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Chess Opening Theory/1. c4/1...e5/2. Nc3/2...Nc6

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English Opening
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 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 knightd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 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)

r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/2P5/2N5/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKBNR w

Moves: 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6

English Opening

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2...Nc6

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A good second move for black, 2...Nc6 keeps most options open for black including the possibility of transposition into the English four knights variation after 3.Nf3. Black must choose how to develop after this move; for instance more often than not white will fianchetto his light-squared bishop and pursue a q-side attack; in those cases it may be desirable to play f5, since the pawn duo on f5 and e5 along with a knight on f6 more often than not will present a formidable front with good counterplay possibilities vs a q-side attack by white. However as in most k-side pawn attacks black should be careful not to overextend these pawns as doing so might get them restrained and then destroyed by white, effectively putting black on the defensive.

Aside from the English four knights the main option for white is to prepare a q-side attack by playing the bishop to g2, the king´s knight to e2 and the rook to b1; different move orders are possible but the idea is the same: to achieve a beneficial pawn break on d4 (ideally exchanging black's e pawn, for example: e3, Ne2, d4 and after black takes the d pawn white recaptures with his e pawn effectively increasing his power on the center and q-side while at the same time weakening black's counterplay) and/or to support a pawn advance to b4 (a3 and Rb1 are good moves for this purpose). Using the subsequent spatial advantage on the q-side while neutralizing black's counterplay on the opposite wing does require some skill however and white is best advised not to neglect his k-side in favor of an all out q-side attack and to seek the restraint and destruction of black's f and e pawns, for example after 3.g3 f5 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nge2 Bb4 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 d6 8.d4 +/=, and should black push his e pawn to e4 white can undermine it with f3 and get an open file for the rook on f1 in the process.

Theory Table

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

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6

3 4
English g3
g6
English Nf3
Nf6

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Wikipedia has related information at English Opening

References

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