[Event "7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.03.08"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "French, Steinitz, Boleslavsky"] [Result "*"] [ECO "C11"] [Annotator "Andersen,Rune Egede"] [PlyCount "54"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.01.27"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 {By taking on d4 black gets the nice c5 square for the bishop. This variation has been around for many years and is still up for discussion.} 9. Qd2 {Protecting bishop-e3 and preparing castling long.} O-O 10. g3 {New and difficult to play against. White managed the situation in blacks queenside attack, castles short and THEN plays f5-f6 and attack blacks king.} (10. O-O-O a6 {White now have 4 moves to choose between: 11.Nb3; 11.Kb1 and the more favorable 11.Qf2 and 11.h4.}) 10... a6 11. Bg2 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. Ne2 a5 14. a3 Qb6 15. O-O b4 16. axb4 Qxb4 17. c3 $14 {White is a tiny bit better.} Qb6 18. b4 Bxd4+ 19. cxd4 a4 20. b5 Bb7 21. Qb4 Qa5 22. Qxa5 Rxa5 23. Rfc1 Nb6 24. Rc7 Ra7 25. Nc3 Rc8 26. Rc5 a3 27. Bf1 Kf8 {osv...} *