Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, with Nf6

Black develops the king's knight at once with 5...Nf6 instead of first playing 5...d6, keeping the d-pawn's move in reserve and adding a defender of the weak d5-square. The most common reply, 6. Bg5, targets that knight, which guards d5. 6. O-O and 6. Be3 are also frequent, while the engine prefers 6. Nd2, 6. a4 or 6. Nd5. Results are close to even, and the engine assessment is roughly balanced.