Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bb5/3...Nb8

Retreat variation 3...Nb8 · Retreat variation A poor, joke move where Black un-develops the knight and grants White a free lead in development. This is rarely seen in serious play. Sometimes when it has been played, presumably by mistake, White has courteously played 4. Bf1!? and allowed the game to transpose back into a main line after 4...Nc6 5. Bb5. However if White is not feeling generous they may punish this move. Since the pawn on e5 is no longer defended, White can play 4. Nxe5. Black can win the pawn back and go into the endgame with the sequence 4...Qg5 5. d4 Qxg2 6. Qf3 Qxf3 7. Nxf3 +. 3...Nb8 is actually part of a small family of third moves where Black moves the knight to un-defend e5 with the idea of ...Qg4, though the e5-pawn is only poisonous after 3...Nd4 and 3...Nb4?!. White can castle first instead. 4. O-O and Black may try 4...c6, but White is much better after 5. Bc4 d5 6. exd5 cxd5 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Bxd7+ Nxd7 9. Nxe5 ++ (the knight is defended tactically by the threat of Re1!). History Yuxiang Fang played this against Wei Yi in the 2016 Chinese Blitz championship. Wei Yi played 4. Bf1!? and allowed Black to repeat 4...Nc6, and the game transposed into a normal Berlin defence.2016 Blitz Chess Championship of China, Tournament Information, FIDE. References See also