Supposedly, according to general consensus, if black were to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bg4 5.dxe5 dxe5, then that would be a mistake. However, the novice brain that I have can't see how to get the advantage as white. Can someone help me?

Well, looking at this position really quickly, b x knight ch. pawn x b then q x q followed by the win of the king pawn looks good for white.

surely you can't win the king pawn because of this:

 

haha well i thought i saw the answer for a second but black checkmates!  white can still double isolate blacks c pawn but black gets the two bishops, and white's pieces are awkward.  6.0-0 is probably best.  Technically i think 5.dxe5 is a mistake.  When you played Bb5 you transposed to the old steinitz variation of the ruy lopez, and d5 is the book move. 

After 3...Nc6 i would be inclined to play 4.Bc4. Of course, 4.dxe5 is possible if you want to play a game with no queens, but why let black get away with not learning any theory, i would test him on all aspects of the game; opening,middlegame, and endgame.

 

Here are some lines in the Philidor, only a brief outline. If you want detail go search your database  

Click move list to see the Hanham variation.

 

 

thanks ppl!

Reb wrote: According to chess assistant 4Bc4 and 4Bb5 both score 75% against 3....Nc6, while 4dxe5 scores 79%. The very fact that white has 3 moves scoring over 70% against 3....Nc6 pretty much condemns the move imo. 3...Nf6 is the highest scoring for black at 44% while 3...Nc6 only scores 26%.

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Thanks for the stats reb. I agree with the stats too. You wont find 3...Nc6 in NCO either, only transpoitions.

how about Qd5 after black plays dxe5?

zoofagus wrote: how about Qd5 after black plays dxe5?

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 Seems pretty good choice. White gets better a position (after 6...qxd5 7.exd5 Bxf3 8.gxf3 a6 9.dxc6 axb5 10.cxb7 Rb8 +/-)but certainly a playable position for black at beginner level.

This is my faverite line of the Philidor's Defence ,1 e4 e5, 2 Nf3 d6,3 d4 f5! I have had lot of good games with it, give a lot of problems to white he does not  kknow what to do with it Thanks

longbow wrote: This is my faverite line of the Philidor's Defence ,1 e4 e5, 2 Nf3 d6,3 d4 f5! I have had lot of good games with it, give a lot of problems to white he does not  kknow what to do with it Thanks

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 Philidor played this line himself i think. The idea behind it is to get a king of reversed kings gambit i think. Its a good surpriseline to have alright, but is the hanham variation not the most popular?