The mistake is 3. ... fxe5. Black can win the Pawn back with 3. ... Qe7.
It's still a bad line for Black, but not an immediate loss.
Damiano Defense
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After 3.Nxe5 black must play 3...Qe7 The game will usually continue with something similar to this.
4.Nf3 d5 5.d3 dxe4 6. dxe4 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Bf5
This position is favorable to White, however there are many continuations from here. Black will more than likely fall behind in development.
3.Bc4! is also worth mentioning. It quickly develops the light-squared bishop and prepares to castle kingside. The uselessness of the pawn on f6 becomes very apparent after this move. Black may face many difficulties after this move.
Hope this helps! =D
-Lukay
4.Nf3 d5 5.d3 dxe4 6. dxe4 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Bf5
This position is favorable to White, however there are many continuations from here. Black will more than likely fall behind in development.
3.Bc4! is also worth mentioning. It quickly develops the light-squared bishop and prepares to castle kingside. The uselessness of the pawn on f6 becomes very apparent after this move. Black may face many difficulties after this move.
Hope this helps! =D
-Lukay
Black may also* (Row 11-12)
Jan 24, 2019
0
#5
Just because an opening has a name doesn't mean it's good. Most of Black's responses to 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 have names and are very old openings, such as 2...Qe7 {Gunderam Defense.} and 2...Qf6 {Greco Defense.}, both of which are weak.
Damiano's Defense is really a gambit, so should have been called Damiano's Gambit. The catch is that although Black gets his pawn back, he gets behind 2 tempi and can't castle safely without losing material. I didn't realize how bad Black's positional evaluation was until I ran Stockfish. Even with the "McGregor Defense" (as I call it), the only viable response to 3. Nxe5, Black is down a pawn's worth of material and as far as I've run Stockfish, Black never recovers that material.
I ran Stockfish at depth 30 (= 15 full moves lookahead) and here were the top responses by both players in the "McGregor Defense":
There is a line I see from beginners a lot (even though I’m a beginner myself, I’d like to think I have better opening knowledge than most beginners),
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6
According to my Openings App, this is called the Damiano Defense, but I have always thought of it as a mistake because 3. Nxe5 fxe5 4. Qh5+ g6 5. Qxe5+ forking the King and Rook.
Is there something I’m missing here, is it meant to be played without ...fxe5, or is this simply unplayable?