Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nc3/3...Bb4/4. e5/4...c5/5. a3/5...Bxc3/6. bxc3/6...Ne7/7. Qg4/7...O-O/8. Nf3/8...Nbc6/9. Bd3/9...f5

French Defence, Winawer Variation rd bd qd rd kd pd pd nd pd pd nd pd pd pd pl pd pl ql pl pl bl nl pl pl pl pl rl bl kl rl French Defence, Winawer Variation Black's last move 9... f5 stopped White's threat of sacrificing the bishop on h7. If White doesn't capture Black's f5 pawn en passant now, then their king bishop's diagonal (b1-h7) will be blocked permanently. Because having their king bishop on a blocked diagonal certainly won't help White's kingside attack at all, White usually decides to capture the f5 pawn en passant 10. exf6. However, in a few games White also played 10. Qh3 - in hope for opening a file on the kingside for their rooks at a later time. Theory table 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 9. Bd3 f5 10 Main Continuation exf6Rxf6 = Rare Continuation Qh3... = References French Defence