Centre Game - Punishing the Early 3...Qf6

The black queen attacks the d4-queen: the right reply gains time, the automatic one loses the queen.

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Qf6

Move by move

1.e4 – White occupies the centre and frees the queen and the f1-bishop. In the Danish and the Centre Game, speed of development will matter more than pawns.
1...e5 – Black replies symmetrically, contesting d4 and freeing the f8-bishop. Now White can open the game at once with d4.
2.d4 – White attacks e5 and opens the centre. After 2...exd4 White chooses between the gambit 3.c3 (Danish) and the immediate recapture 3.Qxd4 (Centre Game).
2...exd4 – Black captures: the most natural reply, since defending e5 with 2...d6 leads to a passive game. The d4-pawn becomes either bait or a target to win back.
3.Qxd4 – Centre Game: White regains the pawn at once with the queen. In return the queen on d4 is exposed and Black will gain time by attacking it.
3...Qf6 – A premature sortie: the queen offers a trade on the f6-d4 diagonal and takes f6 away from the g8-knight. Careful: the d4-queen is now attacked and undefended.

How to exploit the position

The black queen on f6 attacks the undefended queen on d4: White must deal with this at once. After that, the f6-queen takes the natural square from the g8-knight and will become a target for White's development.

4.e5: the pawn, defended by the d4-queen, attacks the f6-queen and forces it to move again; after 4...Qb6 the queens face each other again and White can trade or retreat to e4.
4.Qxf6 Nxf6: the trade simplifies; White then develops Nc3, Bf4 or Bd2 and O-O-O with comfortable play.
Never 4.Nc3??: the d4-queen stays undefended and 4...Qxd4 wins it. The b2-pawn is also attacked by the f6-queen along the diagonal.
After 4.e5 the pawn takes f6 and d6 from Black's pieces: support it with Nf3, Bf4 and Nc3.

Master tips

Always check your queen

In the Centre Game the white queen sits on d4 with no defenders: before every developing move, check whether it is attacked.