52 Maroczy - 3 f4

52 - Updated 11 November 2025

I think 3 f4 is a reasonable move. What I have mapped out below, with 3..exd4, transposes to Philidor 4 f4 theory. My main line features 8..Nxe4!, which is a greedy solution proposed by FM Sergio Urquijo. I suspect this move came from Stockfish. BTW, I am using Stockfish 17.1 as my current analysis tool.