Queen's Pawn Opening

White's main options:

• 3. c4 - Direct transposition to Queen's Gambit.
• 3. e3 - Often signals a move toward the Colle System, though it can still transpose back to QG.
• 3. g3 - The fianchetto is quieter but will either transpose or tend toward a Catalan.
• 3. Bg5 - The Torre Attack. If white's plan is to double black's pawns by exchanging the bishop for the f6 knight, this is independent. Otherwise it should transpose into typical QGD lines.

A move like 3. Nc3 is certainly not bad, but it doesn't put much pressure on black. White's c-pawn plays a key role in control of the center, and moving the knight to c3 earlier usually allows black easy equality. Also 3. Bf4 can be played, leading into the London System.