Two Knights Defense - Modern Bishop's Opening (4.d3)
White enters the Italian with Bc4 and settles for the quiet 4.d3. Meet it with ...Be7, castle, and after 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5, giving your bishop on e7 more room. Aim for an active, comfortable setup where your pieces develop freely and your d5 knight eyes the center.
Let's learn Modern Bishop's Opening! White defends the e4 pawn with d3, then castles and plays c3 for extra central control. We follow with Be7, castle too, and strike back with d5 to challenge the bishop on c4. 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
… 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5
- 5. c3
… 4... Be7 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 Nb6 9. Bb3 Bf5 10. Bc2 h6 11. Re1 Qd6
- 5. c3
… 4... Be7 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. Bb5 f6 11. h3 Bh5
- 5. c3
… 4... Be7 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. Bb3 Qxd3 11. Bc2 Qd6
- 5. c3
… 4... Be7 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Rxe5 c6 13. Bxd5 Bd6
- 5. c3
… 4... Be7 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Nbd2 Nb6 11. Bb5 f6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. Qd2 Bg4 8. h3 Bxf3 9. gxf3 Nd4 10. Qd1 c6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. O-O Na5 8. Bb3 h6 9. Bh4 Nxb3 10. axb3 c5
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. h3 Na5 8. Bb3 c6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. h3 d6 7. a3 a5 8. O-O Be6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. h3 d6 7. O-O Be6 8. Bb3 a5
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be3 d6 7. h3 Be6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be3 d6 7. Qd2 Na5 8. Bb3 c6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. a3 d6 7. h3 a5 8. O-O Be6
- 5. Nc3
… 4... Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Be6 8. Bb3 a5
- 6. Nc3
… 5... O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. h3 Be6 8. Bb3 a5
- 6. h3
… 5... O-O 6. h3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nc3 Be6 9. Re1 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bxc4 11. dxc4 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 f6
- 6. h3
… 5... O-O 6. h3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Qd6 9. Nbd2 Nb6
Other chapters
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nf4 11. Re1 Nxd3 12. cxd3 O-O 13. Nxe5 c5
Bishop Check Line (6.Bb5+)
White checks with 6.Bb5+, so block with ...c6 and recapture ...bxc6, then meet 8.Bd3 with ...Nd5 and ...Nf4 to grab the bishop. Castle, let White take on e5, and push ...c5, even though it lands isolated. Watch for the 8.Ba4 trap where ...Qd4 nets you a piece. You reach the bishop pair against White's isolated and doubled d-pawns.
18 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bxd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qd6 8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. d3 O-O-O
Italian Variation (4.Nc3)
After 4.Nc3, take the pawn with Nxe4 and meet Nxe4 with d5, hitting bishop and knight at once. Follow up Qxd5, Qd6, Bg4 pinning the knight, and Bh5 to keep it pinned. Castle queenside, then push f5 and f4 with the bishop pair.
9 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 d5 6. Bb5 Bc5 7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 O-O
4.O-O Lines
White castles early with 4.O-O, skipping c3, so grab the e4 pawn with ...Nxe4. After 5.Re1 d5 6.Bb5 Bc5, meet 7.d4 with ...exd4, and if 8.Nxd4 castle with O-O. Watch for 5.Re1, a common mistake you punish. You land up a pawn with a strong attack, sometimes even winning material outright.
6 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Be3 O-O 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc5 Nxc5 11. Bxc6 Rb8 12. Qxd5 Qe7
Open Variation (4.d4)
White opens the center with 4.d4, steering you into the Scotch Gambit. Meet it with 4...exd4, 5...d5, 6...Ne4 and 7...Bc5, then castle with 8...O-O and defend your knight with 12...Qe7. You land in a position with an isolated c7 pawn against White's queenside majority.
9 lines
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