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The curious thing is that one of my videos on the Napoleon Attack is one of my most popular videos. It seems to be popular at the early beginner level, and very occasionally, someone tries it against me in intermediate.

And just to recall, the typical Napoleon Attack involves White playing Qf3 on move 2 (1. e4 e5 2. Qf3), and then Bc4 on move 3 (2… Nc6 Bc4) to attempt a scholar’s mate with the bishop and queen eyeballing Black’s pawn on f7.

Straight up – it’s rare to see this at the intermediate level as it is just not a good opening. Assuming Black isn’t fooled by the “obvious” trick, then AT BEST, White can push towards a highly positional game where they are slightly worse than if they didn’t do this silliness and just played an Italian Game. If White doesn’t play very accurately, then Black can force a queen trade and Black is slightly better in a queen-less game.

This is what I recommend to counter the Napoleon Attack as Black. On move 3, develop the queen symmetrically (3… Qf6).

In this game, my opponent led with the Bishop’s Opening but then transposed into the Napoleon Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qf3). This gives a good example of how this counter works (3… Qf6) – although White technically is “fine” evaluation-wise, according to the Lichess database of lower-rated games of blitz and rapid, Black has a win ratio over White of 52% vs 42%.

As White allowed (4… Nd4), my knight now attacks their queen and the c2 square, and they only have one of two options, both of which lose tempo and the evaluation is [-0.8]. Either they undevelop the queen to d1, or trade queens. In this game, they opted to trade queens and unfortunately, didn’t see the knight’s attack on c2, blundering their rook from an absolute fork [-6.5].

White is pretty much losing out of the opening and for the rest of the game, I don’t necessarily play the most accurately, but simply, conservatively, traded material where possible, and moved towards a winning endgame. Happily, I had a “killer pawn” ending – a lovely pawn checkmate on move 33. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/73107955647

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.03.21"]
[Round "-"]
[White "abdul025"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C23"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Bishops-Opening-2...Nc6"]
[UTCDate "2023.03.21"]
[UTCTime "03:24:29"]
[WhiteElo "1342"]
[BlackElo "1422"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "03:24:29"]
[EndDate "2023.03.21"]
[EndTime "03:35:52"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/73107955647"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "2"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.50x50o.c8c8e6b7296c.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:29:57.4]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:29:46.8]} 2. Bc4 {[%clk 0:29:54.9]
Bishop's Opening} (2. Qf3 {[%c_arrow
d1f3;keyPressed;none;from;d1;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false,f3f7;keyPressed;none;from;f3;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false,f1c4;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;c4;persistent;false,c4f7;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;f7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false] This is the typical
Napoelon Attack with Qf3 on move 2, with the plan for Bc4 on move 3 to set up a
scholar's mate.} 2... Nc6 {[%c_arrow
g8f6;keyPressed;none;from;g8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] Developing either
knight is fine, but I recommend Nc6 as there is greater opportunity to punish
White's queen} 3. Bc4 Qf6 {[%c_arrow
d8f6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,f6f3;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false]
And I recommend Qf6, which more often than not, forces a queen trade which is
advantageous for Black, gaining tempo}) 2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:29:42.6]} 3. Qf3
{[%clk 0:29:47.3] But we transpose into the Napoleon Attack - this is not
\"objectively\" bad, but it definitely isn't good [0.00]} 3... Qf6 {[%clk
0:29:25.2] Although this position is objectively \"okay\", Black has a win ratio
over White by 52\% vs 42\% $1} 4. d3 $6 {[%clk 0:29:30.2][%c_effect
d3;square;d3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c2c3;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false]} 4... Nd4 {[%clk
0:29:15.9] White only has two options, both which lose tempo with an evaluation
of around [-0.8]. Either trade queens Qxf6, or undevelop the queen Qd1.} 5. Qxf6
{[%clk 0:29:24.2]} 5... Nxf6 {[%clk 0:29:12.4]} 6. c3 $4 {[%clk
0:29:22][%c_effect c3;square;c3;type;Blunder;persistent;true] And this blunders
a king-rook fork and the game is basically lost out of the opening [-6.5]} 6...
Nc2+ $1 {[%clk 0:29:07.4][%c_effect c2;square;c2;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]}
7. Kd1 {[%clk 0:29:12.5]} 7... Nxa1 {[%clk 0:29:01.7]} 8. Nd2 {[%clk 0:29:07.2]}
8... Bc5 {[%clk 0:28:32.9] For the remainder of the game, I don't necessarily
play the most accurately, but simply conservatively, trade material where
possible, and move towards a winning endgame} 9. Nh3 {[%clk 0:28:51.5]} 9... d6
{[%clk 0:28:18.6]} 10. Rf1 {[%clk 0:28:46.7]} 10... Bxh3 {[%clk 0:27:31.7]
Equivalent exchange and damage Black's pawn structure} 11. gxh3 {[%clk
0:28:42.2]} 11... O-O {[%clk 0:27:07.5]} 12. f4 {[%clk 0:28:22.7]} 12... c6
{[%clk 0:26:13.8]} 13. fxe5 {[%clk 0:28:16.9]} 13... dxe5 {[%clk 0:26:04.4]} 14.
b4 {[%clk 0:28:09.9]} 14... Bd6 {[%clk 0:25:34.8]} 15. Bb2 {[%clk 0:28:02.8]}
15... b5 {[%clk 0:25:28] White's bishop is trapped [-7.5]} 16. Bxb5 {[%clk
0:27:21.1]} 16... cxb5 {[%clk 0:25:23.8]} 17. Bxa1 {[%clk 0:27:19.4]} 17... a5
{[%clk 0:25:06.8]} 18. bxa5 {[%clk 0:27:10.1]} 18... Rxa5 {[%clk 0:25:02.1]} 19.
c4 {[%clk 0:26:47.9] And here, I think White might have just given up...} 19...
Rxa2 {[%clk 0:24:52.9]} 20. cxb5 {[%clk 0:26:44.6]} 20... Rxa1+ {[%clk
0:24:46.9]} 21. Ke2 {[%clk 0:26:43.1]} 21... Rxf1 {[%clk 0:24:42.8]} 22. Kxf1
{[%clk 0:26:39.9] And we enter a completely winning endgame [-15]} 22... Rb8
{[%clk 0:24:30.6]} 23. Nc4 {[%clk 0:26:37.8]} 23... Bc5 {[%clk 0:24:07.6]} 24.
b6 {[%clk 0:26:31]} 24... Bxb6 {[%clk 0:24:03.4]} 25. Nxb6 {[%clk 0:26:28.4]}
25... Rxb6 {[%clk 0:24:00.1]} 26. Kg2 {[%clk 0:26:25.4]} 26... Rb3 {[%clk
0:23:52.6]} 27. d4 {[%clk 0:26:20.6]} 27... exd4 {[%clk 0:23:49.4]} 28. e5
{[%clk 0:26:19]} 28... Ne4 {[%clk 0:23:37.5]} 29. h4 {[%clk 0:26:09.2]} 29... d3
{[%clk 0:23:34.2]} 30. Kf3 {[%clk 0:26:05.5]} 30... d2+ {[%clk 0:23:27.5]} 31.
Kxe4 {[%clk 0:26:02.6]} 31... d1=Q {[%clk 0:23:19.7]} 32. Kf5 {[%clk 0:25:57.3]}
32... Qf3+ {[%clk 0:23:11.3]} 33. Kg5 {[%clk 0:25:53.7]} 33... h6# {[%clk
0:23:00.4][%c_effect g8;square;g8;type;Winner,g5;square;g5;type;CheckmateWhite]
Pawn checkmate. GG $1} 0-1