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Train this openingAbout this opening
White has attacked your e5 pawn and you have to answer it. Nc6 defends and develops at the same time, and it is played more often than every other reply put together. d6 also holds the pawn but shuts in your dark-squared bishop, which can sit passive for the rest of the game. Nf6 ignores the threat and counterattacks e4 instead, leading to sharp lines where both sides snatch pawns. f6 defends too, but it weakens the diagonal leading to your king, and among the common replies it scores worst for Black by a distance. This one choice decides whether you get an open piece game or a cramped but solid one.
- Defend e5 with Nc6 and develop toward the center.
- Play d6 for a solid game, but free that bishop later.
- Counterattack e4 with Nf6 rather than defending.
- Get a bishop to c5 or e7 and castle quickly.
- Knight: c6, defending e5 and controlling d4
- Knight: f6, attacking e4
- Bishop: c5, the active square while the center stays open
- Pawn: d6, solid but it blocks your dark-squared bishop
- King: castled short by move six
A piece game where the center often stays fluid for ten moves. Black usually equalizes by getting in d5 at the right moment, and White plays to stop exactly that.