Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nc3/2...Nf6/3. Bc4/3...Nxe4/4. Qh5

Vienna Game, Falkbeer Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/8/4p2Q/2B1n3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1B1K1NR b
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5

Vienna Game, Falkbeer Defence

Black is threatened with Qf7#. They have seven legal moves that prevent this - surely one of them must allow them to avoid ruin?

4...Qe7 and 4...Qf6 allow Nxe4 winning a piece, as without the queen to defend d5 the fork trick has had its prongs bent.

4...g6 allows Qxe5+ picking up the knight or the rook.

4...Ke7 allows Qxe5# picking up the game.

4...d5 gives the pawn back for nothing as after 5. Bxd5 the threat is renewed.

4...Ng5 is met by 5. d4 forcing the knight to e6. Even if knight and king both survive the subsequent complications, White can regain the pawn and enjoy a whopping lead in development.

So by a process of elimination, it has to be

4...Nd6

Which has the enormous attraction of attacking the undefended c4 bishop.

Theory table

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

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5

	4
	... Nd6	=