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1. e4
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White begins with the most popular opening; occupying the centre with the King's pawn. |
 
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1... e5
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Black counters to block further advance of the white pawn & to compete for control of the vital centre squares. |
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2. Nf3
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Good developing move - the knight is brought into play, it attacks both the centre and the black e-pawn, and prepares for castling on the Kside |
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2... Nc6
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Black develops Knight to defend the pawn & challenge White's aim for control over the centre |
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3. Bb5
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Another good developing move - this classical opening is called the "Ruy Lopez" in which White is increasing the pressure on the Black e-pawn by attacking the piece that is defending it. |
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3... Nf6
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This response is called the Berlin defence which tends to leave Black safe but cramping his development into the middle game. |
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4. Bxc6
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White opts to take the Knight; the more usual move is to take the opportunity to castle early and get the White King safely away from the centre. Black's intention is obviously to gain material by winning the e-pawn, but an attack at this stage could be premature. It also means that White has moved the B twice but these moves will be lost when the piece is removed from the board. |
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4... bxc6
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Black equalises material, with a pawn capture towards the centre, adding to the degree of control he has over the centre squares - leaving both e-pawns vunerable to attack. |
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5. Nxe5
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Nxp; also theatening the f-pawn - and potentially forcing the Black to move his King before he has castled. The Knight also attacks the black c-pawn preventing the advance of the d-pawn. |
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5... Qe7
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Black develops his Q threatening the N, the e-pawn and also check on the K, whilst at the same time protecting the f-pawn. |
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6. d4
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White protects the Knight with the d-pawn and releases his Q-side B for development, but the vunerability of the Knight, due to the early attack, denies White the opportunity to castle & so improve the security of the White King. Also, the White e-pawn remains unguarded. |
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6... Nxe4
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Black captures the e-pawn whilst creating an attack on Black's f-pawn. |
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7. O-O
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White castles, avoiding the danger of the N being pinned, improving security for the King, and protecting the f-pawn. |
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7... c5
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Black advances the c-pawn, removing it from the Knight threat, whilst attacking the d-pawn. The black c-pawn is protected by Knight, Queen & Bishop. If White chooses to exchange the pawns, the white Knight would be lost. |
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8. c3
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White chooses to defend rather than exchange the d-pawn. This decision has the disadvantage of denying the White Knight on b1 its best development square. |
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8... Bb7
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This Bishop move helps protect the black Knight on e4, but more importantly, will deny the white Knight access to the c6 square, planning for d6 next move. |
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9. f3
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White attacks the black Knight , but the Knight has good escape options. This move weakens the white King's defences & also removes another escape square from the white Knight, which will shortly come under further attack. |
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9... Nf6
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The black Knight escapes without difficulty, the black c-pawn loses one defender but is still well protected. Furthermore, exchanging the pawns now (after re-capture by the Q) would result in check from the Q along the diagonal and the subsequent loss of the Knight. |
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10. Be3
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The white Bishop is developed to e3 giving added protection to the d-pawn (which however is already defended twice and attacked only once). More crucially, the Bishop itself is undefended on this square, and is vunerable to attack from the Q if the Knight is forced to move. |
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10... d6
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The white Knight is now attacked, and must move or be taken. It has a choice of three squares, but only two of these allow it to protect the Bishop, which will be subject to a "discovered" attack. |
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