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Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...e5/2. Nc3/2...Nf6

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English Opening
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black knightg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 white pawnd4 black kinge4 black kingf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 white knightd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 black kingd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 black kingc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)
Moves: 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6

English Opening

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2...Nf6

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This position, also reachable through the move orders 1...e5/2.Nc3 Nf6, can lead to two important variations of the English opening depending on how white chooses to develop. 3.Nf3 is the natural developing move and more often than not it leads to the English four knights variation simply because black must defend his pawn and the most practical way to do it is with 3...Nc6. After this white will usually develop his bishop to g2 and castle kingside. Black has a variety of options against this variation including the pinning of the knight on c3 with the dual idea of advancing the pawn on e5 and inflicting doubled pawns.

The other option for white is to get the bishop to g2 first and then choosing how to develop the knight, this idea is known as the Bremen system. The Bremen System has the advantage of maintaining flexibility in the development of the knight while also increasing control of the d5 square and putting extra pressure on black´s q-side. Black on the other hand might choose to counter this pressure by advancing his pawn to c6, the Keres variation, with the idea of creating a sturdy pawn formation which white must either undermine with his own pawns or fall to.

Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1.c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5
3
Nf3
Nc6
g3
Bb4

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References

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  • Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.