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This is the most common opening move in atomic chess, especially amongst beginners. (Amongst experienced players it is declining in popularity partly because it is stale and partly because other moves are believed by some to be sharper.) Rapid advancement of the knights is hard for beginners to defend against, and since 1. Nf3 threatens to win immediately with 2. Ne5, this explains the move's popularity. We shall explore all 20 of Black's legal responses. First, the following 14 moves do not address White's threat and all lose to 2. Ne5 which forks the d7 and f7 squares: 1. ... a6??, 1. ... a5??, 1. ... b6??, 1. ... b5??, 1. ... c6??, 1. ... c5??, 1. ... e6??, 1. ... g6??, 1. ... g5??, 1. ... h6??, 1. ... h5??, 1. ... Na6??, 1. ... Nf6??, 1. ... Nh6?? There are a few other moves that prevent the immediate winning fork,but nevertheless lose in a few moves: 1. ... Nc6?? 2. Ng5 f6 (or f5) 3. Nf7 [1-0] (4. Nxd8## is coming) 1. ... d5?? 2. Ne5 f6 (or f5) 3. Nd7 [1-0] (4. Nxf8## is coming) 1. ... f5?? 2. Ne5 d6 (or d5) 3. Nd7 [1-0] (4. Nxf8## is coming) So far, we have shown that 17 of Black's 20 legal responses give White short forced wins! No wonder beginners like 1. Nf3. Of Black's three other responses, none of them give White short forced wins, but one of them is clearly bad: 1. ... d6? 2. Ng5 And now, 2. ... Kd7?? loses to 3. Ne6!, forking c7 and d8. So, Black must continue: 2. ... f6 (or f5) 3. Nf7 Qd7 4. Nxd6 [+-], and White gets a queen and pawn for his knight, a winning material advantage. Two moves left. Next, we'll look at 1. ... e5?! This move has had its followers at times (mrundersun and Kalvin at FICS amongst others), but throughout its history it has been considered a bad move by top players. White can respond with 2. Ng5 (the author has experimented with 2. e4 a bit) after which Black plays 2. ... f5. Now White cannot play 3. Nxh7?? because of 3. ... Qh4 4. g3 Qd4 [0-1] (forking d2 and f2). Also probably bad is 3. Nf7? Qh4 4. g3 Qc4 (not 4. ... Qd4? 5. Nxe5 [+-]) 5. d3 Qxc2 [=+], and Black has a material advantage, and White's development is probably not enough compensation. So, White's knight is stuck on g5 for a while. So, White's third move is usually a pawn move designed to defend against Black's queen invading via h4 after the White knight on g5 moves. Common moves are 3. h4, 3. e3, 3. e4, and 3. d4, after which White's knight is still a pain for Black to deal with. In fact, even though Black has scored many wins in this opening due to tricky tactics and traps, Black has never succeeded in proving that the opening is playable. With accurate play by White, he should be able to crush Black (at least that is the current opinion). Some top players at FICS including mrundersun himself are now claiming that Black's defense has been refuted by White, meaning that White can stifle all counterplay and force the win. The opening is sufficiently complicated to merit its own chapter in this book, so we won't get into it here. The last of Black's 20 legal responses to 1. Nf3 to mention is 1. ... f6!, which is overwhelmingly the favored response. It stops both 2. Ne5 and 2. Ng5 and it has held its ground for a long time now (if it ever fails to hold then atomic will surely be dead). After 1. Nf3 f6, there are several popular opening lines by White including: 2. Nc3, after which 2. ... c6 and 2. ... Nh6! are virtually the only responses played. 2. Nd4, after which it can be shown that 2. ... Nh6! is necessary. 2. e3, after which 2. ... e6, 2. ... d5 (and possibly 2. ... d6) are the only playable responses. 2. e4, after which 2. ... d5 is usually played (and occasionally 2. ... e6). 2. d4, after which 2. ... d5 is usually played (but other moves seem possible). 2. Na3, after which 2. ... b5 is one common response. All of these moves lead to many well-analyzed opening lines, and will get chapters of their own. Other unorthodox second moves by White are seen from time to time. The author has seen 2. b4, 2. Nh4, and 2. g3.
KEY:
When branching occurs, move options are listed
from best to worst according to the author's opinion.
# = mate
## = win by explosion
? = bad move
?? = loses to a short forced mate
?! = probably a bad move
other marks are standard chess notations
1. Nf3
1. ... f6
2. Nc6
2. ... Nh6!
2. ... c6
2. Nd4 Nh6!
2. e3
2. ... d5
2. ... e6
2. ... d6?!
2. e4
2. ... d5
2. ... e6
2. d4 d5
2. Na3 b5
2. b4
2. Nh4
2. g3
1. ... e5?!
2. Ng5 f5
3. h4
3. e3
3. e4
3. d4
3. Nf7? Qh4 4. g3
4. ... Qc4 5. d3 Qxc2 [=+]
4. ... Qd4? 5. Nxe5 [+-]
3. Nxh7?? Qh4 4. g3 Qd4 [0-1]
2. e4
1. ... d6? 2. Ng5
2. ... f6 (or f5) 3. Nf7 Qd7 4. Nxd6 [+-]
2. ... Kd7?? 3. Ne6 [1-0]
1. ... Nc6?? 2. Ng5 f6 (or f5) 3. Nf7 [1-0]
1. ... d5?? 2. Ne5 f6 (or f5) 3. Nd7 [1-0]
1. ... f5?? 2. Ne5 d6 (or d5) 3. Nd7 [1-0]
1. ... a6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... a5?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... b6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... b5?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... c6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... c5?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... e6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... g6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... g5?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... h6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... h5?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... Na6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... Nf6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
1. ... Nh6?? 2. Ne5 [1-0]
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