As white, I often encounter the Philidor Defense by black:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 d6
I usually play Nc3
or d4
on the next move, but is this the best move? What are some lines (advantages or disadvantages) against the Philidor?
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Sign up to join this community3. d4
is the usual move after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
. Chess Opening Theory states that it is probably the best move, and also concedes 3. Bc4
:
The best move is probably
3. d4
. White threatens a queen exchange withdxe5 dxe5 Qxd8+ Kxd8
and Black can forget about castling. It puts pressure on the center and the Black fortress may collapse at any time.Another possibility is
3. Bc4
leading to a more positional game, playable for both camps.
Fred Reinfeld suggests the following line (exclamation marks are his) as in this game. White maintains a sharp edge:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4. Qxd4! Nc6 5. Bb5! Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. O-O-O
A good resource to study would be shredderchess.com's opening database.
To complement Daniel's answer: Black often aims for the solid Hanham setup with Nf6
, Nbd7
and Be7
without surrendering the center. The problem is to find a suitable move order from the position
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3.d4
If black plays 3...Nf6
, then white gets pressure and a solid plus after 4.dxe5 Nxe4 5.Qd5!
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.dxe5 Nxe4 5.Qd5!
Black can try 3...Nd7
first, but then the problem is to find a good move after 4.Bc4
.
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 (4...c6 5.O-O Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Ng5! Bxg5 8.Qh5) (4...Be7 5.dxe5! Nxe5 (5...dxe5 6.Qd5) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5) (4...Ngf6 5.Ng5) 4...
4... Ngf6
loses because of 5.Ng5
.
4...Be7
is bad due to the less obvious 5.dxe5! Nxe5 (5...dxe5 6.Qd5) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5
4...c6
is probably best, but loses the bishop pair after 5.O-O Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Ng5! Bxg5 8.Qh5
The best way to reach the Hanham is probably with the radically different move order 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7
, although white then has the option of exchanging into a slightly better endgame with 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8 Kxd8
.
[FEN ""]
1. e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 (4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8 Kxd8) Nbd7
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5
. This avoids the quick endgame possibility in your 3.Nc3 e5
line; of course it gives White options like 4.f4
, but I've always liked the positions that then arise after 4...e5
myself.
Against the Philidor you might experiment with a line I developed myself (don't know how good it is), but if they surrender the center (i.e. exd4), then I develop a setup where I fianchetto the dark-squared bishop on b2, play f3 at some early point (with perhaps a later f4). I usually stick the other bishop on d3 then if they chop it with a knight I take back with the c-pawn, getting a better center than Black at the cost of bishop vs. knight. I usually can start up some sort of middlegame kingside pawn majority attack as a result of all this and create mate threats by Qe1-g3 along with the bishop at b2. It seems to work fairly well but I'm sure some IM/GM could refute the whole thing. Not like we regularly play against those guys though. :)
1. e4 - e5.2.Nf3 - d6.3.d4 - exd4.4.Nxd4 - Nf6.5.f3 - d5.6.e5 - Nfd7.7.f4 - Nc6.
and it seems to me that White doesn't have the time to play your idea, but most go for: 8.Be3 - Nxd4.9.Bxd4 - c5.10.Bf2 - Qa5+.11.c3 - ...
This has been known for a few years now as OK for both sides, althou
I've always played Morphy's lines. Yes, Nxd4 is probably a little better positionally but Qxd4 leads to a maze of tactics and traps that black probably isn't prepared for.
2. ... Nc6
Sorry!