Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nc3/3...Bb4/4. e5/4...c5/5. a3/5...Ba5/6. b4

French defence: Winawer variation C16 Retreat variation 6. b4 This is by far White's best option. Black must now respond accurately. 6...cxb4? is sub-optimal. It seems that Black hopes to make use of a potential discovered attack after pushing their pawn, but this opportunity won't present itself after 7. Nb5! Nc6 8. axb4 Bxb4+ 9. c3 ++ as seen in Topalov - Ermenkov, Elenite 1994.https://lichess.org/jlKTRU40 Topalov - Ermenkov, Elenite 1994 lichess.org 9 February 2026 White got to trade off the dark-squared bishops and place their knight on d6, where it can't be contested by pawns. Instead, 6...cxd4 should be played, exchanging the c-pawn for White's central pawn and attacking the knight on c3. This is known as the Armenian linehttps://www.chess.com/openings/French-Defense-Winawer-Advance-Retreat-Variation-Armenian-Line French Defense: Winawer, Advance, Retreat Variation, Armenian Line chess.com 9 February 2026, named after its use by Armenian grandmasters Rafael Vaganian and Smbat Lputian.The French Defence: a Complete Black Repertoire 2010 Chess Stars 182 978-954-8782-76-0 Vitiugov Nikita Nikita_Vitiugov Ermenkov Evgenij Soloviov Sergeyhttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?page=7&node=120034 chessgames position search www.chessgames.com 9 February 2026 Theory table Armenian line 6. ... cxd4 7. Nb5 Bc7 8. f4 Bd7 9. Nxc7+ Qxc7 + 6. ... ... 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. bxa5 dxc3 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qxh7 Nbc6 11. Nf3 Qc7 12. Bf4 + 6. ... cxb4 7. Nb5 Nc6 8. axb4 Bxb4+ 9. c3 ++ References French Defence Winawer_Variation:_3.Nc3_Bb4 See also