With the move 3...Be7, Black avoids the complexities of the Giuoco Piano (3...Bc5), Evans Gambit (3...Bc5 4.b4), and Two Knights Defense (3...Nf6).

It has been played on occasion by some grandmasters with strong defensive-positional styles, including Reshevsky, Hort, and former world champions Petrosian and Smyslov.

The variation takes its name from a correspondence game between Paris and Pest, Hungary, played from 1842 to 1845, but was first analyzed by Cozio in the 18th century.

Instead of 5...dxc3, however, Black can play 5...Na5 (recommended by Chigorin[4]), forcing White to give up the bishop pair with 6.Qxd4 or sacrifice a pawn.

[7] Alternatively, Black generally tries to hold the center with 4...d6, when White has a choice of plans, each of which should be enough to secure a slight advantage.