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Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5

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Open Game
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)

rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w

Moves: 1. e4 e5
ECO code: C20–C99
Parent: King's Pawn Game
Responses:

1...e5 · Open Game

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1...e5, the Open Game (or Double King's Pawn Game), is Black's classical response to 1. e4. By mirroring White's move, Black grabs an equal share of the centre and scope to develop some pieces. 1...e5 is one of the few moves that directly interferes with White's ideal plan of playing d4.

But, the move's merit is also a drawback: the longer the position remains symmetrical, the longer White will have an advantage by moving first. Also, the pawn on e5 is undefended, and it is easy for White to develop in a way that restricts Black's possible responses, by simply threatening to capture it.

Though the move is still common at every level, it saw a modest decline in popularity during the 20th century.

White's responses

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Nf3   (King's Knight)

The overwhelmingly popular move here – about 10 times more common than everything else combined – is 2. Nf3.

This threatens Black's undefended pawn while developing a piece in preparation for castling on the kingside. The developed knight also defends the d4 square preparing for a future d2-d4 pawn push.

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Bc4   (Bishop)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Nc3   (Vienna)

2. Bc4, the Bishop's Opening, and 2. Nc3, the Vienna Game, are simple alternative ways of developing a piece.

They don't give Black a particular problem to deal with, but they aren't bad moves either, and they keep open the option of either d4 or f4.

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. f4   (King's Gambit)

Another plan is to try and lever open the f-file for an attack on Black's weak f7 point with 2. f4, the King's Gambit.

This was popular in Victorian times and earlier, but Black has now found a few reliable ways of grabbing the proffered pawn and keeping it.

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. d4   (Centre)

Or, White can smash the centre open with 2. d4 in order to develop pieces with great speed, sacrificing a pawn or two if necessary.

Less common responses

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a b c d e f g h
8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. d3   (Indian)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Qh5   (Parham)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Qf3   (Napoleon)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. c3   (Centre Pawn)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Bb5   (Portuguese)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Ne2   (Alapin)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. g4   (Fernando Torres)

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8        8
7        7
6        6
5        5
4        4
3        3
2        2
1        1
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2. Ke2   (Bongcloud Attack)

Other less common moves:

Statistics

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Approximate chances
White win 51%, Draw ??%, Black win 45%.
Estimated next move popularity
Nf3 82%, Bc4 5%, Nc3 4%, f4 4%, d4 2%, all others less than 1%
move average 365Chess.com (big) Chess Tempo (all) chessgames.com Lichess (masters) Lichess (database)
2. Nf3 82.1% 86.0 87.3 84.7 91.7 61.1
2. Bc4 4.8 3.8 3.7 2.9 3.2 10.4
2. Nc3 4.4 4.2 4.1 4.8 2.7 6.2
2. f4 4.1 3.7 3.0 6.1 1.7 6.1
2. d4 2.3 1.7 1.5 1.1 0.6 6.4
2. d3 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 2.9
2. Qh5 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9
2. Qf3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3
2. c3 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6
2. c4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.4
2. f3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4
2. g3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3
2. Bb5 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2
2. Ne2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1
2. g4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2. Ke2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
everything else 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.8

Theory table

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1. e4 e5

  2 3 4 5 6 7 Evaluation
Ruy Lopez Nf3
Nc6 		Bb5
a6 		Ba4
Nf6 		O-O
Be7 		Re1
b5 		Bb3
d6 		=
Bishop's Opening Bc4
Nf6 		d4
exd4 		Nf3
Bb4+ 		c3
dxc3 		bxc3
Bc5 		e5
d5 		=
Vienna Game Nc3
Nf6 		f4
d5 		fxe5
Nxe4 		Nf3
Be7 		d4
Bb4 		Bd2
Bg4 		=
King's Gambit f4
exf4 		Nf3
g5 		h4
g4 		Ne5
Nf6 		Bc4
d5 		exd5
Bd6 		=
Center Game d4
exd4 		Qxd4
Nc6 		Qe3
Nf6 		Bd2
Be7 		Nc3
O-O 		O-O-O
d6 		=
Indian Opening d3
Nc6 		f4

exf4

Bxf4

d5

exd5

Qxd5

Nc3

Qa5

Qd2

Bf5

=
Parham Attack Qh5
Nc6 		Bc4
g6 		Qf3
Nf6 		Ne2
Bg7 		Nbc3
d6 		O-O

O-O

=
Napoleon Opening Qf3
Nf6 		Bc4

Nc6

Ne2

d6

Nbc3

Bg4

Qe3

Nb4

Bb3

Be6

=
Centre Pawn Opening c3
d5 		exd5

Qxd5

d4

Nc6

Nf3

Nf6

Nxe5

Nxe5

Qe2

Be6

=
Portuguese Opening Bb5
c6 		Ba4

Nf6

Nc3

Bc5

Nf3

d6

d3

a5

Bb3

Nbd7

=
Alapin's Opening Ne2
Nf6 		d4

Nxe4

f3

Ng5

dxe5

Nc6

f4

Ne6

Nbc3

d6

=
Tortoise Opening Bd3?! =
Fernando Torres Opening g4?
d5! 		exd5

Qxd5

Qf3

Qe6

h3

Nc6

Bb5

Bd7

Ne2

O-O-O

=/+
Bongcloud Attack Ke2?!
Nf6 		Nc3

Bc5

Nf3

d5

d3

Ng4

Bg5

f6

Bh4

d4

-/+

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

References

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Wikipedia has related information at Open Game

Bibliography

  • Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
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