Center Game

White plays 2. d4 to smash open the centre. White threatens to take on e5, but really they are provoking exd4, and planning to develop their pieces rapidly by opening up the d-file for their queen and bishop. White may yet gambit some pawns for even faster development. This is the explosive Centre game.

Black has some options, but almost always takes the pawn.

2...exd4, the Centre game accepted, is Black's most common and objectively best move. This leads to several different sorts of game depending on how White would like to recapture. Recapturing immediately, 2. Qxd4, is most common. Sounder is to play 2. Nf3 first, intending to recapture the pawn with the knight, but the most aggressive continuation is is 2. c3, gambitting one or two pawns in exchange for getting a huge development lead.

If Black doesn't take on d4, next turn White will be able to take Black's e5 pawn instead. So if Black doesn't want to accept the centre game, they have to find a way to defend e5: 2...d6?!, 2...f6?, or 2...Nc6.

2...d6?! defends with a pawn, but it is not ideal. White can take on e5 anyway, and after the d-pawn recaptures, trade queens and force Black to give up their castling rights: 3. dxe5 dxe5 4. Qxd8+ Kxd8. Alternatively. White can transpose into a Philidor defence with 3. Nf3.

2...d6?! is a transposition into the Maróczy defence, usually seen in the Pirc in the move order 1. e4 d6 2. d4 e5).

2...f6? is much worse of course, as the f-pawn makes a lousy defender of the e-pawn. After 3. dxe5, Black dare not retake with the f pawn or face Qh5+! with their weakened kingside (see also the Damiano defence).

The best way to defend is the most flexible, 2...Nc6. This transposes into a line in the Nimzowitsch defence called the Kennedy variation (usually seen via 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5?!). If 3. dxe5, Black can retake 3...Nxe5, but may then be forced to move the knight again by 4. f4. Alternatively White can choose 3. d5, kicking the knight, which Black then reroutes to g6 via e7. If Black wishes to avoid accepting the Centre game then 2...Nc6 is probably their best alternative with the most practical chances.

If Black is having a fun time trade pawns in the centre of the board, or thinks that having a well-contested even game might be too boring for them, Black may decide to just give up on e5 and counterattack instead. These moves are invariably bad.

2...d5? is the Beyer gambit. The idea is that if White takes the d5 pawn instead of the e5 pawn, Black can bring out their queen: 3. exd5? Qxd5 4. Nc3 (attacking queen) Qxd4 5. Qxd4 exd4=. Black gets an even endgame. Of course if White takes the e5 pawn as they had planned, this gambit is just bad. 3. dxe5 dxe4 4. Qxd8+ Kxd8 and White gets a favourable queen trade, forcing Black to lose castling rights.

2...f5?, sabotaging Black's own kingside, is simply losing whether White takes the e5 or the f5 pawn.

This opening had fallen out of favour by the early 20th century when it was thought White was unable to prove an advantage. It had some critical re-appraisal in the 1980s but remains a distant fifth sideline behind White's other second moves.

1. e4 e5 2. d4

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.

• 365Chess: 1. e4 e5 2. d4

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

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Wikipedia has related information at Center Game