Chess Opening Theory/1. e4

< Chess Opening Theory
King's Pawn Opening
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8{{{square}}} black rook{{{square}}} black knight{{{square}}} black bishop{{{square}}} black queen{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black bishop{{{square}}} black knight{{{square}}} black rook8
7{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn7
6{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king6
5{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king5
4{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king4
3{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} ua{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king3
2{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} ua{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn2
1{{{square}}} white rook{{{square}}} white knight{{{square}}} white bishop{{{square}}} white queen{{{square}}} white king{{{square}}} white bishop{{{square}}} white knight{{{square}}} white rook1
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Common moves:
1...e5 - Open Game
1...c5 - Sicilian Defence
1...e6 - French Defence
1...c6 - Caro-Kann Defence
1...d5 - Scandinavian Defence
1...g6 - Modern Defence
1...d6 - Pirc Defence
1...Nf6 - Alekhine's Defence
1...Nc6 - Nimzowitsch's Defence
Full list

King's Pawn Opening

1.e4

White's assertive opening move opens lines for the queen and king's bishop and fights for control of the squares d5 and f5. This move is popular at all levels of the game and was the favoured opening move of world champion Bobby Fischer who called it 'best by test'.

Openings with 1.e4 are traditionally considered more sharp and attacking than those with 1.d4, but this is an extreme generalisation and both players will have many more opportunities to influence the type of position that appears.

With a pawn on e4, White's simplest plan is to play d4 on the next move, creating a strong 'classical' centre.

Black's responses

It's useful to think of Black's responses to 1.e4 as motivated by one of the following counter-plans:

  1. Establish a pawn on e5, securing a share of the centre for Black.
  2. Establish a pawn on d5, securing a share of the centre for Black.
  3. Blow up White's e-pawn immediately.
  4. Leave White's e-pawn alone but prevent White from achieving the classical centre with e4 and d4.
  5. Ignore what White is doing, allow White to build the classical centre and blow it up later.

Plan 1 can be carried out very simply with 1...e5. Black sees what White has and wants the same thing. However, White's argument is that moving first in a symmetrical position is eventually going to favour the player moving first.

Plan 2 is the motivation behind 1...c6, the Caro-Kann Defence, and 1...e6, the French Defence. If Black tries to put a pawn on d5 immediately, White will capture it, so in order to maintain a pawn on d5 Black needs to be able to recapture with a pawn from either c6 or e6.

Plan 3 leads to 1...d5, the Scandinavian Defence, and 1...Nf6, Alekhine's Defence.

Plan 4 is a pleasant side-effect of 1...e5, but with 1...c5, the Sicilian Defence, Black can prevent White's d4 advance and also create an asymmetrical position of attack and counter-attack. The Sicilian is by far the most popular reply to 1.e4 among top players.

There are multiple ways of carrying out Plan 5. 1...g6, the Modern Defence, signals Black's intention to put a bishop on g7 controlling a swathe of the centre, before deciding on further action. After 1...d6, the Pirc Defence... we probably need a diagram to explain:

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8{{{square}}} black rook{{{square}}} black knight{{{square}}} black bishop{{{square}}} black queen{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black bishop{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black rook8
7{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} black pawn7
6{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} da{{{square}}} black pawn{{{square}}} da{{{square}}} black knight{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king6
5{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} da{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} da{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king5
4{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king4
3{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} white knight{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king3
2{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn{{{square}}} white pawn2
1{{{square}}} white rook{{{square}}} black king{{{square}}} white bishop{{{square}}} white queen{{{square}}} white king{{{square}}} white bishop{{{square}}} white knight{{{square}}} white rook1
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The position after 3 moves of the Pirc Defence. White's d-pawn is next in line to be undermined.

The move 1...d6 prepares the move 2...Nf6. In Alekhine's Defence, 1...Nf6 can be met by 2.e5 kicking the knight. But in the Pirc after 1...d6 2.d4 Nf6, the move 3.e5 doesn't work because of 3...dxe5 4.dxe5 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Ng4! forking the pawns on e5 and f2.

So instead, White's usual move to defend the e-pawn is 3.Nc3. Now, White's d-pawn is vulnerable to the advances ...c5 or ...e5, because neither White's e-pawn or c-pawn can defend it.
Plan 5 also covers a number of fringe options. After 1...Nc6, the Nimzowitsch Defence, Black is able to react to 2.d4 with a thrust of either the d-pawn or e-pawn. 1...b6 is a similar idea to 1...g6 but doesn't have the benefit of preparing kingside castling. 1...a6 is mostly famous for having been played by Tony Miles against then World Champion Anatoly Karpov, and having thus acquired the name St. George Defence.

Statistics

Approximate chances: White win 39%, Draw 29%, Black win 32%
Estimated next move popularity: c5 41%, e5 25%, e6 13%, c6 7%, d6 4%, d5 4%, g6 3%, Nf6 2%, Nc6 0.5%, other moves less than 0.5%

Theory table

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

1. e4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Sicilian Defence e4
c5		 Nf3
d6		 d4
cxd4		 Nxd4
Nf6		 Nc3
a6		 Be2
e6		 O-O
Be7		 f4
O-O		 Be3
Qc7		 =
Ruy Lopez ...
e5		 Nf3
Nc6		 Bb5
a6		 Ba4
Nf6		 O-O
Be7		 Re1
b5		 Bb3
d6		 c3
Na5		 Bc2
c5		 =
Caro-Kann Defence ...
c6		 d4
d5		 Nc3
dxe4		 Nxe4
Bf5		 Ng3
Bg6		 h4
h6		 Nf3
Nd7		 h5
Bh7		 Bd3
Bxd3		 =
French Defence ...
e6		 d4
d5		 Nc3
Nf6		 Bg5
Be7		 e5
Nfd7		 Bxe7
Qxe7		 f4
O-O		 Nf3
c5		 Qd2
Nc6		 =
Pirc Defence ...
d6		 d4
Nf6		 Nc3
g6		 f4
Bg7		 Nf3
O-O		 Bd3
Na6		 O-O
c5		 d5
Rb8		 Qe2
Nc7		 ∞
Scandinavian Defence ...
d5		 exd5
Qxd5		 Nc3
Qa5		 d4
Nf6		 Nf3
c6		 Bc4
Bf5		 Bd2
e6		 Nd5
Qd8		 Nxf6
Qxf6		 =
Modern Defence ...
g6		 d4
Bg7		 Nc3
d6		 f4
a6		 Nf3
b5		 Bd3
Bb7		 Qe2
Nc6		 e5
Nh6		 d5
Nb4		 ∞
Alekhine's Defence ...
Nf6		 e5
Nd5		 d4
d6		 Nf3
Bg4		 Be2
e6		 O-O
Be7		 c4
Nb6		 h3
Bh5		 Nc3
O-O		 =
Nimzowitsch Defence ...
Nc6		 d4
d5		 Nc3
dxe4		 d5
Ne5		 Bf4
Ng6		 Bg3
f5		 Nh3
e5		 dxe6
Bxe6		 Nb5
Bd6		 +/=
Owen's Defence ...
b6		 d4
Bb7		 Bd3
e6		 Nf3
c5		 c3
Nf6		 Qe2
Be7		 O-O
Nc6		 e5
Nd5		 dxc5
bxc5		 +/=
St. George Defence ...
a6		 d4
b5		 Nf3
Bb7		 Bd3
Nf6		 Qe2
e6		 O-O
c5		 c3
d5		 e5
Nfd7		 dxc5
Nxc5		 +/=

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References

     
    Chess Openings
    1. e4 e5
    1. e4 c5
    1. e4 other
    1. d4 Nf6
    1. d4 d5
    1. d4 other
    1.
    a3 · Na3 · a4 · b3 · b4 · c3 · Nc3 · c4 · d3 · d4 · e3 · e4 · f3 · Nf3 · f4 · g3 · g4 · h3 · Nh3 · h4
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