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Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e6/2. d4/2...d5/3. Nc3/3...dxe4

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Rubinstein French
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 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 kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 white pawne4 black 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 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)
Moves: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4

Rubinstein French

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The Rubinstein French is a move that is often played to reduce theory, as it can also be played after the Tarrasch where in both cases the most common move by a landslide is 4. Nxd4. After this, black will most likely play either 4...Nf6, 4...Nd7, 4...Bd7, or 4...Be7. 4...Nf6 is usually followed with 5. Nxf6, where 5...Qxf6 is solid but uneventful while 5...gxf6 is similar to the aggressive Bronstein-Larsen variation of the Caro-Kann. 4...Bd7, the Fort Knox variation is designed to solve the problem of the French Bishop by moving it to c6, and is also the simplest of the 4. 4...Be7 and 4...Nd7 (the main line) both have similar ideas of playing Nf6 later and recapturing with a minor piece, and following with a pawn break with either c5 or e5.