Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...Nd4

Ruy Lopez - Bird's Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/1B2p3/3nP3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4
Parent: Ruy Lopez

Ruy Lopez - Bird's Defence

Black gives up the defense of e5 and instead counter-attacks with a threat towards the bishop. The drawback is that after the knight exchange on d4 Black will have a slightly inferior pawn structure, though with a slight space gain.

Theory table

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

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4

	4	5	6	7
Bird's Defence	Nxd4 exd4	O-O Bc5	d3 c6	Ba4 Ne7	+=
Bird's Defence	Bc4

References

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