Editing Petrov's Defence (section)

===Steinitz Variation: 3.d4 <span class="anchor" id="Steinitz Variation"></span>===
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{{Chess diagram small 
| tright
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|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|  |rd
|pd|pd|pd|pd|  |pd|pd|pd
|  |  |  |  |  |nd|  |  
|  |  |  |  |pd|  |  |  
|  |  |  |pl|pl|  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  |nl|  |  
|pl|pl|pl|  |  |pl|pl|pl
|rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|  |rl
| Steinitz Variation 3.d4
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{{Chess diagram small 
| tright
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|rd|  |  |rd|  |  |  |kd
|pd|pd|  |  |  |  |pd|pd
|  |  |pd|  |  |  |  |  
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|  |  |  |  |  |bl|bd|  
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|pl|pl|  |nl|  |pl|bl|pl
|nd|  |rl|  |  |  |kl|
| Position after 19.Nd2  
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3.d4 was favoured by [[Wilhelm Steinitz]], and is sometimes called the Steinitz Variation, although it was known earlier. Black can capture either pawn; also possible is 3...d6, transposing into the [[Philidor Defence]].

After 3...exd4 4.e5 (4.Bc4 transposes into the [[Urusov Gambit]]) 4...Ne4 (4...Qe7?! 5.Be2 is better for White) 5.Qxd4 d5 6.exd6 Nxd6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Qf4 the game is approximately {{chessgloss|equal}}. After the other capture, 3...Nxe4, 4.Bd3 d5 (4...Nc6!? 5.Bxe4 d5, intending 6.Bd3 e4, is also possible) 5.Nxe5, when either 5...Nd7 or 5...Bd6 gives roughly equal chances.

A long and complicated tactical sequence which has frequently been seen in master games is 3...Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Bd6 6.0-0 0-0 7.c4 Bxe5 8.dxe5 Nc6 9.cxd5 Qxd5 10.Qc2 Nb4 11.Bxe4 Nxc2 12.Bxd5 Bf5 13.g4 Bxg4 14.Be4 Nxa1 15.Bf4 f5 16.Bd5+ Kh8 17.Rc1 c6 18.Bg2 Rfd8 19.Nd2 ({{em|diagram}}) and White has the slightly better endgame after either 19...Rxd2 20.Bxd2 Rd8 21.Bc3 Rd1+ 22.Rxd1 Bxd1 or 19...h6 20.h4.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?node=1150991 |title=Position Search after 19.Nd2 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=de Firmian |first=Nick |author-link=Nick de Firmian |title=Batsford's Modern Chess Openings |year=2009 |publisher=[[Pavilion Books]] |page=136 |isbn=978-1906388294 }}</ref>
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