Theoria
8765432abcdefgh1

French Defense

Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with h4

C18aggressive

  1. 1.e4e6
  2. 2.d4d5
  3. 3.Nc3Bb4
  4. 4.e5c5
  5. 5.a3Bxc3+
  6. 6.bxc3Ne7
  7. 7.h4
438 games53%41%

A Winawer French line in which White plays 7. h4, gaining kingside space to weaken Black's dark squares or bring the rook into play via h3.

Train it in Theoria

About the with h4

7. h4 is a more aggressive choice than the main move 7. Qg4 or the positional 7. Nf3 and 7. a4. The pawn heads for h5 and h6 to loosen the dark squares around Black's king, meeting ...h6 with g4-g5, and it also prepares a rook lift via h3 to g3. The most common reply, 7...Qc7, has scored evenly, while 7...Nbc6 and 7...Qa5 have done worse for Black. The engine gives White a slight edge.

Popular continuations