves: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O 8. Nf3 Nbc6

From now on Black must defend very carefully.

Luckily Black's pawn structure on the kingside is very solid and ready to block any dangerous diagonal and vertical attacks of the White player - if needed.

After Black's last move 8... Nbc6 White's most common way of strengthening their attack on the Black King is 9. Bd3.

Other ideas are 9. h4 (with the aim of sacrificing a knight on g5 in exchange for an open h-File, e.g. after hxg5), and also 9. Qh3 has been tried (with the idea of playing Ng5 and after Black's necessary response h6 White can later try to open the g-file by playing g5).

Black should keep in mind that in this variation White often has a chance of sacrificing a bishop for two pawns on h6 and get a very strong attack on the black king, so Black must be very careful not to play h6 at a wrong time.