Rat Defense: English Rat (A41)

Rat Defense: English Rat (A41)

Wow, I just discovered an interesting new opening whose statistics leave me speechless. The Rat Defense involves the moves 1. c4 d6 2. d4 e5. Now, most people would think that white should easily win this, but, according to the Game Explorer, black has the higher winning chances:

http://www.chess.com/opening/eco/A41_Rat_Defense_English_Rat

Nevertheless, haven't we all been taught that trading queens is good for the one who captures? Well then, why is this so popular? If  anyone can tell me the theory, I would be glad to hear it. Thanks!

I, honestly, did not know that there was such an opening as this. 

There are whole books by respected masters which deal with that system as well as a FritzTrainer DVD. White usually does not enter that position, but plays 3.Nf3 instead.

This is a great example of the "depth" of chess. I've seen this before and read up on the opening a bit . . . It just boggles my mind that with everything I know about chess (which I understand isn't all that much) that black could POSSIBLY be winning here . . .

Best,

Ted

The only thing I'd come up with is a "slower" white bishop for white, and black's e5 pawn looks nice there. However, white can still castle and didn't lose a tempo, I'd prefer to be white

Black even enters sometimes the queenless middlegame after 1.e4 d6 2.d4 e5. Here white should be slightly better, but black is solid.

A pawn on c4 instead of e4 is definitely in Black's favour: the pawn itself obstructs this square from white's bishop, and white may either obstruct the other bishop too by e2-e3, or leave d4 weak. The loss of castling rights by black is nothing.

I don't like playing this position with either colour, but if I had to choose, I would pick Black.

I played this position without seeing the queen exchange, but it suited my taste for static games. I won in a rook and pawns versus knight and pawns endgame. It works because dxe5 starts releasing the development pressure.

3. e3 and the most popular 3. Nf3 are better than the exchange variation 3. dxe5.

English Rat RoFL that's a funny name.

That does make sense with the tense buildup. In those games, did the exchange ever happen, Yigor?

Yeah, according to the local Explorer, the exchange happens quite often.

Why did that happen after a few moves of preparation? And how do you show what another person said?(Unrelated)

The exchange can happen as early as the 2nd move (cf. the Scandinavian defense 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5, for example).

N.B. U can use the quote sign " in the upper right corner of someone's message in order to answer it.

All my opponents that use the Rat Defence loses their game. How come? I do not think Rat Defence is solid.

The English Rat Defense is a great opening as it activates the King at an early opportunity. Remember Hans von Waiblingen´s classic text Kritik der klassischen Eröffnungstheorie? It goes without saying that everyone here knows his immortal words: "Einen entscheidenden Vorteil kann nur durch die Entwicklung des Königs erlangt werden!".

The following bullet game was played with this maxim in mind. It was played by two patzers who have never even heard of the opening:

Blacks inability to castle could cause him some problems later. Just because the Queens are off doesn't mean the board is safe for him

Black is better

this is not the most accurate game ever

Agreed. 96.7% accuracy for a 1 minute bullet is game is terrible.