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...Qc7/8. Qxg7/8...Rg8/9. Qxh7

Poisoned pawn variation Poisoned pawn variation 9. Qxh7 White's queen steps out of the way of the rook and takes a pawn along the way. Having given up their kingside, Black should keep playing actively and accurately to capitalize off of the fact that White has spent the past three moves moving their queen. 9...cxd4! is the best way to achieve this. Black regains one of their lost pawns and threatens 10...Qxc3+, which would pick up the rook. This also removes the only defender of the e5-pawn, making 10...Qxe5+ possible too. Theory table 9. ... cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 Bd7 12. Qd3 dxc3 References French Defence Winawer_Variation:_3.Nc3_Bb4