Owen Defense
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 · B00
Starting positionWhite to move
0 / 12
The bishop pressures e4 from a distance
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
The idea
Black fianchettoes the queen's bishop on move one, aiming at e4 from a distance while conceding the centre.
Main line: 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qe2 Be7
What White wants
- Build the centre with e4 and d4 and defend e4 with Bd3 and Qe2
- Develop naturally and gain space
- Attack before Black's setup is complete
What Black wants
- Hit the centre with ...c5 and ...d5 and pressure e4 from b7
- Fianchetto and develop with ...Nf6, ...Be7 and ...O-O
- Trade pieces and reach a manageable, slightly passive position
Key idea
Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.
The bishop pressures e4 from a distance
After ...Bb7 the bishop attacks e4 along the a8–h1 diagonal. White can defend it with Bd3 and Qe2 while developing. Black still has useful central breaks such as ...c5 and ...d5; a defended e4 pawn does not make the bishop irrelevant.
Common mistake
Opening the kingside with ...f5 before developing. In the example, exf5 and Qh5+ exploit the newly opened diagonal to the king on e8; grabbing g2 with the bishop requires concrete calculation, not faith in the long diagonal alone.
Mistake example: Nf6.
Representative position
The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.
rn1qk2r/pb1pbppp/1p2pn2/2p5/3PP3/2PB1N2/PP2QPPP/RNB1K2R w KQkq - 3 7
Analyze this position