Beating the Latvian, Elephant and other 2nd-move tries: free opening course

Key ideas

• If Black leaves the e5 pawn without a guard, take it with the knight. Then check what Black threatens.
• When Black's queen comes out early, develop with gain of time. Your knights and bishops chase it around.
• After ...f6 or ...f5 the diagonal from h5 to e8 is open. A queen check on h5 often wins at once.
• Watch your own e4 pawn and the h1 rook when Black's queen stands on h4. Never weaken them for nothing.
• Develop fast, castle and open the centre with d4. Black's king often stays in the middle too long.

The 6 variations in the course

• 2...Bc5 3.Nxe5: the Busch-Gass Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Bc5 3. Nxe5 Qh4 4. d4 Qxe4+ 5. Be3 Bb4+ 6. c3 Bd6 … — Black develops the bishop and leaves e5 without a guard. White takes the pawn. After 3...Qh4 White hits the bishop with 4.d4. Then White blocks the check with the e3 bishop and chases the queen.
• 2...Qf6: the McConnell Defence: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Qf6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Ne7 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Bxd4 … — Black defends e5 with the queen. White develops quickly, castles and opens the centre with d4. The queen on f6 takes the best square from Black's knight.
• 2...d5 3.exd5: the Elephant Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Qe2 Nf6 5. d3 Qxd5 6. Nc3 Bb4 … — Black opens the centre at once and offers a pawn. White takes on d5. After 3...e4 White hits the pawn with 4.Qe2, develops and keeps the extra pawn safe.
• 2...f6 3.Nxe5: the Damiano Defence: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 Qe7 4. Nf3 Qxe4+ 5. Be2 d5 6. O-O Ne7 … — Black defends e5 with the f-pawn. That weakens the king, and White can take on e5 at once. If Black takes the knight, a queen check wins. After the best reply 3...Qe7 White develops fast and Black's king stays exposed.
• 2...f5 3.Nxe5: the Latvian Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5 Qf6 4. d4 d6 5. Nc4 fxe4 6. Nc3 Qg6 … — Black attacks e4 with the f-pawn, a very sharp gambit. White takes on e5 at once. After 3...Qf6 4.d4 d6 the knight goes to c4 and then to e3. White plays f3 to open lines.
• 2...Qe7: the Gunderam Defence: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Qe7 3. Bc4 d6 4. d4 Bg4 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bb5 a6 … — Black defends e5 with the queen. The queen blocks Black's f8 bishop. White develops, opens the centre with d4 and gets the better pawns and the freer game.

Traps you will learn (3)

• Damiano trap: 3...fxe5?? 4.Qh5+ — After 2...f6 3.Nxe5, taking the knight looks natural. But the queen check on h5 is deadly. After 4...g6 the queen takes e5 with check and then wins the h8 rook.
• Latvian trap: 3...fxe4? 4.Qh5+ — In the Latvian Gambit Black's king is weak. If Black takes on e4 too early, a queen check on h5 follows. Then a knight jump to g6 wins the h8 rook.
• Busch-Gass trap: 3...Bxf2+? 4.Kxf2 — After 3.Nxe5 some players give the bishop on f2 to drag White's king out. But the king simply takes it. After the queen check the king goes to g1, and White is a piece up.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.