Two Knights Defense - 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.
Let's learn the Open Variation! White opens the center and later pins our knight to the king. We push pawns to challenge White's pieces, then defend our knight on c5. Let's begin with 1.e4.
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Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 10. Bxc5 Nxc5 11. Bxc6 Rb8 12. Qxd5 Qe7
- 5. O-O
… 4... exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qd7 9. Rxe4+ Be7 10. Nxd4 f5 11. Rf4 O-O
- 5. O-O
… 4... exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qd7 9. Nxe4 Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxd4 Bd7
- Trap: 12.Qxd5, you win a piece
… 7... Bc5 8. O-O O-O 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc6 Ba6 11. Bxa8 Bxf1 12. Qxd5 Bc4 13. Qxd8 Bxf2+ 14. Kh1 Rxd8 15. Nc3 Nxc3 16. Bf3 Ne4
- Trap: 12.Bxd5, you win a piece
… 7... Bc5 8. O-O O-O 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc6 Ba6 11. Bxa8 Bxf1 12. Bxd5 Nxf2 13. Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. b4 Bb6
- 8. Bxc6+
… 7... Bc5 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. O-O Ba6 10. Ne2 Qh4
- Trap: 11.Qxd5, mate on d3
… 7... Bc5 8. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 bxc6 10. Bxc6+ Kf8 11. Qxd5 Ba6+ 12. Bb5 Bxb5+ 13. c4 Bxc4+ 14. Qd3 Bxd3#
- Trap: 11.Bxa8, you win the queen
… 7... Bc5 8. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 bxc6 10. Bxc6+ Kf8 11. Bxa8 Ba6+ 12. c4 Bxc4+ 13. Qe2 Bxe2+ 14. Kxe2 Qd7
- 9. Bxc6
… 8... O-O 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. O-O Qe8 11. f3 Nf6 12. f4 Ng4
Other chapters
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5
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.
18 lines1. 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 lines
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