[Event "French Mac McCutcheon: Intro 1"] [Date "2020.05.09"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C12"] [Opening "French Defense: McCutcheon Variation, Janowski Variation"] [StudyName "French Mac McCutcheon"] [ChapterName "Intro 1"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/rZO3ab0D/AT0fjbLJ"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/SoftwareChess"] [UTCDate "2020.05.09"] [UTCTime "18:53:33"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 (4. e5 { This is the only way to avoid the Mac McCutcheon variation, but Black has a well known way to get good game in this line } 4... Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5) 4... Bb4 { The beginning of the Mac McCutcheon } (4... Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 c5 8. Nf3 { I like this variation for White. He has exchanged his bad Bishop and has a nice control over the dark squares. Of course, this is playable for Black too. }) 5. e5 h6 6. Be3 Ne4 *