Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening with the ECO code C41, part of the Philidor Defense family. It goes 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4. White opens with 1. e4 (the king's pawn) and Black answers 1... e5. After 7 moves it is Black to move. The lesson on the board explains every move of the line and lets you play it yourself; it is free.
The moves
1. e4 – White plays the pawn to e4
1... e5 – Black plays the pawn to e5
2. Nf3 – White plays the knight to f3
2... d6 – Black plays the pawn to d6
3. d4 – White plays the pawn to d4
3... exd4 – Black captures on d4 with the e-pawn
4. Nxd4 – White takes on d4 with the knight
About the Philidor Defense
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3, Black defends e5 with 2...d6. It is solid but a bit passive, because the f8 bishop is blocked.
Black keeps a strong e5 point with ...Nf6, ...Nbd7, ...Be7 and ...c6.
White plays d4 and gets more space; Black must not give up the centre too early.
Watch f7: Bc4 and Ng5 tricks are common against this setup.
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