St. George Defense, Three Pawn Attack

With 3. c4, White adds a third central pawn to the e4 and d4 duo and puts a direct obstacle in the way of Black's main idea. In the St. George Defense, 2...a6 prepares ...b5 and ...Bb7. With a pawn on c4, the b-pawn can be captured as soon as it advances. Black has to decide whether to persist with the queenside plan or turn against the enlarged center. The engine considers the position close to balanced and favors 3...d5, 3...Bb4+ and 3...Nc6, which challenge or pressure the center directly. On Lichess, White scores somewhat better than Black.

The most frequent human choice is the waiting move 3...h6, followed by 3...c5, which strikes at d4 in the usual French manner. Almost as common is 3...b5, the Sanky-George Gambit, which ignores the pawn on c4. After 4. cxb5 axb5 the game becomes the St. George Gambit. The bishop on f1 can take on b5, and Black's compensation lies in the half-open a-file and faster development. In that line, Black scores better than White in practice, unlike the other main replies.