1.e4 e5 for Black: free opening course

Key ideas

• Keep a pawn on e5 as long as you can: it gives your pieces central squares and stops White's e4-e5 push.
• Develop knights before bishops, castle early and only then play for ...d5 or ...f5 breaks.
• f7 is the weak point in the opening: never move the f6 knight or leave f7 unguarded while a white bishop sits on c4 or b3 and a queen can reach h5 or f3.
• When White plays an early f2-f4 (King's Gambit, Vienna), strike back with ...d5: open the centre while White's king is still on e1.
• In the Ruy Lopez, ...a6 and ...b5 gain space and kick the bishop; later ...c5 or ...Re8 and ...Bf8 fight for the centre.

The 6 variations in the course

• Italian: Giuoco Pianissimo 3...Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 … — White builds slowly with c3 and d3. Black mirrors with ...d6, gives the bishop a safe retreat with ...a6 and ...Ba7, castles and keeps a solid e5 point.
• Italian: Two Knights 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 … — White attacks f7 with Ng5. Black blocks with ...d5, and after exd5 plays ...Na5 to chase the c4 bishop. Black gives a pawn but gets fast development and an active game.
• Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defence, Chigorin: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 … — Against the Ruy Lopez Black kicks the bishop with ...a6 and ...b5, keeps e5 with ...d6 and plays the Chigorin plan ...Na5, ...c5 and ...Qc7 to gain queenside space and pressure d4.
• Scotch: 4...Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qd2 dxc6 … — Against the Scotch, Black hits the d4 knight with ...Bc5. After 5.Nxc6 the queen jumps to f6, threatening mate on f2, and Black gets easy development.
• Against the King's Gambit: 3...d5: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Bb5+ c6 6. dxc6 Nxc6 … — Black accepts the pawn and immediately returns it with ...d5, using the time to develop quickly. With the f-pawn gone, White's king is exposed on the e-file and the a7-g1 diagonal, and Black has easy piece play.
• Against the Vienna: 2...Nf6 3.f4 d5: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Nf3 Be7 6. d4 O-O … — Against the Vienna Gambit Black strikes with ...d5, plants a knight on e4 and breaks with ...f5. Black reaches a free position and wins back the centre pawn.

Traps you will learn (3)

• The Fishing Pole (Ruy Lopez) — A cheeky trick in the Berlin: ...Ng4 and ...h5 offer the knight. If White takes it with hxg4, the h-file opens and Black's queen and rook mate on h2. Honest warning: against correct play (simply ignoring the knight) 4...Ng4 is dubious.
• Beating the early queen (2.Qh5) — Against the Scholar's Mate attempt Black defends f7 with ...Nc6, ...g6 and ...Nf6. If White then lashes out with g4, the knight jumps to d4, hitting the queen and c2, and Black wins material.
• King's Gambit Declined: 3.fxe5?? Qh4+ — Against the King's Gambit, 2...Bc5 sets a trap: if White grabs e5, ...Qh4+ wins the e4 pawn and the h1 rook (or mates after Ke2).

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.