[Event "French Defence - McCutcheon Variation: 6.Be3 Intro"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/ZkaQEUd4/kIfPouZj"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C12"] [Opening "French Defense: MacCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/chessentialsBLOG"] [UTCDate "2023.02.10"] [UTCTime "11:52:12"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZkaQEUd4/kIfPouZj"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Be3 { This seems like a very natural retreating move, placing the bishop on a square where it is defending the d4 pawn and also hindering the c5 pawn push. However, the drawback of this move is that it doesn't really deal with the attack on c3 in an effective way. } 6... Ne4 { Black jumps in and creates counterplay against the knight on c3. } { [%cal Re4c3,Rb4c3] } 7. Qg4 { A key idea, based on a small tactical trick due to which the knight on c3 is not really hanging. } { [%cal Rg4g7,Rg4e4] } 7... g6 { And here - with the bishop on e3, White has to go for the move a3. } (7... Nxc3 8. Bd2 { Is the trick - White regains the piece with a superior position as the g7 pawn is also threatened. }) 8. a3 { This leads to a very complicated battle - check the analysis later in the study. } (8. Ne2 { Trying to reinforce the knight doesn't work as after } 8... c5 9. a3 Qa5 { The rook on a1 is under attack - and would fall with a check! This is in sharp contrast to the variation with the bishop on c1 and this line provides you with a quick idea why going back to c1 with the bishop is not at all so silly - please check the next chapter! }) *