Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3

2. Nf3 - King's Knight Opening
After '''1. e4 e5 2. Nf3''', White has initiated one of the most classical and popular chess openings, the King's Knight Opening. No matter which opening White chooses, the goal is to develop their pieces quickly and control the center of the board. White should also be aware of Black's counterplay and be prepared to defend against it. With their first two moves, White demonstrates fundamental principles of chess opening play, including control of the center, development of pieces, and preparation for castling.


 * 1) Control of the Center: The move 1. e4 claims central space and opens lines for the queen and king's bishop. The question for Black at this point is whether to challenge the opposing pawn on e4 or support their own pawn on e5. The follow-up 2. Nf3 develops a knight to its most active square, attacking the e5 pawn and further exerting control over the center.
 * 2) Importance of Flexibility: While these are standard plans, White must remain flexible and adapt to Black's responses, tailoring the strategy to the specific position on the board.
 * 3) Strategic Goals for White: In all these variations, White's objectives include rapid piece development, king safety (usually through castling), maintaining or increasing central control, and creating opportunities for tactical or positional advantages in the middlegame.

Responses by Black: Supporting the black pawn
Black's valuable center pawn is threatened with capture, but White's pawn remains safe. Black's typical response to 2. Nf3 is either 2...Nc6, defending the e5-pawn, or 2...Nf6, challenging White's e4 pawn (the Petrov Defense). Each choice leads to different types of positions and strategies.

2...Nc6 is the natural move, combining defence of the pawn with control of the d4 square and avoiding committing another pawn for now. 2. Nf3 is 10 times more popular than everything else combined, and in turn the reply 2...Nc6 is about 5 times more popular than everything else combined.

'''Common Continuations for White after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6:'''
 * 3. Bb5 (Ruy Lopez): A classical approach aiming to exert pressure on Black's center and knight on c6.
 * 3. Bc4 (Italian Game): Targets f7, the weakest point in Black's camp, and supports White's central pawns.
 * 3. d4 (Scotch Opening): Aiming for rapid development and opening of the center.
 * 3. Nc3 (Three Knights' Opening): Develops another piece while keeping central tension.
 * 3. c3 (Ponziani Opening): Prepares to support the d4 push, challenging Black's central pawn structure.

2...d6, Philidor's Defence, is the other safe option to defend the pawn.

It restricts Black's dark-squared bishop to the e7-square, and grants White an advantage in territory, but it builds a fortress that cannot be easily battered down. This is generally considered an inferior way to defend the e5 pawn because white can easily push for advantage here, and white gets a 58% score here, with 41% wins opposed to Black's 25%. This is especially the case if Black makes a ...c7-c5 push to kick a potential knight on d4, greatly weakening the d6-pawn.

An alternative (older) way to play this is to follow up with 3...f5, but more recent analyses have proven this line to be completely losing for Black

Note that 2...f6? is a bad move.

2...f6 is known as the Damiano Defence. It is a poor move as it weakens black's kingside and deprives the knight on g8 of its most natural development square. Additionally, it does not even defend the pawn; if 2...Nxe5, fxe5 allows Qh5+, after which black either loses a rook (3... g6 4. Qxe5+) or is hunted into the center of the board with 3...Ke7 4. Qxe5+. Even the person for who the "defence" is named after, Pedro Damiano, condemned the defense as weak and inferior.

Challenging the White pawn
2...Nf6 is the Petrov Defence.

Black wants the same things that White wants, but once again White will be back in a symmetrical position with the advantage of moving first. This opening is known to be notoriously drawish due to the resultant symmetric positions.

2...f5 is the Latvian Gambit.

This iconic counter-thrust divides opinion like very few other openings.

Has Black lured White into a minefield of tricks and traps leading to an inevitable violent death?

Or has Black given away a pawn for nothing?

2...d5 is the Elephant Gambit.

It's along the same lines as the Latvian, but less complex – White needs to do less memorising to reach a good position.

Statistics
Estimated next move popularity.

Nc6 83.5%, Nf6 11%, d6 4%, f5 0.5%, other less than 0.5%.

Theory table
'''1. e4 e5 2. Nf3'''