Winawer Variation, Fingerslip Variation

The Fingerslip Variation answers the Winawer pin with 4. Bd2. It unpins the knight on c3 rather than committing to 4. e5 or another central decision. The name refers to a game Alekhine played against Flohr. Alekhine intended the Bogoljubow line, 4. e5 c5 5. Bd2, but inverted the move order and put the bishop on d2 at once. The move itself is older and was seen in Marshall–Chigorin, 1901.

The bishop does nothing to protect e4, so Black can take the pawn with 4...dxe4, the theoretically critical reply. Recapturing with 5. Nxe4 allows 5...Qxd4, which leaves White a pawn short. White therefore usually plays 5. Qg4, Marshall's choice, hitting g7. The Main Line runs 5...Nf6 6. Qxg7 Rg8 7. Qh6, with sharp play around Black's broken kingside. In the Kunin Double Gambit, 5...Qxd4, Black takes the d-pawn instead. In practice the most frequent answer is 4...Bxc3, which gives up the bishop at once. 4...c5 is also seen. 4...Ne7 has little theory, and after it 5. Nb1 is Schwarz's Line. The engine rates the position as level, and results are close to even.