What is White's best move to answer Petroff's defense in chess?

Question

After black moves the knight.

Answer 1

There are 2.  3)Nxe5 and 3)d4.  If Nxe5, do no linger.  If he plays d6 Just save you knight with Nf3.  The E-pawn is lost.

Answer 2

Usually white just takes the black e5 pawn and black puts a knight on e4. (Defending the pawn on e4 with Nc3 can't be really bad, but it doesn't give white any more advantage.) The game is pretty equal because the pawn structure is basically the same for both sides. White can liven things up a bit with c4 at some point, making sure the black knight loses his cover from d5. Here are just a few moves. You really should look up the variations yourself or buy a book to learn an opening though. www.chessgames.com offers a whole database of games, just look for the Petroff.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5

[The main alternative is 3. d4 Nxe4

[This is a sideline 3... exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6

Nxd6] 4. Bd3

[Another sideline 4. dxe5 d5 5. Nbd2 Nxd2 6. Qxd2 Be7] 4... d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7

Bxd7 7. O-O]

Finally, back to the main line 3... d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 *

Answer 3

The best move is to look them in the eye and say "Why don't you take that boring move back and play a real chess move, you snivelling coward?"....

Just kidding. Petroff is a very drawish opening which lots of people dislike (Petroff players, of course, love this).

In a serious game after 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 you can play 3. Nc3 and go into the 3 or 4 knights, depending on black's reply. If you are playing a Petroff addict, this will upset them a little - which is good for you.

In casual games, after 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 you can try 4.Nxf7!?. It's not really sound but you get 2 pawns for the piece and after ....KxN 5. Bc4+, black often plays ...Be6. After BxB you have 2 pawns for the piece, the black king on e6, the Petroff player is sweating  and you have a position you can open up and have fun.  The only drawback is that black can spoil the fun by playing 3...Qe7 and forcing the game back into drawing, boring Petroff lines (which is why Nc3 is my favourite).

Answer 4

Depends on which knight he moved.