Taimanov Variation

The Taimanov Variation arises when Black, after 2...e6 and the exchange on d4, brings the queen's knight to c6. The same position also comes from 2...Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6. It is named after Mark Taimanov, who popularized it in the 1960s. Unlike the Kan (4...a6) or the ...d6 systems, Black develops a piece to its natural square and leaves open where the d-pawn, the king's knight and the king's bishop belong. The bishop can aim for b4 or c5 if White permits. The cost is the hole on d6 left by ...e6.

White's most direct way to exploit that hole is 5. Nb5, the Szén Variation. The natural 5...a6? fails to 6. Nd6+ Bxd6 7. Qxd6, which leaves White with the bishop pair and an intrusive queen. Black therefore answers 5...d6, after which 6. c4 or 6. Bf4 is usual. With 6. c4 White builds a Maróczy Bind, a plan favored by Karpov. After 6. c4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3, the Modern Line continues 8...Be7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O b6 and reaches a Hedgehog structure. The alternative 8...d5 is the Gary Gambit, also called the Kasparov Gambit. It appeared twice in the 1985 World Championship but almost vanished from master play after Karpov–Van der Wiel, Brussels 1986.

The more common modern choice is 5. Nc3, played in nearly half of all games. Here 5...Nf6 transposes to the Four Knights Variation and 5...d6 to the Scheveningen. The independent options are 5...a6 and 5...Qc7, the Bastrikov Variation. The Bastrikov is now the preferred order, because 5...a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 has proved awkward for Black. With the queen on c7, Black develops the queenside first with ...a6, ...b5, ...Bb7 and ...Rc8, putting the dark-squared bishop on e7 or b4. White chooses between the English Attack setup with Be3, Qd2 and O-O-O and a quieter plan with Be2 and O-O. A typical modern sequence is 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. Be3 Nf6.

The knight exchange 5. Nxc6 is the second most frequent reply online, and Black scores slightly better against it. In the Four Knights the same exchange lets White play e5 with gain of time, but here it achieves little. After 5...bxc6 the c-pawn supports ...d5, and 6. e5? runs into 6...Qa5+, which picks up the pawn. The space-gaining 5. c4 is met by 5...Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 with equality.

The system grew out of the older Paulsen setup with ...e6, ...a6 and ...Qc7. In his book Taimanov treated 4...Nc6 as only one route into that setup. For him, the essence of the system was to delay ...Qc7 in favor of ...Nge7, trade knights on d4 and then return the second knight to c6. Results in the starting position are almost exactly even, and the engine regards it as close to balanced.