French Winawer: the pawn-chain battle — Chess Library

Black gives up the dark-squared bishop for a knight and doubles White’s pawns. Structure against bishop pair — one of the great strategic arguments in chess.

Lesson

White to move. Main line: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qc7

French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation, with Bd3 (C18). The line runs 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qc7 — the move order matters, and this is the one the theory follows.

After ...Bxc3+, White owns the bishop pair and more space, but the doubled c-pawns give Black fixed targets and an open b-file to attack. Neither side has won the strategic bargain yet.

White normally attacks the king with Qg4 or h4-h5; Black strikes at d4 with ...f6 and ...cxd4. The pawn chain points toward the side each player should attack.