Theoria
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French Defense

Winawer Variation, Warsaw Variation

C18tacticalaggressive

  1. 1.e4e6
  2. 2.d4d5
  3. 3.Nc3Bb4
  4. 4.e5c5
  5. 5.a3Bxc3+
  6. 6.bxc3Ne7
  7. 7.Qg4O-O
509 games49%46%

Winawer line in which Black meets 7. Qg4 by castling straight into White's kingside attack, rather than defending g7 with ...Qc7 or ...Kf8.

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About the Warsaw Variation

In the Warsaw Variation Black meets the Poisoned Pawn's 7. Qg4 with 7...O-O, castling toward the queen. The lone queen poses no immediate mating threat, so White must bring up support; 8. Bd3 is the usual choice, with 8. Nf3 and 8. h4 the main alternatives. The hasty 8. Bh6 achieves nothing after 8...Nf5 or 8...Ng6, since the bishop must retreat. Results are close to even, though the engine slightly favors White.

Popular continuations