Advance - 6.a3 c4 7.g3: Invasion on b3
Against 6.a3 Black closes at once with ...c4. If White develops the Bishop in a fianchetto, the Knight goes to a5 and threatens to enter on b3, protected by the c4 pawn.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 c4 7.g3 Bd7 8.Bg2 Na5
Move by move
- 1.e4 – White takes the center with the pawn and frees the Queen and the f1 Bishop. Against 1.e4 this course answers with the French Defense, which prepares an immediate attack on the e4 pawn.
- 1...e6 – The French Defense: the e6 pawn prepares ...d5 and supports it, so after exd5 Black can recapture with a pawn. The price is the c8 Bishop, shut in behind the e6-d5 chain.
- 2.d4 – White brings the d-pawn alongside e4 and builds the classical center: neither pawn is attacked yet and White gains space.
- 2...d5 – Black attacks e4 at once. White must choose: defend it (Nc3 or Nd2), push it (e5) or exchange it (exd5). Each choice leads to one of the course's chapters.
- 3.e5 – Advance Variation: White closes the center and gains space. The d4-e5 chain limits the c8 Bishop and takes the f6 square away from the black Knight.
- 3...c5 – The immediate lever: Black attacks the base of the chain, d4, before White consolidates it.
- 4.c3 – White supports d4 with the c-pawn: after ...cxd4 it will recapture cxd4 keeping the chain intact.
- 4...Nc6 – Second attack on d4: the Knight joins the c5 pawn against the base of the chain.
- 5.Nf3 – The Knight defends d4 and supports e5: now White's center is protected by the c3 pawn, the Knight and the Queen.
- 5...Qb6 – The Queen lines up on d4 behind the c5 pawn and attacks b2: the c1 Bishop cannot come out without leaving b2 undefended.
- 6.a3 – White prepares b4: the push would gain space on the queenside and close the black Queen's diagonal.
- 6...c4 – Black closes the queenside before b4: the c4 pawn takes b3 and d3 away from White's pieces and fixes b2 as a target.
- 7.g3 – With the black pawn on c4 the d3 square is not available: White develops the Bishop in a fianchetto, where it will aim at d5.
- 7...Bd7 – Flexible development: the Bishop controls b5 and a4, squares useful to support the c4 pawn, and prepares ...Na5.
- 8.Bg2 – The Bishop settles on the long diagonal against the d5 pawn and White prepares castling.
- 8...Na5 – The Knight aims at b3, a square weakened by ...c4: from there it would hit the a1 Rook and the c1 Bishop, protected by the c4 pawn.
How to exploit the position
Blocked structure: Black has closed the queenside and prepares the invasion on b3; White has space and the fianchettoed Bishop, but the b2 pawn is weak.
- ...Nb3 attacks the a1 Rook and the c1 Bishop and blocks the development of White's queenside.
- The b6 Queen presses on b2: every white piece that defends it becomes passive.
- Complete development with ...Ne7 toward c6 or f5 and consider ...O-O-O: the closed queenside protects the King.
- White will try to break with b3 or b4: capture only when the open file serves your Rooks.
Master tips
The b3 outpost
After ...c4 the b3 square is an outpost for the black Knight, supported by the c4 pawn.