Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...f6

Barnes 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) rnbqkbnr/ppppp1pp/5p2/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w
Moves: 1. e4 f6

Barnes Defence

1...f6?!

The Barnes Defence is considered a very poor move, as it opens no lines for Black to develop his pieces, allows White free and easy development, deprives the g8 knight of its most natural square (f6), and weakens the position of the black king. It does attack a central square, e5, but 1...d6, or even 1... Nc6 are better moves to attack this square. Alternatively, 1...e5, occupying the square immediately, is considered one of Black's most reliable moves. Barnes Defense is named after Thomas Wilson Barnes, an English master who, amazingly, defeated one of the greatest players of the time, Paul Morphy, with it in an offhand game played in London in July 1858.

Theory table

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

1. e4 f6?

	2	3	4
Speers Gambit	d4 b6	c4 Bb7	+/=
	... e6	+/=
	... e5	dxe5 Nc6	+/=
Fried Fox Defence	... Kf7?!	+/=
Fool's Mate	... g5??	Qh5# -
Pseudo-Fool's Mate	... h6??	Qh5+ g6	Qxg6# -

References

• Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.
• Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3.