Chigorin Variation, Anti-Veresov

The Anti-Veresov arises after 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Bg4. Rather than 2...Nf6, Black brings the queen's bishop out immediately, before ...e6 can shut it in. From g4 it bears on e2 and d1, which makes the natural e2-e4 harder to organize and gives the knight-and-bishop setups of the parent lines a different character. Compared with 2...Bf5, the bishop contributes less to the fight for e4, but it is more provocative. Engines give White a slight edge.

3. Bf4 is the most frequent answer. White develops the dark-squared bishop in London fashion and scores well in practice. 3. f3, the engines' first choice, puts the question to the bishop and prepares e4 with gain of time, at the price of the natural f3-square for the knight and some loosening of the kingside. 3. h3 asks the bishop to decide at once between retreating and capturing; results after it are roughly even. In online play the position is fairly common, with decisive results the norm and very few draws.