Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. Nf3/2...e6/3. d4

White plays 3. d4, inviting Black to trade a pawn and open the position.

3...cxd4 is the main move. Black captures towards the centre with a flank pawn, breaking up White's two pawn centre. Once White recaptures 4. Nxd4, Black has two central pawns to White's one, and a semi-open c-file to use. White meanwhile has opened attacking lines: both bishops have access to the game, and their queen has the semi-open d-file. After the trade of pawns is complete, Black then has a choice of ...e6 Sicilians, the most popular of which are the Kan (4...a6), Taimanov (4...Nc6), four knights (both ...Nc6 and ...Nf6), or Kveinis (4...Qb6) variations.

Very minor sidelines include:

• 3...d5!?, the Marshall counterattack.
• 3...a6!?, the Drazic variation.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.