What GMs REALLY Think About the Winawer (@AnishGiriOfficial )

Shoutout to Anish:    / @anishgiriofficial   https://www.chessmonitor.com/ [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.10.13"] [Round "?"] [White "French Winawer"] [Black "6...Nc6!?"] [Annotator "Giri,Blohberger"] [EventDate "2026.10.13"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nc6 $5 (6... Qc7 7. Qg4 f6 {Is slightly dodgy here.} (7... f5 $6 8. Qg3 Nc6 9. Nf3 $16)) (6... Ne7 7. Qg4 Qc7 (7... O-O $6 8. Bd3 f5 9. exf6 Rxf6 {½-½ Giri,A (2780)-Nisipeanu,L (2656) EU-chT 22nd Batumi 2019 (5.4)} 10. Bg5 $16) 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 dxc3 12. Qd3 d4 $13 (12... Bd7 $13)) 7. Qg4 {The most logical and critical move.} (7. Nf3 Nge7 8. a4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bd7 10. Bb5 a6 11. Be2 h6 12. O-O $6 c4 13. Re1 O-O-O 14. Bf1 Kb8 15. g3 Ka8 16. Bc1 Nc8 $15 {½-½ So,W (2765)-Caruana,F (2792) Saint Louis GCT Finals 2026 (1.44)}) (7. h4 Qa5 (7... Qc7 $5 {Leads to a better version of Rapport´s line.} 8. Qg4 f6 9. Nf3 c4 $13 {1-0 Karjakin,S (2759)-Rapport,R (2691) Tata Steel-A 76th Wijk aan Zee 2014 (4)}) 8. Bd2 Qc7 (8... Qa4 $6 9. Qg4 g6 10. h5 $16) (8... Bd7 $5 9. Qg4 O-O-O 10. Qxg7 Nge7 $44) 9. Qg4 f5 $1 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Qd1 cxd4 12. Nf3 dxc3 13. Bxc3 Nh6 $5 $13 (13... Nge7 $13)) 7... g6 8. h4 (8. Qf4 Qa5 9. Bd2 c4 10. a4 h6 11. h4 Bd7 {tr}) (8. a4 $5 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bd7 10. h4 (10. c4 $2 Qb6 $15) (10. Bb5 $6 Nxe5 $1 $132 11. dxe5 $2 Bxb5 12. c4 Qc7 $1 $19) 10... h6 $1 (10... O-O-O $2 11. h5 $16) 11. Qf4 (11. Nf3 c4 $1 12. Qf4 {tr}) 11... Nge7 $5 {A rare and interesting idea.} (11... c4 {Is the usual move.} 12. Ne2 $5 (12. Nf3 Rh7 $1 {A key idea to facilitate long castling.} 13. g3 O-O-O 14. Bg2 Kb8 15. Nh2 (15. O-O Ka8 $13) 15... Ka8 16. Ng4 Rf8 17. Nf6 (17. O-O Qd8 18. Rfe1 Nb8 $5 {A nice idea to get the knight to d7.} 19. a5 a6 20. Bc1 Bc6 21. Ba3 Re8 22. Qc1 Nd7 $13) 17... Nxf6 18. Qxf6 Re8 $1 $13 {Idea Ne7-g8.}) 12... Rh7 13. g4 O-O-O 14. Bg2 (14. Bh3 Kb8 (14... Re8 $5 15. Bc1 $6 f6 16. exf6 e5 17. dxe5 g5 18. hxg5 hxg5 19. Qxg5 Nxe5 $13) 15. Bc1 Ka8 16. Ba3 Re8 17. Kd2 Qd8 18. h5 (18. g5 hxg5 $1 (18... h5 19. Rhb1 Nge7 20. Qf3 Nc8 21. Qh1 Nb8 22. f4 Bxa4 23. f5 $1 gxf5 24. Nf4 $36 {1-0 Giri,A (2769)-Maksimovic,B (2532) FIDE World Cup Goa 2025 (2.2)}) 19. hxg5 Nge7 20. Bg2 Reh8 $13) 18... g5 19. Qe3 Nge7 (19... f6 20. f4 Nge7 21. exf6 Ng8 22. fxg5 hxg5 23. Qxg5 Nxf6 24. Kc1 e5 $13) 20. f4 f6 $1 21. fxg5 (21. exf6 Ng8 {tr}) 21... fxg5 22. Raf1 Rf8 23. Rf3 Rhf7 24. Rhf1 Rxf3 25. Rxf3 Qe8 26. Qf2 Rxf3 27. Qxf3 Ng8 $11) 14... Rf8 $1 (14... Kb8 $6 15. h5 $14) (14... Re8 $6 15. h5 g5 16. Qg3 f6 17. f4 Rg7 18. Bh3 $14) (14... h5 $6 15. g5 $1 {This is surprisingly unpleasant, like in Giri-Maksimovic.} Nge7 16. Bc1 Nf5 17. Kd2 Nce7 18. Ba3 Kb8 19. Bb4 Qa6 20. Ng3 Re8 21. Bh3 Ka8 22. Ra2 Qc6 23. a5 Qa6 24. Rb1 Qc6 25. Bxf5 Nxf5 26. Bc5 $18) 15. h5 gxh5 16. Rxh5 f6 $1 17. f3 (17. exf6 Rhf7 18. Qg3 Nxf6 19. Rxh6 Ne4 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. Be3 e5 $1 $13) 17... Be8 18. Rh4 Bg6 19. Kd1 $13) 12. Bb5 (12. Ne2 O-O-O $132) (12. Nf3 O-O-O 13. Be2 $6 g5 $36) 12... O-O-O 13. Ne2 Rh7 14. h5 a6 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. g4 Rdh8 $1 (16... Rg8 17. f3 Qc7 (17... Be8 18. hxg6 $16) 18. Qe3 $14) 17. f3 Be8 $1 18. Kf2 (18. hxg6 Nxg6 $1 $36) 18... Qc7 19. Qe3 gxh5 20. Rxh5 Nc6 $1 21. Rah1 Na5 22. Rxh6 Nc4 23. Qg5 Rxh6 24. Rxh6 Rxh6 25. Qxh6 Bxa4 $13) (8. Nf3 Qa5 9. Bd2 Qa4 10. Be2 (10. Kd1 h6 11. Qf4 (11. Rb1 c4 $1 $13) 11... c4 $1 $13) 10... c4 11. Ra2 Bd7 12. Qh4 h6 13. O-O Nce7 $1 (13... Nge7 $6 14. Bg5 $14) 14. Bg5 Bb5 (14... Rh7 $5) 15. Rb1 Bc6 16. Bd1 Qa5 $1 17. a4 Qc7 18. Bc1 O-O-O 19. Ba3 Nf5 20. Qh3 Nge7 {Sample line to show what´s black´s plan:} 21. Nd2 Kb8 22. Nf1 $2 Ka8 23. Nd2 $2 Rdg8 $1 24. Nf1 $2 h5 $1 25. Nd2 $2 g5 $1 26. Qf3 g4 27. Qe2 Ng6 $19) 8... h6 $1 (8... Qa5 $6 9. Bd2 h6 10. h5 g5 11. f4 f5 12. Qg3 g4 13. c4 Qa4 14. dxc5 Nge7 (14... dxc4 $6 15. Ne2 Nge7 16. Nc3 Qa6 17. a4 $18 {0-1 Zemlyanskii,I (2563)-Theodorou,N (2611) Sharjah Masters-A 8th 2025 (9)}) 15. Qb3 Qxb3 16. cxb3 $14) 9. h5 g5 10. f4 f5 $1 11. Qg3 (11. exf6 $2 e5 $1 12. Qe2 Nxf6 13. fxe5 Ne4 $19 {0-1 Rydstrom,T (2310)-Anagnostopoulos,K (2319) Anogia Capablanca Mem-A 5th 2018 (8)}) 11... g4 $1 12. dxc5 (12. Ne2 $2 c4 $17 {Is strategically lost for white.}) 12... Qa5 13. a4 (13. Bd2 Qxc5 14. Bd3 Na5 15. Ne2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Qxc4 17. Qd3 b6 $132 (17... Qxd3 $2 18. cxd3 $16) 18. Qxc4 $6 dxc4 $11) (13. Ne2 Nge7 14. a4 b5 $1 (14... b6 $144 15. cxb6 axb6 {tr}) 15. cxb6 axb6 16. Kf2 Ba6 17. Qe3 Kf7 18. Bd2 b5 $13 (18... Bc4 19. Nd4 Nxd4 (19... Qc5 $2 20. Nb5 $18 {0-1 Giri,A (2792)-Carlsen,M (2830) Wch Blitz Almaty 2022 (7)}) 20. cxd4 Qa7 $13)) (13. Rb1 Nge7 (13... Qxc5 $5 {Makes some sense now since white won´t get Ba3 quickly.} 14. a4 Rh7 $5 (14... b6 $2 15. Ra1 $16) 15. Rb5 $1 (15. Ra1 $6 Bd7 16. Ba3 Qa5 $132) 15... Qe7 16. Bd3 b6 17. Rb1 Na5 18. Ra1 Nc4 19. Ne2 Kf7 20. O-O Kg7 21. Rd1 Kh8 $13) 14. Rb5 Qc7 15. Bd3 Bd7 16. Qf2 Na5 17. Rb1 $13) 13... Bd7 14. Ne2 (14. Bb5 Nxe5 $1 15. Qe3 Bxb5 16. Qxe5 Rh7 $13) 14... Nge7 15. Qf2 b6 16. cxb6 axb6 $13 *