Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nf6/3. d4/3...exd4

Modern attack C43 Russian game → Modern attack 3...exd4 Black takes the d-pawn, and half-opens the e-file with their king still in the centre. This is playable but less standard. 4. e5! is the main move, attacking the knight. Typically this lines involves trading both d- and e-pawns and opening the centre fully. The main line continues 4...Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd5 e.p. Nxd6 +, although there are some turn four and five sidelines to consider. 4. Bc4?! is a transposition to the Urusov gambit, more usually reached through the bishop's opening (1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nf3). 4. Nxd4?! is inferior. 4...Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 and Black is up a pawn though the game is about even, and White could ask for a draw with 6. Nf5 Qe6 7. Nd4 etc. History Of the two ways Black can take after 3. d4, 3...exd4 is the most common continuation at the club-level.49% of games versus 29% for ...Nxe4 in the Lichess database, as of September 2026. Steinitz gave similar attention to both options in his analysis. Against the line 4. e5 Ne4 he recommended 5. Qe2, now called the Steinitz attack, over the natural looking 5. Qxd4. Against the line 4. e5 Qe7 5. Be2 Ng4, he recommended 6. O-O over 6. Qxd4, giving up the pawn for activity, writing, "gives White an attack similar to that arising in the Horwitz and Frazer variations of the Scotch Gambit but ... White obtains a much stronger attack ... chiefly due to the loose position of the adverse [king's knight]."Modern Chess Instructor Steinitz Wilhelm G. P. Putnam's Sons 1889 London https://archive.org/details/modernchessinst00steigoog 116-137 3...exd4 was the line recommended in David Hooper's 1967 book on 1. e4 e5.Hooper David A Complete Defence to 1 P-K4: A Study of Petroff's Defence Pergamon Press Oxford 1967 Today 3...Nxe4 is the clear preference in modern tournament chess,3...Nxe4 is the continuation in 93% of games in the Lichess Master's database. and 3...exd4 a minor sideline, although Stockfish finds both to be sound. Theory table References See also