Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...c6/3. Nf3/3...Nf6/4. Nc3/4...dxc4/5. a4/5...Bf5/6. Ne5/6...Nbd7/7. Nxc4/7...Nb6

Slav defence D17 Central variation 7...Nb6 Black intends to trade off White's active knight. This move poses an immediate threat, so White's options are fairly limited. /8. Ne5/ puts the knight back in the centre and declines the trade. This is the main line. 8. e3 intends to recapture the knight with the bishop. 8. Ne3 retreats the knight with a tempo on the bishop. The knight is not entirely misplaced here, since White's idea is to clamp down the d5-square and develop the light-squared bishop to g2 instead. Theory table 8. Ne5 a5 9. f3 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. e4 8. e3 e6 9. a5 Nxc4 10. Bxc4 8. Ne3 Bg6 9. a5 Nbd5 10. Nxd5 Nxd5 11. a6 References See also