 The Fianchetto Variation has never been considered particularly dangerous for Black to meet, since White's setup does not put Black's position under immediate pressure. However, it also offers Black no obvious target to attack — the fianchettoed bishop covers e4 and d5 and also protects White's king. Since the same bishop no longer covers the a6-f1 diagonal, White typically plays Nf3-d2-c4 to help defend against Black's queenside expansion. After further preparatory moves such as Bf4 and Re1, White may be able to push forward in the centre with e2-e4-e5. Noted proponents of the Fianchetto Variation have included strong positional players such as Viktor Korchnoi, Gennadi Sosonko and Predrag Nikolić, and after a recommendation by the influential theorist Boris Avrukh in 2010, the line has become more topical.
