French Defense: Classical, Burn Variation

The Burn variation, named after British master Amos Burn, meets White's pinning move 4.Bg5 by giving up the central point with 4...dxe4. Black aims for free development of his pieces and a counterattack against d4. In some variations, White needs to trade the Bg5 for a knight, and Black tries to make use of this.

Pros:

• Freer, more open play
• Sometimes Black has two bishops

Cons:

• White's space advantage
• White's attacking possibilities after castling on opposite sides

Famous Practitioners: Mikhail Gurevich