The Keres Defence (also known as the Kangaroo Defence or Franco-Indian Defense) is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
- 1. d4 e6
- 2. c4 Bb4+
The opening is named for Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres.
[edit] Transpositions after 2...Bb4+
White can respond 3.Nc3, 3.Nd2 or 3.Bd2. The game often transposes to a Dutch Defence, a Nimzo-Indian Defence, a Bogo-Indian Defence, a Queen's Indian Defence, an English Defence, or a Queen's Gambit Declined. 3.Nc3 is likely to transpose into one of those openings: 3...Nf6 (Nimzo-Indian Defence), 3...f5 (Dutch Defence), 3...d5 (an unusual form of Queen's Gambit Declined), or 3...b6 (English Defence). Black has the same options after 3.Nd2, except that 3...Nf6 4.Nf3 is a Bogo-Indian Defense.
Although unusual, the opening is fully sound. Perhaps the only reason it is not seen more often is that most players of the Nimzo-Indian, Queen's Gambit Declined, and Dutch prefer to not give White the option of playing 2.e4 after 1.d4, so they tend to play 1...Nf6, 1...d5, or 1...f5 instead. After 1.d4 e6 2.e4, Black must decide whether to play 2...d5 (the French Defence), 2...b6 (Owen's Defence), 2...c5 (the Franco-Benoni), or 2...f5 (the Kingston Defence).
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