Analysis on Beating 5.Be3 in the French Advance

Hello- I wanted to play 4...Nc6 instead of 4...Qb6 in the Advance French, so I have to learn what to play against this weird but somewhat common 5.Be3. So I did some human analysis and I put it in a study chapter. I'd like to know what you think of it, possible improvements, and which variations you prefer because I give options. The analysis (it's not all complete yet so I may have missed a variation or not provided enough detail on a variation yet): (Also I suggest you turn off Inline Notation if you haven't already; it's in the menu on the mini-study window below)



Question:
Which variation do you guys prefer?
-The 5...Nge7 variation
-The 5...f6 pawn variation
-The 5...Qb6 variation, with 7...Bd7
-The 5...Qb6 variation, with 7...fxe5

Or something else I didn't include?

Thanks for reading and Happy Checkmating

5...Nh6 is the most logical continuation. It invites loss of tempo and loss of the bishop's pair and opening of the f-file 6 Bxh6?

Of the above 5...Ne7 seems best. 5...Qb6 and 5...f6 appear premature. First develop especially the Knights.

@tpr So you're saying 5...Ne7 is fine, but 5...Nh6 has an added bonus? Ok I will take a look further; Thank you for the feedback

I like the Qb6 with f6, but you shouldn't underestimate white's chances on the kingside. The pawns are going to come and black needs to be prepared.
I would prefer 7...Bd7 over 7...fxe5, keeping the tension, but that's a matter of taste I guess.
5...f6 is interesting, but only extra study, as white could transpose into similar positions.

As tpr already said, Nh6 is best.

Nice study btw!

Kupreichik variation ?

@Vycm Thank you for the thoughts- yes Nh6 does look very good indeed- I think it will be my go-to. Thank you! It's just a study where I put miscellaneous things I think are worth analyzing :)

@Sholmes49 Is that what this Be3 variation is called?

For me as a French player 7. f4 looks more natural than 7. Nf3 because in French Advance white generally want the e5 pawn to be protected by d4. 7.Nf3 allows to trade on e5, maybe twice, and the resulting pawn structure is better for black (usually easy to push on the queenside with this kind of majority), though white may have some dynamic edge here. I didn't analyzed the position deeply, but I kinda understand why people intuitively prefer f4.

@Wolfram_EP Do you think 5...Nh6 is better than the lines mentioned already in the study? It is very similar to 5...Nge7 but with the added bonus that white can waste some time playing 6.Bxh6, giving up central control and opening up the g-file, and although black's h-pawns are doubled there is no way white can attack them effectively, so they are actually not weak.

> although black's h-pawns are doubled there is no way white can attack them effectively, so they are actually not weak
Of course, this is also quite a typical thing for French Advance, 5... Nh6 is OK to play even after the standard 5. Nf3 when there is no loss of tempo for white. But I dare not say what's better - it's more a question of style and preference.

I have read that 4. ... Qb6 (instead of Nc6) is against the Koupreitchik variation, forcing the bishop to stay on b1:
4. ... Nc6
5. Be3 Qb6
6. Qd2 cxd4
and so on (I do not know whether cxd4 is the best answer)