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Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...Nf6/3. cxd5

< Chess Opening Theory | 1. d4 | 1...d5 | 2. c4 | 2...Nf6
Marshall Defence
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black kinge7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black knightg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 white pawne5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 white pawne4 black kingf4 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 black kingd2 black kinge2 white pawnf2 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)

rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/3P4/3P4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR b

Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5

3. cxd5

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White takes the pawn. Black almost has to recover the pawn because of the control d5 exerts over his moves, but neither variation is very appealing:

  • 3...Nxd5 allows 4. e4 when White has gained a tempo, the centre, and opened up lines for his pieces.
  • 3...Qxd5 prevents white from obtaining a full pawn centre but results in 4. Nc3, winning a tempo anyway.

Because white is given a comfortable position regardless of what path black chooses, this opening is not seen very often at the professional level.

Black has also the option to play a gambit and aim at the center, with for instance 3...c6 4.dxc6 Nxc6 5.Nf3 e5!

Theory table

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

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5

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References

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Wikipedia has related information at Marshall Defence

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