Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Bc4/2...Nf6

Bishops Opening - Berlin 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/5n2/4p3/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK1NR

Bishops Opening - Berlin Defence

2... Nf6

Black develops the king's knight and in doing so threatens the e4 pawn and also makes it possible to play d5. This move also preempts Scholar's Mate by preventing 3. Qh5, and blocking the queen's path in the 3. Qf3 version of the mate.

White options.

• 3. d3 is the most common continuation, called the Kuijper Game.
• 3. Nf3 transposes to Petrov's Defence.
• 3. d4 is the famous Mellema Attack.
• 3. Nc3 transposes to the Vienna Game (Falkbeer Defence), with an opportunity to use a center fork trick.

Theory table

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

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6

	3	4
	d3 Nc6	Nf3 Be7	=
Petrov's Defence by transposition	Nf3 Nc6			See 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4
Two Knights Defence by transposition	d4 exd4	Nf3 Nc6		See 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. d4 exd4
Vienna Game by transposition	Nc3 Nxe4			See 1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4

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