as the most important opening among the Open Games at master level. Nearly every player has employed it at some point in their career, often with both colours. Due to the difficulty for Black in achieving , a common nickname for the opening is "The Spanish Torture".

Basics

At the most basic level, White's third move attacks Black's knight, which defends the e-pawn from capture by White's knight on f3. White's apparent threat to win Black's e-pawn with 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 is illusory because

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