Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...cxd4/4. Nxd4/4...Nf6/5. Nc3/5...a6/6. Be3/6...e5

English attack English attack 6...e5 6...e5 is the most popular and most unbalancing response to the English attack. The pawn drives off the White's well-placed knight from d4 to a more passive square. Although this creates an outpost on d5, Black is saying, basically, that it is irrelevant to the play on the wings, while White is saying that Black will be lost if d5 is occupied. White must save their knight, usually to 7. Nb3, and Black's main move is 7...Be6, increasing their control of d5. White's plans include playing f3, Qd2, long castling, and storm on the kingside with pawns. Less popular is 7. Nf3, where the threat of Ng5 discourages 7...Be6. The knight prevents f3 and puts the pawn-storm idea on the back-burner. White concentrates on fighting for control of the d5 square instead. Theory table . 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7 8 9 10 English Attack Nb3Be6 f3Be7 Qd2O-O O-O-ONbd7 = Nf3Be7 Bc4O-O O-OBe6 Qe2b5 = Nde2Nbd7 Ng3Qc7 Nh5h6 a4b6 = References Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation de Firmian, Nick. Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition. New York, NY: Random House, 2008. fi:Shakkiaapinen/Peli/1. e4/1...c5/2. Rf3/2...d6/3. d4/3...cxd4/4. Rxd4/4...Rf6/5. Rc3/5...a6/6. Le3