Petroff’s Defense is one of my favorite chess openings. If I’ve played someone more than one game as black I have probably used this against 1. e4. This is an opening that allows black to develop quickly and maintain a good central position. Petroff’s defense involves mirroring white’s moves for the first two moves and seemingly sacrificing a pawn to do so:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nf6
The image below shows the board after 2…Nf6
At this point, 3. Nxe5 is pretty standard. It is a mistake for black to play 3…Nxe4 and to continue mirroring white’s moves. Here’s why:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nf6
- Nxe5 Nxe4
- Qe2 Qe7
- QxN d6
- d4
The image below shows the board after 6. d4
If black responds 6…d6xN, then after 7.d4xe5 white will be ahead by two pawns.
So, how should black approach?
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nf6
- Nxe5 d6
The image below shows the board after 3…d6. White will have to move their knight to save it, allowing black to take the pawn at e4. White will not have to spend time dislodging the black knight at e4.
What if white does not take the pawn at move 3? Then the game typically looks like this:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nf6
- d4 exd4
- e5 Ne4
- Qxd4 d5
With this variation, white moves 3.d4 to attack the center. Black takes the pawn and white advances 4.e5 to attack the black knight. The black knight then moves to e4 to “escape.” At this point the queen takes d4, but by moving 5…d5 black is in position to begin attacking the queen while having a knight at e4 which will cramp white’s development.
As you can see, this can be a really fun opening to play!
