Classical Variation, Richter Attack

The Richter Attack arises when White answers 4...Be7 in the Classical French with 5. Bxf6. Once Black has unpinned, the knight on f6 threatens to win the e4-pawn, and quiet defensive moves such as 5. Bd3 do not hold it. The reason is the loose bishop on g5, which allows 5...Nxe4 with tactics along the d8-h4 diagonal. White's main answer is 5. e5, which locks the center. The Richter takes a different route and removes the attacker at once. White concedes the bishop pair and in return keeps the pawn duo on d4 and e4, avoiding the closed chain of the Steinitz-type lines. Another way to sidestep the issue is 5. exd5, which transposes to an Exchange structure.

Black almost always recaptures with 5...Bxf6. The bishop then sits on an open diagonal aimed at d4, and Black's usual ...c5 break gains force from it. The rare 5...gxf6 instead accepts doubled pawns in exchange for the half-open g-file. The line is uncommon, the engine regards it as roughly balanced, and results on Lichess are close to even.