Anti-Torre

The Anti-Torre is a D02 line of the Queen's Pawn Game. It arises from 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bg4, and the same position is reached after 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bg4. Black skips the usual 2...Nf6 and brings the queen's bishop out at once, pinning the f3-knight. The aim is to deal early with the c8-bishop, which in many Queen's Gambit Declined and Colle structures ends up shut in behind a pawn on e6. Here the bishop is developed first, and the e-pawn can follow later. The pin also weakens the knight's hold on e5 and d4. The cost is that the queenside, and the b7-pawn in particular, loses a defender, and the bishop on g4 can be chased.

The most common reply is 3. e3. White keeps a compact Colle- or London-type setup, keeps c2-c4 in reserve, and leaves it to Black to decide about the bishop. Black usually continues with ...e6 and develops the knights. If Black exchanges on f3, White gets the bishop pair and Black gets a sound, easy position in return. 3. Bf4 is the second most popular choice and follows the London System pattern, with White's dark-squared bishop placed outside the pawn chain much as Black has done with the light-squared one.

The most direct reply is 3. Ne5. The knight steps out of the pin, attacks the bishop, and gains a tempo. Among the main continuations it gives White the best results, and engines rank it first. Engines also give 3. c4, which leads to Queen's Gambit-style play: White presses on d5, and with the bishop gone from c8, b7 can become a target. These lines differ in character. After 3. e3 and 3. Bf4 the game is a quiet system-based contest. After 3. Ne5 and 3. c4 Black has to prove quickly that the early bishop sortie is sound.

The play is mostly strategic, and the theory is not deep compared with the main Queen's Gambit lines. The position ranks roughly 300th among about 3,200 named openings by the number of games reaching it. Engines give White a slight edge. On Lichess White scores somewhat better than Black, and draws are rare.