Some well known openings starting 1.e4 e5 

  

        

  

      

   

       

  

      

 

[LEFT] Bishop’s Opening 

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 is similar to the Vienna. White will probably play a delayed f4 (King’s Gambit delayed), sometimes after Nc3, d3, OR transpose into the Giuoco Piano. 

[RIGHT ABOVE] Centre Game 

1.e4 e5 2. d4 White makes the central break, even though he will lose time with his Queen. exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 White will often continue Nc3, Bd2 and castle Q-side. 

 

[LEFT ABOVE] Ponziani's Opening 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 White immediately aims to build the big centre with d4.  

This can transpose into other openings such as the Giuoco Piano if White plays Bc4, or even the Ruy Lopez. 

[RIGHT ABOVE]  2.Qh5 Opening 

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 [played by patzers, but Black must be careful, as now g6 ? loses to 3.Qxe5+] 2...Nc6 {defending e5} 3.Bc4 {threatening mate on f7} Qf6 4.d3 Nd4 5.Qd1 Bc5 6.Be3 Qg6 with advantage to Black. 

       It can be seen that in the King’s Gambit and Vienna / Bishop’s opening White advances his f pawn. In all the others White will either play d4 exchanging the d4 pawn for Black’s e5 pawn, OR build up a big centre with c3 and d4. 

      Openings starting with moves other than 1.e4 have a much greater variety of pawn structures possible, and so are favoured by “positional” players, who prefer more complex closed, or semi-closed games. 

      For Gambits after 1.e4 e5 see Gambits section.