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Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nc3/3...Nf6/4. Bg5

< Chess Opening Theory‎ | 1. e4‎ | 1...e6‎ | 2. d4‎ | 2...d5‎ | 3. Nc3‎ | 3...Nf6
Classical variation
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black kinge7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black pawnf6 black knightg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black pawne5 black kingf5 black kingg5 white bishoph5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 white pawne4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 white knightd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 black kinge2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 black kingc1 black kingd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3p2B1/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R2QKBNR b

Moves: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5

Classical variation

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Although the pin looks like White is threatening to win the knight by playing 5.e5, Black can defend against this threat by counterattacking the Bg5 (5...h6!). In order to chase the bishop away after White's 6.Bh4 Black may well be forced to follow up with 6...g5, and then he can move his Nf6 to a safe square. Although this way of defending against the pin may be sufficient to avoid the loss of a piece, the maneuver 5....h6 followed by 6...g5 has the major drawback that it weakens Black's kingside.
Hence after 4.Bg5 Black players usually prefer to unpin the knight immediately (4...Be7), or to deny the opportunity of playing 5.e5 (4...dxe4) to White.
The only major variation where Black ignores the potential dangers of the pin is the McCutcheon-Variation: 4...Bb4.

Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
4
Main Line (Bg5)
Be7		 =
Burn Variation (Bg5)
dxe4		 =
McCutcheon Variation (Bg5)
Bb4		 =

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References

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Wikipedia has related information at French Defence

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