Exeter Chess Club

Playing Black after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3

Classical repertoire

Defending the Italian Game with the Two Knights' Defence and the Ruy Lopez with the Classical or other variation has always seemed to me to be good advice (even if it isn't advice I've ever been very good at following). You can find plenty of information about these systems elsewhere on the site. There's something wonderfully clear and crisp about playing like this.

Let me show you the Two Knights' at its best: in an all-action shoot-out, Black is quicker on the draw, with a bigger gun.

• Euwe M. - Reti R. [C56]

Petroff Defence

Well, not everybody wants to allow White to play their favourite line. Also, we might want to steer White away from playing some horrible pudding opening like Old Stodge.  The Petroff makes White think from move 2, and White will find it difficult to prove any advantage; I'm happy to recommend it for players who don't really feel comfortable allowing White their favourite line.  The sharpest lines can be exciting but it has a terrible reputation for being good only for making a draw.

The Petroff at its best: White doesn't get anything out of the opening and Black takes over.

• John W. - Marshall F. [C42]

Philidor Defence

I mainly use this opening as a source of examples of traps and other forcing lines in the opening. If you're confident as Black that you can avoid all these nasties, and that you can hold the position after the boring line with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.dxe5, then the Philidor offers a solid, flexible position with themes related to the Ruy Lopez (pawns on c3/d4/e4 facing e5/d6).  There was a fashion at one point for playing ...Qe7, ...h6, ...g5, ...Ng7 and ...O-O-O, and putting the boot in on the King's-side.  The most recent ideas for White include moving the g-pawn: either to g3, idea Bg2 to hold the centre, or to g4, as a gambit.

The Philidor at its best: White makes all the early gestures, but Black quietly unwinds and swamps White's position.

• Morris P. - Hodgson J. [C41]

Playing Black after 1.e4 (half-open defences)

Scandinavian Defence

If you want an open game as Black, it's hard to beat the Scandinavian. White is struggling to prove an advantage, and Black has an attractive choice of a solid system where your pieces come to natural squares (2...Qxd5) or some fiesty gambit lines (2...Nf6 and 3...e6).

The Scandinavian at its best: one where Black takes over the light squares, and one where White is tempted to accept a gambit.

• Hjartarson J. - Hansen C. [B01]

• Thirion M. - Berend F. [B01]

French Defence

The French is very hard to attack yet still offers Black some active play. You have to suffer a little as Black, and in the French you suffer with a bad Bishop, but if you learn how to deal with that, the French can provide you with years of confident play and many wins.  I think once you know you can handle open games, the French is a very practical defence for juniors and club players.

• Spassky B. - Kortchnoi V. [C18]

The French at its best: a solid start, an unbalanced middle and a crushing finish.

Caro-Kann Defence

The Caro-Kann improves on the French by not blocking in the Bishop, but you have to work harder to get counterplay. I think of it as being perhaps as solid as the French without being as interesting (it is notorious for draws), but if White knows their stuff the play can be as sharp as anything else in chess.

The Caro-Kann at its best: White's initiative is deftly suffocated and Black finds enough in the endgame.

• Calvo - Anderssen [B15]

Alekhin Defence

This is a new (hypermodern) idea: Black tempts the White pawns forward so they can be more easily attacked! You have to be careful not to get squashed, but if you do get the White centre to fall over, you have the same satisfaction as watching one of those big industrial brick chimneys come down...

The Alekhin at its best: White charges into the centre and declares "King of the Hill", but Black soon has a share of the centre and a better Bishop for the endgame.

• Garbett P. - Baburin A. [B03]

Pirc and Modern Defences

These flexible defences share some of the ideas of the Alekhin, without allowing White to chase you around so much. The play is complex and subtle, and, to my mind, too hard for most junior and club players.  (Again, that's advice I'm better giving than taking!)

The Pirc at its best: White's attack never happens, the centre gets bogged down and Black comes at the White King around the sides.

• Kovacevic V. - Seirawan Y. [B07]

Nimzowitsch Defence

This defence is law to itself: not rubbish at all and gives you a chance to play chess and not theory.  Larsen tried it many times over his career and Miles made a living out of it in his last years.

The Nimzo at its best: original piece and pawn play in the opening leads to an old-fashioned attack down the f-file and then a winning endgame.

• Lima D. - Miles A. [B00]

Owen's Defence

This logical defence has never been completely convincing; Black doesn't get the counterplay and White can usually sit on a comfortable edge with e4/d4/Bd3/Nf3/c3/Qe2...  There are a few maverick spirits (the late Tony Miles again) who play it, but any interest in the opening tends to lead to White coming up with an even more secure way to squash Black's play.  At club level it's probably playable (I seem to recall playing it myself), but it's at its best when White has a rush of blood to the head and tries to attack too early or grab more space than they can hold.  If White is content to seek a smaller advantage it's probably easier to do that against Owen's Defence than any other.

The Owen's at its best: White is forced to defend the centre and the attack never comes.

• Celestino G. - Larsen B. [B00]

St.George's Defence

The improved Owen's defence... Black takes an extra move to adopt a more harmonious system of development (in particular, holding back White's c-pawn in case of e4-e5, Nf6-d5) but these systems have never been popular at master level for the same reasons as Owen's Defence.  But they didn't half sit up when Miles beat Karpov with it...

The St.George's at its best: White's centre is surrounded.

• Malysheva P. - Paschall W. [B00]

Borg Defence / Basmania

Perhaps only Mike Basman can make this sort of thing work... No, that's not fair: like all openings, it's only as good as the ideas you bring to it, but if you have more and better ideas than your opponent, then it's going to work for you.  I guess it's an 'improved' Modern Defence, where munching on the long diagonal is combined with holding back White's f-pawn and so better control of e5.

The Borg at its best: in the murk, Black sees more clearly. It all turns Sicilian on White when he has to face minority attacks on both sides of the board.

• Whiteley A. - Basman M. [A40]