Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6
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Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Responses: |
2...Nc6 - King's Knight Opening Edit
2...Nc6 is the natural move, combining defence of the pawn with control of the d4 square and avoiding committing another pawn for now.
White's responses Edit
White has multiple choices here which can lead to very different games.
- 3. Bb5 is the most played. White puts pressure on the knight defending the pawn.
- 3. Bc4 is quieter. Instead of attacking the knight, White chooses to target the weak f7 pawn.
- 3. d4 is aggressive. Subsequent play may result in a very open game.
- 3. Nc3 is the quietest common continuation.
- 3. c3, the Ponziani opening, opens the white diagonal for the queen, allows for an eventual d4 pawn push, and controls d4 and b4 (possible plants by the black knight) at the expense of hemming in the knight.
Some more uncommon moves:
- 3. Nxe5, the Irish Gambit, sacrificing a knight for a pawn.
- 3. g3, the rarely seen Konstantinopolsky Opening
- 3. Be2, a passive reply called the Inverted Hungarian Opening or Tayler Opening.
Statistics Edit
- Estimated next move popularity
- Bb5 48%, Bc4 26%, d4 14%, Nc3 9%, c3 1%. All other moves less than 1%.
Theory table Edit
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1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3 | 4 | 5 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Ruy Lopez | Bb5 a6 |
Ba4 Nf6 |
O-O Be7 |
= |
Italian Game | Bc4 Bc5 |
c3 Nf6 |
d4 exd4 |
= |
Scotch Game | d4 exd4 |
Nxd4 Bc5 |
Nb3 Bb4+ |
= |
Four Knights Game | Nc3 Nf6 |
d4 exd4 |
Nxd4 Bb4 |
= |
Ponziani Opening | c3 d5 |
Bb5 dxe4 |
Nxe5 Qg5 |
= |
References Edit
- Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
- Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.