Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nd2

Tarrasch variation French defence C03 3...Nf6 · Closed Tarrasch 3...c5 · Open Tarrasch 3...dxe4 · to transpose to Rubinstein 3. Nd2 · Tarrasch variation Rather than trade pawns, White leaves the central tension and defends their e4 pawn with 3. Nd2. This is a more positional way of playing than the Paulsen variation (3. Nc3). By developing the knight to d2 rather than c3, White retains the option of playing c3 to support their pawn chain. This also means Nd2 is a way of avoiding the Winawer (3. Nc3 Bb4!): White can answer Bb4 with c3. However, 3. Nd2 prevents the development of White's bishop―so they will probably have to move it again soon―and doesn't pressure d5. Black's main replies are 3...Nf6, leading to closed positions, and 3...c5, leading to open positions. 3...Nf6 is the closed Tarrasch. Black attacks the e4 pawn: to save it, White plays 4. e5. Black reroutes their knight to 4...d7 and looks to break with 5...c4. Having not played Nc3, White can defend their pawn chain with with 6. c3. The closed Tarrasch leads to pawn structures resembling the advance French. 3...c5 immediately is the open Tarrasch. This is the most confrontational reply for Black, and if White plays inaccurately they can soon find themselves defending an awkward isolated queen's pawn position (e.g. 4. c3?! is bad in this line, because White's e-pawn is still under threat). White's best continuations are 4. exd4 or 4. Ngf3. The sideline 3...dxe4 4. Nxe4 transposes into 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4, the Rubinstein variation. Black may favour this transposition to avoid learning different lines for the 3. Nc3 and 3. Nd2 French defences, but White should find the position comfortable with their greater central control. Other lines include: 3...Be7 is the Morozevich variation. 3...Nc6 is the Guimard defence. 3...a6 is the Modern system. History The Tarrasch French is named for Siegbert Tarrasch, who debuted 3. Nd2 in 1889 against Karl Eckart.Eckart tried both the closed (Tarrasch v Eckart 1889 - Chessgames.com) and open (Tarrasch v Eckart 1890 - Chessgames.com) defences and lost both. Anatoly Karpov raised the profile of the line when he adopted it in the 1970sKarpov v Uhlmann 1973 - Chessgames.comTranslation of Karpov's annotation of Karpov - Uhlmann 1973 https://dgriffinchess.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/karpov-uhlmann-madrid-1973.pdf Griffin Douglas https://web.archive.org/web/20240803011409/https://dgriffinchess.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/karpov-uhlmann-madrid-1973.pdf 2024-08-03 2025-05-29 and it has been a staple of grandmaster repertoires ever since. A recent high-profile game was during the 2023 World Championship, Nepomniachtchi v Ding.Nepomniachtchi v Ding 2023 - Chessgames.com Theory table . 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 3 Main lines ...c5 = ...Nf6 = Rubinstein variation ...dxe4 = Romanichine variation ...Be7 = Guimard variation ...Nc6 = ...a6 = References French Defence See also