Theoria
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Queen's Gambit Declined

Harrwitz Attack, Two Knights Defense, Blockade Line

D37positional

  1. 1.d4Nf6
  2. 2.c4e6
  3. 3.Nc3d5
  4. 4.Nf3Be7
  5. 5.Bf4O-O
  6. 6.e3Nbd7
  7. 7.c5
326 games56%33%

Queen's Gambit Declined line where White meets 6...Nbd7 with 7. c5, closing the queenside and fixing the structure for a positional struggle.

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About the Blockade Line

The Blockade Line is the engine's preferred answer to the Two Knights Defense of the Harrwitz Attack. With 7. c5 White releases the tension on d5, gains queenside space and makes ...c5 unavailable, so Black must aim at the pawn chain with ...b6 or ...e5. The usual reply is 7...c6, while 7...Nh5 targets the f4-bishop. White scores well, and the engine sees only a slight edge, close to balance.

Popular continuations