Bladel Variation

After 1. d4 f5 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3, the Bladel Variation puts the knight on h6 rather than f6. It prepares castling while leaving the long diagonal open for ...Bg7 and the f-file clear for a rook, and it can later go to f7 or f5. The space-gaining 4. e4 is the critical reply, and the engine rates White as clearly better. Euwe introduced the line against Flohr at Bladel in 1969; it has seen little use since.