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. Nf3

Winawer variation C19 Winawer variation 7. Nf3 By developing the knight, White takes on a more positional approach. Because this move is less confrontational than 7. Qg4, Black has more options for dealing with it. 7...Bd7 threatens to put the bishop on a4, where it puts lasting pressure on White's c2-pawn. White usually prevents this with 8. a4. The drawback of placing the bishop on d7 is that the b-knight can no longer occupy that square, making dxc5 possible. This isn't too big of a deal, since it allows 8...Ba4 after which the knight can go to d7 and recapture the pawn. 7...b6 intends to trade off the light-squared bishops. White can prevent this trade with 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bd3 but Black gets 9...Ba4 in. If White wants to prevent Ba4 they can play 8. a4 but this does allow Black to trade bishops with 8...Ba6. White can make things slightly more difficult for Black by not exchanging the bishops on Black's terms and playing 9. Bb5+ Bxb5 10. axb5. Theory table 7. ... Bd7 8. a4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Nbc6 7. ... ... 8. dxc5 Ba4 7. ... b6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bd3 Ba4 7. ... ... 8. a4 Ba6 9. Bb5+ Bxb5 10. axb5 Qd7 References French Defence