King's Pawn Game: c6 – A Small Edge for White

Your 2.d4 has done exactly what you want: you control the centre with two pawns, and you're ready to develop your knights and bishops to active squares. Black's c6 prepares to push d5 next, challenging your centre directly. That's the critical moment of this opening — when Black plays d5, you'll need to decide how to handle the central tension. The engine's best continuation after 2.d4 is d5, and from there the line runs 3.e5 Bf5 4.Be2 — you hold the centre with the e5 pawn and develop your king's bishop, preparing to castle. Your edge is small but real: you have more space, and Black's light-squared bishop outside the pawn chain can become a target later.

When you face the most popular reply — 2…d5 (played in over 39.5 million games) — the engine recommends 3.e5. This blocks the centre and locks Black's pawn on d5, giving you a spatial advantage. After 3…Bf5, your best move is 4.Be2, developing while keeping options open. From here, typical plans involve castling short, playing Nf3, and later looking to expand on the queenside or attack Black's light-squared bishop with moves like h3 and g4. Your score from this position is 48.3% — solid, and the engine's evaluation (+0.38) suggests you can improve on that with accurate play.

The numbers tell a clear story about what works and what doesn't at this exact position. 2…d5 is Black's overwhelming favourite (over 39.5 million games), but they score slightly below 50%, so they're not getting easy equality. Black's alternative tries score better for you in the database: 2…d6 (White wins 50.3%), 2…e6 (White wins 51.9%), and especially 2…Nf6 (White wins 56.1%) and 2…b5 (White wins 55.2%). That last pair is important because they're not just rare — they're actually bad moves. The engine identifies 2…Nf6 as an inaccuracy and 2…b5 as a mistake. If your opponent plays either of these, you're already in excellent shape.

Not every opponent will play the solid 2…d5. If they play 2…Nf6, the engine says it's an inaccuracy that costs them about 0.6 pawns — a clear opening gift. Your best response is simply 3.e5, kicking the knight and gaining more space. White scores an impressive 56.1% from this position. Even better for you is 2…b5, which the engine calls a mistake costing roughly 1.1 pawns. That's a serious error — Black has weakened their queenside for no reason. Your score jumps to 55.2%. In both cases, trust your development and central control, and you'll have a comfortable game with excellent winning chances.