French Defense, McCutcheon Variation

The McCutcheon Variation arises after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4. Instead of immediately resolving the pressure on the f6-knight, Black develops the bishop to b4 and pins the c3-knight to the king on e1. A pin restricts a piece because moving it would expose a more valuable piece; here, moving the c3-knight would expose the king to attack and is illegal.

The sequence is written in algebraic notation: squares such as e4 combine a column letter and row number; N means knight, B bishop, R rook, and Q queen; pawn moves normally show their destination, x marks a capture, and + marks check. Moves are read in pairs, White first and Black second; dots before a move shown alone indicate Black's turn.

The position contains two tensions at once. White's bishop on g5 makes it awkward for the f6-knight to move because the black queen is behind it, while Black's bishop on b4 immobilizes the c3-knight. After 5.e5, White's pawn attacks the f6-knight, and Black commonly answers 5...h6 to make the white bishop choose a square.

A representative continuation is 5...h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3. White retreats the g5-bishop to d2, Black exchanges the b4-bishop on c3, and White recaptures with the b-pawn. White is left with doubled c-pawns, two friendly pawns on the same file. The b-file, the vertical line of b-squares, is also left without a white pawn and can become useful to a rook. White keeps both bishops, known as the bishop pair, and the central pawns control more squares. Black can target the weakened c-pawns. None of these features decides the game by itself.

The McCutcheon demands move-by-move calculation because the attacks on both knights can create immediate threats. It is related to the Burn Variation through the shared 4.Bg5 starting point, but 4...Bb4 keeps the central pawns locked for longer and creates an immediate contest between the two pins.