With the most common move in the Slav, 3.Nf3, White develops their knight and exerts more control over the e5-square. Similar to 3.Nc3, black should avoid 3...Bf5 as 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Qb3 effectively wins a pawn. However, unlike 3.Nc3, 3...dxc4 should also be avoided as white is better after 4. e3 and 5. a4 since white will win back the pawn as the Knight on f3 is not vulnerable to a b5-b4 pawn push. As such, black only has 2 main responses.

3...Nf6 is Black's by far Black's most common reply, and play from white typically transposes into a semi-slav with 4. Nc3, although some unique lines exist such as 4. e3 ("Slow Slav") where Nc3 is delayed or not played at all.

3...e6 is occasionally seen, and play typically transposes back to 3...Nf6 variations, with some exceptions.

3...a6 is also a solid option for black, albeit rarely seen. Play typically transposes to the main line of the Chebanenko variation of the slav, although white can opt for a catalan-style setup with 4. g3 instead.

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3

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• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.