Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. c3/2...Nf6/3. e5

Sicilian, Alapin
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/pp1ppppp/5n2/2p1P3/8/2P5/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR b
Moves: 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5

Sicilian, Alapin

3. e5

White’s move attacks the knight, and continues to push the centre. It forces Black to move their piece twice in the opening development, and removes the threat of Ng4 placement later in the opening.

The main line of 3...Nd5 is rather forced, as 3...Ng8? is quite passive whilst 3...Ne4?? 4.d3! traps the knight.

The other moves of Ng4 or Nh5 lead to immediate capture by the queen.

Theory table

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

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5

	3	4	5
Sicilian, Alapin	... Nd5	d4
	... Ng8	d4
	... Ne4??	f3	+-

• Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3.
• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.