Openings · C44–C45
Open the centre on move three, before Black is ready for it.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4played as White
Play it through on the board below.
You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.
Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.
3.d4 trades the d-pawn for the e-pawn and opens the position immediately. Black is fine with correct play, which is true of everything; the practical point is that the resulting positions are concrete, and there is nowhere to hide.
It is also a way out of the enormous body of Ruy López theory, which is why it keeps returning to top-level practice.
Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.
From 10,581 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.
The engine's main line from exd4: exd4 Nxd4 Bc5 Nb3 Bb6 Qe2 Nge7 Nc3.
Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.
