French Defence - Advance Variation: 3 E5

Advance Variation: 3 E5

The main line of the Advance Variation continues 3...c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 and then we have a branching point:

5...Qb6, the idea is to increase the pressure on d4 and eventually undermine the White centre. The Queen also attacks the b2 square, so White's dark-squared bishop cannot easily defend the d4 pawn without losing the b2 pawn. White's most common replies are 6 a3 and 6 Be2. 6 a3 is currently the most important line in the Advance: it prepares 7 b4, gaining space on the queenside. Black may prevent this with 6...c4 intending to take en passant if White plays b4, which creates a closed game where Black fights for control of the b3 square. On the other hand, Black may continue developing with 6...Nh6, intending ...Nf5 this might seem strange as White can double the pawn with Bxh6, but this is actually considered good for Black. Black plays ...Bg7 and ...O-O and Black's king has adequate defense and White will miss his apparently 'bad' dark squared bishop. 6 Be2 is the other alternative, aiming simply to castle. Once again, a common Black response is 6...Nh6 intending 7...cxd4 8 cxd4 Nf5 attacking d4. When the king's knight reaches f5 from h6, there will be three pieces and a pawn attacking the d4 point while there will only be the Nf3, pawn c3, and Qd1 defending the d4 pawn. As said earlier, White's dark-squared bishop cannot come to the rescue because the b2 pawn will fall. Thus, White must plan prophylactically and reply to 6...Nh6 with 7 Na3 preparing to defend the d4 pawn with Nc2.

5...Bd7 was mentioned by Greco as early as 1620, and was revived and popularised by Viktor Korchnoi in the 1970s. Now a main line, the idea behind the move is that since Black usually plays ...Bd7 sooner or later, he plays it right away and waits for White to show his hand. If white plays 6 a3 in response, modern theory says that Black equalises or is better after 6...f6! The lines are complex, but the main point is that a3 is a wasted move if the Black Queen is not on b6 and so Black uses the extra tempo to attack the white centre immediately.

There are alternative strategies to 3...c5 that were tried in the early 20th century such as 3...b6, intending to fianchetto the bad bishop and which can transpose to Owen's Defence or 3...Nc6, played by Carlos Guimard, intending to keep the bad bishop on c8 or d7 which is passive and obtains little counterplay. Also, 4...Qb6 5 Nf3 Bd7 intending 6...Bb5 to trade off the "bad" queen's bishop is possible.