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CHESS OPENINGS - Opening 3 - Benefits & Disadvantages of e4

CHESS OPENINGS - Opening 3 - Benefits & Disadvantages of e4

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INTRO

Welcome to Ascots_World's Blog! Today, we will dive into several openings that starts with e4 - the Scotch Game & the Four Knight's Game. 

IS E4 GOOD? 

e4, e5 is probably one of the most popularly played openings. We all know the rule, controlling the center must be prioritized. Of course there are lots of exeptionals such as the Réti - but we're going to focus on e4 today. Followed by e5, e4 is the most direct way to control the center. Both sides share half of the board equally. Personally, e4 is my favourite move. 

SCOTCH GAME

In the Scotch Game, you trade a center pawn & knight for a center pawn & knight. Fair, right? White still has e4 and the queen in the middle of board. Black is restricted from developing its knight to Nf6, as white can immediately push to e3 and the knight has to flee back or be kicked to the side of the board. Same for the black squared bishop, c5 is one of the best spots for it but the queen is guarding c5. White is in advantage! 

Some people would choose to kick the queen with c5 but white still has a strong center pawn. 
FOUR KNIGHT'S GAME

Playing the Four Knight's Game is a good choice of trading pieces right away. The two center pawns are traded as well as both knights so the game would be very open. White puts its queen into the game and is in an advantage of +0.78, according to Stockfish. 
HOW ABOUT YOU? 
Both openings show the importance of controlling the center well. These are just my opinions on my two favourite openings. How about you? Which is your favourite? Next time, we'll talk about some openings that I don't like. Well, that doesn't mean they are bad!