Queen's Pawn Game: Anti-Torre: Bf4 — How to Play as Black

By playing 3...Bxf3, you willingly give up your light-squared bishop — but you also ruin White's pawn structure. If White recaptures with the g-pawn (gxf3), they get a doubled f-pawn and a weakened kingside. If they take with the e-pawn (exf3), they open the e-file and hand you a half-open g-file to work with. Either way, you are banking on the long-term value of your bishop pair, especially since White's remaining bishop is locked behind their own pawns in many lines. Your plan is simple: develop quickly, castle short, and leverage your two bishops in the middlegame. White's extra central pawn can become a target if you can blockade it.

White has two main ways to take back, and you need to be ready for both. The most popular move by far is exf3 (played in 196,795 games), which scores a modest 49.2% for White — barely above even. Here Black typically replies e6, followed by developing the knight to f6 and the bishop to e7. The engine prefers gxf3 (110,263 games, White scores 50.6%), which keeps the pawn on e2 and prepares e4 to challenge the centre. The engine's best continuation after gxf3 is e6 e4 Nf6, when Black has comfortable development and the bishop pair. Whichever recapture White chooses, your job is the same: complete development and wait for White's doubled pawns or open files to become a factor.

The statistics reveal something striking: several of White's alternative moves are outright blunders that hand you a large advantage. If White plays e3 (1,442 games, White scores just 16.0%), Stockfish classifies it as a serious blunder — White's results collapse from roughly even to a 16% win rate. Similarly, Nc3 (315 games, 33.7% for White) and Nd2 (253 games, 27.7% for White) are both blunders where White immediately falls far behind. The correct move is always gxf3. What this means for you: if your opponent does not play gxf3 or exf3, you should be alert for a chance to grab a decisive advantage. After e3, develop quickly with ...e6, activate your knights, and exploit the holes White has left in the centre. Knowing these blunders will help you spot when your opponent has handed you the game.

Once the opening phase is over, the character of the game is set. White will usually try to close the centre to limit your bishops, especially if they have the gxf3 doubled-pawn structure. Your counterplay comes on the kingside (attacking White's weakened pawns) and along the long diagonal for your dark-squared bishop. In the e6-Nf6 setup after gxf3, aim to get your bishop to an active diagonal, then double rooks on the g-file or e-file. If White castled kingside (which is common), your bishop pair can target f2 and g2. Patience is key — your two bishops grow stronger as pieces come off, while White's single bishop may struggle to find good squares.