Beat the Sicilian: Alapin - Barmen Defense (3...Qxd5)
Let's learn the Barmen Defense! Black trades pawns in the center and develops a knight toward our d4 pawn. We recapture each trade and accept an isolated d4 pawn as a strongpoint. Let's begin with 1.e4.
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Scroll the moves: the board follows.
Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 Nc6
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Na3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be7 11. Bd3
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Na3 cxd4 7. Nb5 Qd8 8. Qxd4 a6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Ne5
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Na3 a6 7. Nc4 Nbd7 8. Be2 b5 9. Ne3 Qc6 10. a4 Bb7 11. O-O
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 e6 8. Nc3 Qd6 9. O-O
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Be2 e6 7. Na3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Bc5 11. O-O
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. dxc5 Qxc5 7. h3 Bh5 8. Be3 Qc7 9. Na3 a6 10. Nc4
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. dxc5 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Qxf3 8. gxf3 e6 9. b4 a5 10. Bb2
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. dxc5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bxf3+ 8. gxf3 e5 9. b4
- 4...Nf6
… 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. dxc5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 e5 8. b4 e4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 exf3 11. Bb5+ Nc6 12. gxh5 a5 13. Bxc6+ bxc6 14. a3
- 4...Nc6
… 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. cxd4
- 4...Nc6
… 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 e6 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. O-O
- 4...Nc6
… 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. h3 Bh5 8. c4 Qd7 9. d5 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nd4 11. O-O
- 4...Nc6
… 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. c4 Qd7 9. d5 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 exd5 11. cxd5 Nd4 12. O-O
- 4...e6
… 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Na3 Nf6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be7 11. Bd3
- 4...e6
… 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nf6 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Bd3
- 4...e6
… 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Na3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be7 11. Bd3
- 5...Nf6
… 5. cxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qd8 7. Bc4 e6 8. Nf3 Be7 9. O-O
Other chapters
1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 d5 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Nc3 Bxf3 8. gxf3 Qxd4 9. Qxd4 Nxd4 10. Nb5 Nc2+ 11. Kd1 Nxa1 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Nxa8
Central Exchange (6...Bg4)
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Other 2nd moves (2...e6, 2...g6, 2...e5)
Let's learn the rarer 2nd moves! Black has three tries here: 2...e6, 2...g6 and 2...e5. We have a clear plan against each one. Let's...
18 lines1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 c4 7. Bc2 d6 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. O-O Bg4 10. Re1 e6 11. b3 Be7 12. Na3
2...Nf6 Lines
Let's learn the 2...Nf6 Lines! Black develops the knight to attack our e4 pawn, then retreats it to d5 after our push. We develop...
17 lines1. e4 c5 2. c3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. e5 dxe5 9. dxe5 Ng4 10. Bf4 O-O 11. h3 Qb6 12. Qe2
2...d6 Lines
Let's learn the 2...d6 Lines! Black builds a solid center with ...d6, aiming for ...Nf6 and ...e5. We push 3.d4, trading pawns and...
12 lines
Learn Barmen Defense (3...Qxd5) on the board
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