Introduction

After covering the Alekhine-Chatard variation of the French Defence, today, we are going to continue our explorations of the 4.Bg5 Classical French and analyze arguably the best reply available to Black, the move 4…dxe4 leading to the so-called Burn Variation of the French Defence.

Burn Variation Of The French Defence

Overview and main ideas

The main variation analyzed in this post will be the variation of the French Defence that arises after the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4

Even though as beginners we are taught not to release the tension in the center prematurely as it activates the opponent’s pieces and gives them more space, Black’s argument is that drawing the knight to e4 will create some opportunities to challenge it and potentially exchange it. And since we have less space, exchanging the pieces is very much in our favour.

This variation is similar to the Rubinstein Variation that arises after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3. Nc3/Nd2 dxe4:

,but here Black tries to make an argument that the version with the bishop on g5 is even more favorable because Black will play Be7 and seek to exchange the bishops, too. On the other hand, the bishop does create a potential pin/pressure on the f6 knight. As usual, when it comes to modern chess openings – there are two sides to the same coin.

In any case, the Burn variation continues 5.Nxe4 and now Black has a choice. The “pure” Burn move is 5…Be7, while it is also possible to play the move 5…Nbd7 and transpose to a variation of the Rubinstein defence where White has developed the bishop to g5. In this article, the focus will be on the former, while the latter will be analyzed in greater detail in a separate article devoted to the Rubinstein Variation.

Black plays with f5

After 5…Be7, the knight on e4 is under attack and White’s best way of dealing with the pressure on it is to capture the attacking knight on f6. Experience shows that the move 6. Nxf6 is a bit toothless (and you can check the analysis to see why) and the only challenging move is 6.Bxf6 when Black’s best and most common reply involves capturing with the g-pawn and reaching the starting point of the Burn Variation after 7.Nf3:

At first glance, it is not 100% obvious how Black should develop and where should the king castle. But actually, the quintessential question here is – should Black play the move f5 to kick the knight from e4? There are both pros and cons to this move – on one hand, it does remove the knight from the center and gains some share of space. But on the other hand, the knight can immediately jump to c3 and start preparing ideas connected with the d5 breakthrough. As the analysis and variations demonstrate, this idea has a lot of potential and can lead to some very fascinating lines:

Black plays without f5

As we have just seen, the variation where Black chases the knight away to c3 is not without its dangers due to the tricky knight sacrifice. Therefore, the question is – should Black bother kicking the knight away? What if Black plays without the f5 move and just continues with the development?

It is a legitimate way of playing, but it also has a certain drawback. Namely, with the knight on e4, there is the option of jumping to c5 – especially if Black goes for the standard a6-b5 setups and weakens this square in the process. I am far from the expert of this line, but it seems to me this is the case of going from frying pan to the fire and that Black should decide to play f5 sooner rather than the later. The analysis provided below can partly demonstrate why:

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French Defence Burn Variation

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Introduction

After covering the McCutcheon Variation of the French Defence in the previous article, today, we are going to continue our explorations of the 4.Bg5 Classical French by analyzing another very topical 4th move by Black – 4…Be7, that very often leads to a very popular and sharp gambit, called The Alekhine-Chatard Attack.

The Alekhine-Chatard Attack

Overview and main ideas

As mentioned earlier, the main variation analyzed in this post will be the variation of the French Defence that arises after the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7

The main idea of the move is obviously to break the pin and reinforce the threat to the e4 pawn. White’s most common (and only real reply worth analyzing) is the advance of the e-pawn with 5.e5 when after 5…Nfd7 the following critical position arises:

White has two big options here – the first one is the natural move 6.Bxe7, while the other one is the move 6.h4.

By far the more common and popular move is the latter (6.h4), leading to the so-called Alekhine-Chatard Attack. This move was played back at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century by a strong master of the time Albin – and also by a relatively lesser-known player Chatard – but it was taken seriously only after the game Alekhine – Fahrni, Mannheim, 1914.

White’s idea is to give up the pawn to open up the file for the rook. This variation will be the main focus of this entire chapter.

Black declines the sacrifice – 6…c5

Now, before we get to the actual variations where Black accepts the gambit, let’s first take a look at some ways in which Black can try to decline it. One potential way of doing so involves the immediate central counterstrike with c5. It is a very logical French move – but it allows White to demonstrate one of the points behind having the bishop on g5.

Black declines the sacrifice – 6…a6

In the previous variation, we have seen how pushing c5 immediately can lead to some trouble due to the weakness of the b5 square. Therefore, a logical question is – can Black afford to take a moment to control the square on b5 before pushing c5?

Black declines the sacrifice – 6…h6

Last but not least, Black can try to avoid the gambit by forcing the bishop to move immediately. This seems to be a very solid option available to Black as it forces the issues and it also doesn’t involve the weakening of the queenside (such as the move 6…h6).

Black accepts the sacrifice – 6…Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5

Last but not least – according to Capablanca’s old saying that the best way of refuting the gambit is to accept it – this is the most popular and arguably the critical move in this position. Black accepts the bait and asks White to demonstrate what is the idea. Thus, after 6…Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 White should remember the non-standard and creative move 8.Nh3!?.

This is a very important move to remember and understand. Instead of going to f3, the knight goes to the “Rim” and attacks the queen. There are two reasons for it:

A) The knight on h3 doesn’t block the queen from reaching g4!

B) The knight on h3 can sometimes go to f4 which may be relevant, while the knight on f3 would be unable to do so.

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French Defence – Alekhine Chatard Attack

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Introduction

After introducing the Classical Variation of the French Defence in a previous article, today we are going to continue are explorations of the variation with 4.Bg5 and analyze a very combative, sharp, and critical response – 4.Bb4 – leading to the so-called McCutcheon Variation of the French Defense.

McCutcheon Variation of the French Defense

Overview and main ideas

As mentioned above, the McCutcheon Variation is a line that can arise in the Classical Variation of the French Defense via the move order 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nb4 4. Bg5 Bb4!?. According to some sources, it was named after a relatively unknown American player John Lindsay McCutcheon, who used it to defeat the World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz in the Simultaneous Exhibition in 1885:

At first glance, it looks as if this move loses a piece due to the advance of the e5 pawn, but it is not really the case, as elaborated below:

Thus, instead of advancing the pawn or trying to maintain the pin with 6.Bh4, White most commonly retreats the bishop along the c1-h6 diagonal. Actually, it transpires that three out of four retreats – to e3, c1, and d2 are very much possible and we will examine each and every one of them in turn.

White plays 6. Be3

First of all, White can try to retreat the bishop to e3. This seems like a very natural retreating move, placing the bishop on a square where it is defending the d4 pawn and also hindering the c5 pawn push. However, the drawback of this move is that it doesn’t defend the knight on c3, allowing Black to jump in immediately with 6.Be3 Ne4.

Furthermore, there are also some nuances due to which it may be worth considering the bishop to c1 instead of e3 – in a very specific line, it may turn out to be surprisingly relevant.

It is hard to explain it all in words, so let’s rather check the next chapter of our study:

White plays 6.Bc1

As mentioned above in my analysis of 6.Be3 – if White doesn’t intend to defend the knight on c3 with the bishop on d2, then going back to c1 might be worth considering. Not only does the bishop keep the option of potentially going to a3 in the future if Black takes on c3 – but there is also a very specific point in a very specific variation that showcases how having the bishop on the back rank can be useful, as follows:

White plays 6.Bd2

Last but not least, this “obvious” move, defending the c3 knight and breaking the pin, is the most common move in this position. It is not as aggressive and combative as 6.Be3 or 6.Bc1, but it is still nevertheless very ambitious and provides White with good chances of playing for the advantage.

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French Defence McCutcheon Analysis

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Introduction

Back in 2020, I published an article on this blog devoted to the French Defense, titled What Every Ches Player Should Know About The French Defense. And even though it was relatively well-received, at the time, it turned out to be a one-off type of article. Not long after I wrote it, I started working for Chessable and put the opening articles ¹ into a hiatus. Even though I have always wanted to continue this series and cover more and more openings on this blog ² I never really managed to find the time to get to it.

Until now.

Given that I am currently working as a chess freelancer, I felt I really don’t have any more excuses not to start executing some ideas I have had for a long time. Especially since I have also wanted to devote more attention to my Youtube Channel – and the opening material is very suitable to be presented in the video format. ³

Thus, without further ado, I am happy to announce the return of the opening articles on this blog. In this post, we will continue our coverage of the French Defense by taking an introductory look at the Classical Variation of the French Defense.

Classical Variation of the French Defense

Overview and main ideas

The Classical Variation of the French Defense arises after the moves 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6!

The idea of this move order is quite logical – Black develops a piece and creates pressure against the pawn on e4, prompting White to do something with it. It is true that this allows White to advance the e-pawn with the gain of tempo, but Black makes an argument that this fixing of the pawn chain will lead to a position where Black will have the opportunity to undermine it with thematic French pawn breaks, in the true spirit of the opening.

But before we get to the advance of the e-pawn, let’s take a look at some other options available to White on move 4.

Rare 4th moves by White

One of the advantages of the Classical Variation of the French Defense for Black is that it provides White with somewhat limited options on move 4. White should really go for one of the two main moves (4.Bg5 or 4.e5), as the alternatives are not really appealing (which is not necessarily the case with some other variations of the French Defence).

For example, White can try to play 4.Bd3!?, defending the e4 pawn. This move is very much viable against the Winawer move order with 3…Bb4, but against 3…Nf6, is not as effective due to a very concrete and specific variation that involves Black attacking the d5 pawn and also preventing the queen on d4 from attacking the g7 pawn.

Alternatively, 4.exd5 is possible, but it merely transposes to the Exchange Variation.

The Normal Variation (4.Bg5)

Therefore, trying to defend the pawn or exchange it on move 4 doesn’t really yield White any tangible benefits. It is not surprising, therefore, that two more popular moves involve a much more aggressive approach. The first of these is move 4.Bg5, leading to the so-called Normal Variation. ⁴

The idea of this move is simple – White defends the pawn on e4 indirectly by pinning the knight on f6. There are several ways in which Black can reply:

• Black can take on e4 with 4…dxe4, leading to the so-called Burn variation
• Black can break the pin with 4…Be7, when play most often continues 5.e5 Nfd7 6. h4!? – the so-called Alekhine-Chatard Attack
• Black can play 4…Bb4, leading to the so-called McCutcheon variation. At first glance, it seems as if Black is losing the piece, but after 5.e5 h6!? it transpires that it is not the case.
• Black can even try to gamble a pawn with 4…h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6. exd5, although that variation seems more suitable for the master+ level

The Steinitz Variation (4.e5)

Last but not least – the natural advance of the e-pawn with 4.e5 is by far the main move in the position, leading to the so-called Steinitz variation of the French Defence. It was named after the first World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz who employed this variation with great effect in a game against Sellman in 1885. ⁵

The idea of the move 4.e5 is obvious – White removes the pawn from the attack and gains some space with the gain of tempo – as the knight on f6 is attacked. On the other side, Black makes an argument that this releases the tension in the center and provides the second player with the possibility to play against the center with the help of the thematic pawn breaks c5 and f6. Black claims this is especially powerful because the knight on c3 is blocking the c-pawn and preventing White from reinforcing the center so easily with the move c2-c3.

Conclusion

This brings me to the end of this introductory article devoted to the Classical Variation of French Defence. In the subsequent posts, I will continue the coverage of the Classical variation by examining the variations that can arise via the 4.Bg5 move order in great detail.

In the meantime – make sure to check some of the material related to the topic of this article (and the French Defence) provided below!

And keep on improving and having fun!

Cheers!

Vjeko

Additional resources/Self-promotional material

Free Lichess Study with the material covered in this article

Youtube Video Devoted to the Classical Variation

Free Lichess Study devoted to the Normal Variation with 4.Bg5

Youtube video devoted to the Normal Variation with 4.Bg5

Free Download -Introduction to the 4.Bg5  Classical Variation .pgn file

French Defence Classical – Introduction

Free Lichess Study devoted to the Steinitz variation with 4.e5

Work in progress, coming soon

Youtube video devoted to the Steinitz variation with 4.e5

Work in progress, coming soon

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