Richter Variation

The Richter Variation arises when White answers 3...Bf5 with 4. f3, the treatment favored by Kurt Richter. The Veresov Variation, 4. Bxf6, settles the tension on f6 immediately. Here White instead keeps the bishop on g5 and prepares e4, contesting the square the f5-bishop controls and aiming for a wide pawn center, usually together with queenside castling. The cost is that f3 is no longer available to the king's knight, and the pawn advance slightly loosens White's kingside.

Black's most frequent reply is 4...e6, which reinforces d5 and opens a path for the f8-bishop. White nonetheless scores well after it in online games. 4...h6 puts the question to the g5-bishop at once. 4...Nbd7 prepares to recapture on f6 with a knight, and it yields nearly even results. The engine judges the position roughly balanced. Its other suggestions are 4...Bg6, pulling the bishop back before e4 arrives, and 4...c6, giving d5 extra support. Decisive games are far more common than draws.