Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack

The Van der Wiel Attack develops the queen's knight before committing to anything else. Its main purpose is to cover e4, so the bishop on f5 cannot drop back there once White begins pushing kingside pawns with g4 and h4-h5. The knight move is regarded as sounder than 4. Bd3 and more ambitious than the quieter 4. Nf3. It played a part in reviving the Advance Variation, was popular in the 1980s, and was later adopted by Alexei Shirov.

Black replies 4...e6 in the vast majority of games. This gives the bishop a retreat square on g6 and prepares the usual ...c5 break, and the critical test is 5. g4. Rarer alternatives are 4...c5, which hits the center at once, the prophylactic 4...h6, and the Dreyev Defense, 4...Qb6, which targets b2 and d4 and has scored somewhat better for Black in the database. The engine also rates 4...h5 and 4...Nd7 highly. The position is assessed as balanced, and results in practice are close to even.