Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...f5/4. Nc3/4...fxe4/5. Nxe4/5...Nf6

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< Chess Opening Theory‎ | 1. e4‎ | 1...e5‎ | 2. Nf3‎ | 2...Nc6‎ | 3. Bb5‎ | 3...f5‎ | 4. Nc3‎ | 4...fxe4‎ | 5. Nxe4
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Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defence
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black kingc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black kingg7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black knightd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black knightg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 white bishopc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white knightf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 white knightg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 black kingc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 black kingg1 black kingh1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h

Black has challenged White's unprotected e4-knight with another knight. This is a problem and an opportunity for White. In the 5...d5 lines this knight doesn't have the opportunity of gaining a tempo by swapping itself for a Black piece of equal value. Here, it does! So an obvious move here would be

Why might White have second thoughts about 6.Nxf6+? After all, if White defends the knight then it's 100% going to get kicked away from e4 on the very next move with ...d5. The answer may lie in Black's options for recapturing on f6. For reasons of both development and pawn structure it looks as though Black would prefer to use the queen and not the g-pawn, but if White now indirectly threatens Black's e-pawn with

then 6...d5 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6? doesn't work because 8.Qxe5+ would just pick up a pawn, so Black would have to go 7...gxf6 instead. The immediate 6.Nxf6+ could be met effectively by 6...Qxf6.

This is excellent logic, but chess opening theory doesn't always reward logic. The more honest answer to whether 6.Qe2 is better than 6.Nxf6+ is "try them and see!" 6.Nxf6+, for one reason or another, outscores 6.Qe2 both in White wins and Black defeats.