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

French Defence, Winawer Variation rd bd qd rd kd pd pd nd pd pd pd nd pd pd pd pl pl ql pl pl nl pl pl pl pl rl bl kl bl rl French Defence, Winawer Variation 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. 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 Main Continuation Bd3f5 = Variation h4 h4... = Variation Qh3 Qh3... = References French Defence