Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Nf6/4. Ng5
Two Knights Defence | |
---|---|
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) | |
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 | |
ECO code: C57-C59 | |
Parent: Italian Game |
Two Knights Defence
[edit | edit source]4. Ng5!?
[edit | edit source]This move is interesting. While some in the past considered it ridiculous, others point out that White wins a pawn in the process.
The White Knight now threatens a fork with Nxf7, yet to do so it's broken a rule of opening development in that the same piece moves twice; if Black plays correctly then White will seriously fall behind in development. Black's only sensible way to defend f7 is to block the bishop's access with 4...d5, but the pawn on d5 itself is not fully defensible by Black.
Black has two sensible replies.
Additionally, black may choose to move the knight on f6. This opens up an attack on the white g5 knight. There are two sensible methods of achieving this:
Theory table
[edit | edit source]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Two Knights Defence | 1 | Ng5 Bc5!? |
Bxf7+ Ke7 |
Bd5 Rf8 |
O-O d6 |
c3 Bg4 |
Qb3 Bb6 |
Bxc6 bxc6 |
+/= |
2 | ... d5 |
exd5 Nxd5!? |
d4 Bb4+ |
c3 Be7 |
Nxf7 Kxf7 |
Qf3+ Ke6 |
Qe4 Rf8 |
+/= | |
3 | ... ... |
... ... |
Nxf7!? Kxf7 |
Qf3+ Ke6 |
Nc3 Ncb4 |
a3 Nxc2+ |
Kd1 Nxa1 |
∞ | |
4 | ... ... |
... Na5 |
d3 h6 |
Nf3 e4 |
Qe2 Nxc4 |
dxc4 Bc5 |
Nfd2 O-O |
= | |
5 | ... ... |
... ... |
Bb5+ c6 |
dxc6 bxc6 |
Be2 h6 |
Nf3 e4 |
Ne5 Bc5 |
∞ | |
6 | ... ... |
... ... |
... ... |
... ... |
... ... |
Nh3 Bd6 |
d3 O-O |
∞ | |
7 | ... ... |
... ... |
... ... |
... ... |
Qf3 Be7 |
Bxc6+ Nxc6 |
Qxc6+ Bd7 |
∞ | |
8 | ... ... |
... b5 |
Bf1 h6 |
Nxf7 Kxf7 |
dxc6 Qd5 |
Qf3 Qc5 |
b4 Qxb4 |
∞ | |
9 | ... ... |
... Nd4 |
c3 b5 |
Bf1 Nxd5 |
Ne4 Qh4 |
Ng3 Bg4 |
f3 e4 |
||
10 | ... Nxe4?! |
Bxf7+! Ke7 |
d4 d5 |
Nc3 | += | ||||
11 | ... Nd5 |
d3 | += |
Statistics
[edit | edit source]Estimated next move popularity
d5 80%, Bc5 19%, Others less than 1%
References
[edit | edit source]- Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.
- Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.