Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. c3

Centre Pawn Opening (or Mcleod Attack)
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/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4P3/2P5/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR b
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. c3

Centre Pawn Opening/MacLeod Attack/Lopez Opening

White's second move prepares to push a pawn to d4, establishing a pawn center. However the idea is too slow as Black can respond vigorously with 2...d5 to eliminate transpositional possibilities. After 1. e4 e5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5, there is no 4. Nc3 to chase the queen away and gain a tempo.

Theory table

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

1. e4 e5 2. c3

	2	3	4
	... d5	exd5 Qxd5	d4 Nc6	=+
	... d5	exd5 Qxd5	Qf3 Be6	Bd3 Nf6	Qxd5 Bxd5	=+

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.