Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...c6/3. Nf3/3...Nf6/4. Nc3/4...dxc4/5. a4/5...Bf5/6. Nh4

Bled Attack D17 Czech Defence 6. Nh4 · Bled Attack White immediately goes after Black's light-squared bishop. The usual response is 6...e6, opening up the dark-squared bishop and preparing to recapture with the e-pawn. 6...Bc8 has also been tried, retreating the bishop to its home-square and arguing that the knight on h4 is misplaced. In practice, Black scores poorly in this line. Plans for White White will generally win back the c4 pawn with the moves e3 and Bxc4, which also allow White to castle kingside. If Black has captured the knight with the e6 pawn, there will be a hanging pawn on f5. This pawn can usually be targeted with a move like Qc2, forcing Black to defend it with g6 which weakens the dark squares around the king. Another common plan is for White to try to play e4. Since Black has a pawn on f5, this is usually prepared with the move f3, planning to recapture with the pawn to gain a strong center. Plans for Black Because of the move 5. a4, Black can place the dark-squared bishop on the b4-square, where it can't be kicked out by pawns. The c pawn is often pushed to c5 to undermine White's center. When 6...Bc8 is played, Black has to deal with the problem of the light-squared bishop again. If Black decides to play e6, the bishop will be locked behind pawns once again. Therefore, Black usually plays e5 in order to keep the light-squared bishop open. History The move Nh4 is named after the 1931 Bled tournament where it was played in rounds 14 and 18 by Alexander Alekhine and Isaac Kashdan respectively.https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012736https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1030541 Theory table 6...e6 7. Nxf5 exf5 8. e3 Bb4 9. Bxc4 O-O + 6...Bc8 7. e3 e5 + References See also