Two Knights Defense

The Two Knights Defense is one of the sharpest replies for Black after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. It is perfectly suited for players who are striving for active play.

In this opening Black sacrifices a pawn for the initiative and challenges White from the very first moves.

This course introduces the main ideas and the detailed theory of Two Knights Defense for beginners and club players. It provides a complete repertoire against 3.Bc4, covering all sensible replies for White after 3…Nf6 – 4.Ng5, 4.d4, 4.d3 and 4.Nc3.

It introduces the main ideas of the opening and provides a complete repertoire for beginners and club players. In most lines, Black will be going for the sharpest options, usually involving the g7-g5 pawn push. Some of the material goes very deep and cuts into the latest theoretical debates.

I hope that this repertoire will be of interest for the players of different levels, from amateurs all the way up to FM/IMs.

Have fun with Two Knights!

FM Andrey Terekhov is a chess master who lives in Singapore, works at Microsoft, and is currently writing a book on Vasily Smyslov.