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96-675: Opening moves that are considered standard are referred to as "book moves", or simply "book". When a game begins to deviate from known opening theory , the players are said to be "out of book". In some openings, book lines have been worked out for over 30 moves, such as some lines in the classical King's Indian Defense and in the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense. Professional chess players spend years studying openings, and they continue doing so throughout their careers as opening theory continues to evolve. Players at

192-516: A Rook, the latter may generally be exchanged for the Bishop, and as two Knights are insufficient of themselves to force checkmate, the game will be drawn." Modern-day endgame tablebases confirm Staunton's assessments of both endings. Yet Reuben Fine, 94 years after Staunton, erroneously wrote on page 521 of Basic Chess Endings that both types of rook versus three minor piece endings "are theoretically drawn." Grandmaster Pal Benko , an authority on

288-405: A bishop and rook pawn whose queening square is on the opposite color from the bishop is drawn (see Wrong rook pawn § Bishop and pawn ), and a queen beats a bishop and knight (see Pawnless chess endgame § Queen versus two minor pieces ). Staunton's The Chess-Player's Handbook (1847) includes almost 100 pages of analysis of endgames. Some of Staunton's analysis, such as his analysis of

384-408: A bishop). The oldest openings in chess follow 1.e4. Bobby Fischer rated 1.e4 as "Best by test." On the downside, 1.e4 places a pawn on an undefended square and weakens d4 and f4. If Black mirrors White's move and replies with 1...e5, the result is an open game. The most popular second move for White is 2.Nf3 attacking Black's king pawn, preparing for a kingside castle, and anticipating the advance of

480-591: A comprehensive survey of the openings then known was Aaron Alexandre in his 1837 work Encyclopédie des Échecs . According to Hooper and Whyld, "[Carl] Jaenisch produced the first openings analysis on modern lines in his Analyse nouvelle des ouvertures (1842-43)." In 1843, Paul Rudolf von Bilguer published the German Handbuch des Schachspiels , which combined the virtues of Alexandre and Jaenisch's works. The Handbuch , which went through several editions, last being published in several parts in 1912–16,

576-399: A large center with the goal of attacking it with pieces. Other semi-open games have been studied but are less common; see Semi-Open Game for details. The openings classified as closed games begin 1.d4 d5. The move 1.d4 offers the same benefits to development and center control as does 1.e4, but unlike with King Pawn openings where the e4-pawn is undefended after the first move, the d4-pawn

672-586: A player has specialized in is called an opening repertoire. The main elements a player needs to consider in a repertoire are: A very narrow repertoire allows for deeper specialization but also makes a player less flexible to vary against different opponents. In addition, opponents may find it easier to prepare against a player with a narrow repertoire. The main openings in a repertoire are usually reasonably sound; that is, they should lead to playable positions even against optimal counterplay. Unsound gambits are sometimes used as surprise weapons, but are unreliable for

768-481: A sound gambit is the Scotch Gambit : 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4. Here Black can force White to sacrifice a pawn speculatively with 4...Bb4+, but White gets very good compensation for one pawn after 5.c3 dxc3 6.bxc3, or for two pawns after 6.0-0 inviting 6...cxb2 7.Bxb2, due to the development advantage and attacking chances against the black king. As a result, Black is often advised not to try to hold on to

864-523: A stable repertoire. Repertoires often change as a player develops, and a player's advancement may be stifled if the opening repertoire does not evolve. Some openings that are effective against amateur players are less effective at the master level. For example, Black obtains active play in return for a pawn in the Benko Gambit ; amateur players may have trouble defending against Black's activity, while masters are more skilled at defending and making use of

960-601: A well-prepared opponent playing Black can equalize fairly easily. The Stonewall is characterized by the White pawn formation on c3, d4, e3, and f4, and can be achieved by several move orders and against many different Black setups. The diagram positions and the move sequences given below are typical. Other closed openings have been studied but are less common; see Closed Game for details. The Indian systems are asymmetrical defenses to 1.d4 that employ hypermodern chess strategy. Fianchettos are common in many of these openings. As with

1056-661: Is Repeticion de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez by the Spaniard Luis Ramirez de Lucena , published c. 1497, which included among other things analysis of eleven chess openings. Some of them are known today as the Giuoco Piano , Ruy Lopez , Petrov's Defense , Bishop's Opening , Damiano's Defense , and Scandinavian Defense , though Lucena did not use those terms. The authorship and date of the Göttingen manuscript are not established, and its publication date

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1152-576: Is 2.c4, grabbing a larger share of the center and allowing the move Nc3, to prepare for moving the e-pawn to e4 without blocking the c-pawn. Black's most popular replies are: Advocated by Nimzowitsch as early as 1913, the Nimzo-Indian Defense was the first of the Indian systems to gain full acceptance. It remains one of the most popular and well-respected defenses to 1.d4 and White often adopts move orders designed to avoid it. Black attacks

1248-448: Is characterized by White playing 1.Nf3, fianchettoing one or both bishops, and not playing an early d4 (which would generally transpose into one of the 1.d4 openings). The King's Indian Attack (KIA) is a system of development that White may use in reply to almost any Black opening moves. The characteristic KIA setup is 1.Nf3, 2.g3, 3.Bg2, 4.0-0, 5.d3, 6.Nbd2, and 7.e4, although these moves may be played in many different orders. In fact,

1344-492: Is common to divide each of them further. One reasonable way to group the openings is: The Indian systems (1.d4 Nf6) are the most important of the Semi-Closed Games, and warrant separate treatment. White starts by playing 1.e4 (moving their king pawn two spaces). This is the most popular opening move and it has many strengths—it immediately works on controlling the center, and it activates two pieces (the queen and

1440-449: Is commonly divided into three phases: the opening , middlegame , and endgame . There is a large body of theory regarding how the game should be played in each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame. Those who write about chess theory , who are often also eminent players, are referred to as "chess theorists " or "chess theoreticians". "Opening theory" commonly refers to consensus, broadly represented by current literature on

1536-539: Is considered solid, safe, and perhaps somewhat drawish . Black often chooses the Queen's Indian when White avoids the Nimzo-Indian by playing 3.Nf3 instead of 3.Nc3. Black constructs a sound position that makes no positional concessions, although sometimes it is difficult for Black to obtain good winning chances. Karpov was a leading expert in this opening. The Modern Benoni is a risky attempt by Black to unbalance

1632-733: Is estimated as being somewhere between 1471 and 1505. It is not known whether it or Lucena's book was published first. The manuscript includes examples of games with the openings now known as Damiano's Defence, Philidor's Defense , the Giuoco Piano, Petrov's Defense, the Bishop's Opening, the Ruy Lopez, the Ponziani Opening , the Queen's Gambit Accepted , 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Bf5 (a form of the London System ), Bird's Opening , and

1728-618: Is named after the Catalonia region. Chess players' names are the most common sources of opening names. The name given to an opening is not always that of the first player to adopt it; often an opening is named for the player who was the first to popularize it or to publish analysis of it. Eponymic openings include the Ruy Lopez , Alekhine's Defense , Morphy Defense , and the Réti Opening . Some opening names honor two people, such as

1824-486: Is often known as a prepared variation , a powerful weapon in top-class competition. Whether they are trying to gain the upper hand as White, or to equalize as Black or to create dynamic imbalances, players generally devote a lot of attention in the opening stages to the following strategies: Apart from these ideas, other strategies used in the middlegame may also be carried out in the opening. These include preparing pawn breaks to create counterplay, creating weaknesses in

1920-536: Is protected by White's queen. This slight difference has a tremendous effect on the opening. For instance, whereas the King's Gambit is rarely played today at the highest levels of chess, the Queen's Gambit remains a popular weapon at all levels of play. Also, compared with the King Pawn openings, transpositions among variations are more common and critical in the closed games. The most important closed openings are in

2016-606: Is sometimes named a "countergambit", e.g. the Albin Countergambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5) and Greco Countergambit (the original name for the Latvian Gambit). Not all opening lines involving the sacrifice of material are named as gambits, for example the main line of the Two Knights Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5) in which Black sacrifices a pawn for active play is known as

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2112-606: Is still played occasionally at the top level by Short and others. Another fairly common opening is the Benoni Defense , which may become very wild if it develops into the Modern Benoni , though other variations are more solid. Several other uncommon semi-closed openings have been named and studied, see Semi-Closed Game for details. The flank openings are the group of White openings typified by play on one or both flanks. White plays in hypermodern style, attacking

2208-475: Is that it expresses games in languageless figurine algebraic notation and annotated them using no words, but rather seventeen symbols, whose meanings were explained at the beginning of the book in six different languages. This enabled readers around the world to read the same games and annotations, thus greatly accelerating the dissemination of chess ideas and the development of opening theory. The editors of Chess Informant later introduced other publications using

2304-406: Is that playing first gives White a slight initial advantage ; for example, White will be the first to attack if the game opens symmetrically (Black mirrors White's moves). Since about the 1950s another objective has gradually become more dominant. According to IM Jeremy Silman , the purpose of the opening is to create dynamic imbalances between the two sides, which will determine the character of

2400-402: Is unclear how useful this general maxim is since the "free moves" part of the compensation is almost never the entirety of what the gambiteer gains. Often, a gambit can be declined with no disadvantage. A gambit is said to be 'sound' if it is capable of procuring adequate concessions from the opponent. There are three general criteria in which a gambit is often said to be sound: An example of

2496-460: Is usually done by transpositions , in which a game that apparently starts with one opening can reach a position that is normally produced by a different opening. Most players realize after a while that they play certain types of positions better than others, and that the amount of theory they can learn is limited. Therefore, most players specialize in certain openings where they know the theory and that lead to positions they favor. The set of openings

2592-507: The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings . Although these codes are invaluable for the serious study of the chess opening, they are not very practical for a broad survey of the chess opening as the codes obscure common structural features between related openings. A simple descriptive categorization of the chess opening is King's Pawn Openings , Queen's Pawn Openings , and Others. Since these categories are still individually very large, it

2688-745: The Alekhine and the Scandinavian have made occasional appearances in World Chess Championship games. The Sicilian and French Defenses lead to unbalanced positions that can offer exciting play with both sides having chances to win. The Caro–Kann Defense is solid as Black intends to use their c-pawn to support their center (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5). Alekhine's, the Pirc and the Modern are hypermodern openings in which Black tempts White to build

2784-597: The Caro–Kann and the Smith–Morra . A few opening names are purely descriptive, such as Giuoco Piano ( Italian : quiet game ), Two Knights Defense , Four Knights Game and Bishop's Opening . Some openings have been given fanciful names, often names of animals. This practice became more common in the 20th century. By then, most of the more common and traditional sequences of opening moves had already been named, so these tend to be unusual or recently developed openings like

2880-616: The English Opening . Murray observes that it "is no haphazard collection of commencements of games, but is an attempt to deal with the Openings in a systematic way." Fifteen years after Lucena's book, Portuguese apothecary Pedro Damiano published the book Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de la partiti (1512) in Rome. It includes analysis of the Queen's Gambit Accepted, showing what happens when Black tries to keep

2976-495: The Informant ." In the 1990s and thereafter, the development of opening theory has been further accelerated by such innovations as extremely strong chess engines such as Fritz and Rybka , software such as ChessBase , and the sale of multi-million-game databases such as ChessBase's Mega 2013 database, with over 5.4 million games. Today, the most important openings have been analyzed over 20 moves deep, sometimes well into

Chess opening - Misplaced Pages Continue

3072-695: The Orangutan , Hippopotamus, Elephant, Hedgehog, and, most recently, the Cow. A few are given humorous names, such as the Monkey's Bum and the Toilet Variation . Opening names usually include one of the terms "opening", "variation", "defense", "gambit" etc, however the terminology is inconsistent and imprecise, and is not a useful basis for classification. Broadly, these terms are used as follows: Chess openings are primarily categorized by move sequences. In

3168-418: The Ruy Lopez or Spanish Opening . Opening theory was studied more scientifically from the 1840s on, and many opening variations were discovered and named in this period and later. Opening nomenclature developed haphazardly, and most names are historical accidents not based on systematic principles. In the early 1930s, the nascent FIDE embarked on a project to standardize opening nomenclature, culminating in

3264-610: The Vienna Game (2.Nc3), the Bishop's Opening (2.Bc4), and the King's Gambit (2.f4). These openings have some similarities with each other, in particular the Bishop's Opening frequently transposes to variations of the Vienna Game. The King's Gambit was extremely popular in the 19th century. White sacrifices a pawn for quick development and to divert a black pawn from the center. The Vienna Game also frequently features attacks on

3360-539: The gambit pawn with ...b5. Damiano's book "was, in contemporary terms, the first bestseller of the modern game." Harry Golombek writes that it "ran through eight editions in the sixteenth century and continued on into the next century with unflagging popularity." Modern players know Damiano primarily because his name is attached to the weak opening Damiano's Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?), although he condemned rather than endorsed it. These books and later ones discuss games played with various openings, opening traps, and

3456-432: The "Knorre Variation", though it may be described as a "gambit". On the other hand, the Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4) is not a true gambit as Black cannot hold the pawn without incurring a disadvantage. As is often the case with chess openings, nomenclature is inconsistent. Gambits are described as being "offered" to an opponent, and that offer is then said to be either "accepted" or "declined". In modern chess,

3552-425: The "father of modern chess," extensively analyzed various double king-pawn openings (beginning 1.e4 e5) in his book The Modern Chess Instructor , published in 1889 and 1895. Also in 1889, E. Freeborough and C. E. Ranken published the first edition of Chess Openings Ancient and Modern ; later editions were published in 1893, 1896, and 1910. In 1911, R. C. Griffith and J. H. White published

3648-486: The 789-page tome Chess Openings: Theory and Practice , which in addition to opening analysis includes a large number of illustrative games. In 1966, the first volume of Chess Informant was published in Belgrade , Yugoslavia , containing 466 annotated games from the leading chess tournaments and matches of the day. The hugely influential Chess Informant series has revolutionized opening theory. Its great innovation

3744-592: The Black center by means of a f2–f4 pawn advance. In the Center Game (2.d4) White immediately opens the center but if the pawn is to be recovered after 2...exd4, White must contend with a slightly premature queen development after 3.Qxd4. An alternative is to sacrifice one or two pawns, for example in the Danish Gambit . Many other variations after 1.e4 e5 have been studied; see Open Game for details. In

3840-609: The Catalan System. The most important Indian Defenses are listed below, but many others have been studied and played; see Indian Defense for details. Of the defenses to 1.d4 other than 1...d5 and 1...Nf6, the most important are the Dutch Defense and the Benoni Defense . The Dutch, an aggressive defense adopted for a time by World Champions Alekhine and Botvinnik , and played by both Botvinnik and challenger David Bronstein in their 1951 world championship match ,

3936-583: The English spelling of the word. The metaphorical sense of the word as "opening move meant to gain advantage" was first recorded in English in 1855. Gambits are more commonly played by White . Some well-known examples of a gambit are the King's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4) and Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4). A gambit employed by Black may also be named a gambit, e.g. the Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5), or Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5); but

Chess opening - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-528: The Grünfeld and Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian . "Books and monographs on openings are popular, and as they are thought to become out of date quickly there is a steady supply of new titles." According to Andrew Soltis , "Virtually all the new information about chess since 1930 has been in the opening." Middlegame theory is considerably less developed than either opening theory or endgame theory. Watson writes, "Players wishing to study this area of

4128-597: The KIA is probably most often reached after 1.e4 when White uses it to respond to a Black attempt to play one of the semi-open games such as the Caro–Kann, French, or Sicilian, or even the open games which usually come after 1.e4 e5. Its greatest appeal may be that by adopting a set pattern of development, White can avoid the large amount of opening study required to prepare to meet the many different possible Black replies to 1.e4. Chess theory#Opening theory The game of chess

4224-439: The Queen's Gambit family (White plays 2.c4). The Queen's Gambit is somewhat misnamed, since White can always regain the offered pawn if desired. In the Queen's Gambit Accepted , Black plays ...dxc4, giving up the center for free development and the chance to try to give White an isolated queen pawn with a subsequent ...c5 and ...cxd4. White will get active pieces and possibilities for the attack. Black has two popular ways to decline

4320-493: The Queen's Gambit other than 2...dxc4, 2...c6, and 2...e6 are uncommon. The Colle System and Stonewall Attack are classified as Queen's Pawn Games because White plays d4 but not c4. They are also examples of Systems , rather than specific opening variations. White develops aiming for a particular formation without great concern over how Black chooses to defend. Both systems are popular with club players because they are easy to learn, but are rarely used by professionals because

4416-454: The act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices material with the aim of achieving a subsequent positional advantage. The word gambit is also sometimes used to describe similar tactics used by politicians or business people in a struggle with rivals in their fields, for example: "The early election was a risky gambit by Theresa May ." The Spanish word gambito

4512-581: The best way for both sides to play. Certain sequences of opening moves began to be given names, some of the earliest being Damiano's Defense, the King's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4), the Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4), and the Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5). Damiano's book was followed by general treatises on chess play by Ruy López de Segura (1561), Giulio Cesare Polerio (1590), Gioachino Greco (c. 1625), Joseph Bertin (1735), and François-André Danican Philidor (1749). The first author to attempt

4608-506: The center from the flanks with pieces rather than occupying it with pawns. These openings are played often, and 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 trail only 1.e4 and 1.d4 in popularity as opening moves. If White opens with 1.Nf3, the game often becomes one of the d4 openings (closed games or semi-closed games) by a different move order (this is called transposition ), but unique openings such as the Réti and King's Indian Attack are also common. The Réti itself

4704-575: The center with pieces and is prepared to trade a bishop for a knight to weaken White's queenside with doubled pawns . The King's Indian Defense is aggressive, somewhat risky, and generally indicates that Black will not be satisfied with a draw. Although it was played occasionally as early as the late 19th century, the King's Indian was considered inferior until the 1940s, when it was taken up by Bronstein , Boleslavsky , and Reshevsky . Despite being Fischer 's favored defense to 1.d4, its popularity faded in

4800-508: The closed games, transpositions are important and many of the Indian defenses can be reached by several different move orders. Although Indian defenses were championed in the 1920s by players in the hypermodern school, they were not fully accepted until Soviet players showed in the late 1940s that these systems are sound for Black. Since then, Indian defenses have been the most popular Black replies to 1.d4 because they offer an unbalanced game with chances for both sides. The usual White second move

4896-412: The club level also study openings, but the importance of the opening phase is less there since games are rarely decided in the opening. The study of openings can become unbalanced if it is to the exclusion of tactical training and middlegame and endgame strategy. A new sequence of moves in the opening is referred to as a theoretical novelty . When kept secret until used in a competitive game, it

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4992-440: The endgame and like Fine a world-class player at his peak, perpetuated Fine's error in his 2003 revision of Basic Chess Endings . Grandmaster Andrew Soltis in a 2004 book expressly disagreed with Staunton, claiming that the rook versus two bishops and knight ending is drawn with correct play. At the time Benko and Soltis offered their assessments (in 2003 and 2004, respectively), endgame tablebases had already proven that Staunton

5088-648: The endgame, and it is not unusual for leading players to introduce theoretical novelties on move 25 or even later. Thousands of books have been written on chess openings. These include both comprehensive openings encyclopedias such as the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings and Modern Chess Openings ; general treatises on how to play the opening such as Mastering the Chess Openings (in four volumes), by International Master John L. Watson ; and myriad books on specific openings, such as Understanding

5184-416: The endgame. Lucena's book (c. 1497) concluded with 150 examples of endgames and chess problems . The second edition (1777) of Philidor's Analyse du jeu des Échecs devoted 75 pages of analysis to various endgames. These included a number of theoretically important endings, such as rook and bishop versus rook, queen versus rook, queen versus rook and pawn, and rook and pawn versus rook. Certain positions in

5280-401: The endings of rook and bishop versus rook, rook and pawn versus rook, and queen versus rook have become known as Philidor's position . Philidor concluded his book with two pages of (in the English translation), "Observations on the ends of parties", in which he set forth certain general principles about endings, such as: "Two knights alone cannot mate" (see Two knights endgame ), the ending with

5376-470: The extra pawn. Some openings played between grandmasters are so complex and theoretical that amateur players will have trouble understanding them. An example is the Perenyi Attack of the Sicilian Defense (see diagram), which yields an immensely complicated and tactical position that even strong players have difficulty handling, and that is beyond the comprehension of most amateurs. Major changes in

5472-666: The first attempt at a comprehensive treatise on the endgame. A new edition, revised by Pal Benko , was published in 2003. Soviet writers published an important series of books on specific endings: Rook Endings by Grigory Levenfish and Vasily Smyslov , Pawn Endings by Yuri Averbakh and I. Maizelis, Queen and Pawn Endings by Averbakh, Bishop Endings by Averbakh, Knight Endings by Averbakh and Vitaly Chekhover , Bishop v. Knight Endings by Yuri Averbakh, Rook v. Minor Piece Endings by Averbakh, and Queen v. Rook/Minor Piece Endings by Averbakh, Chekhover, and V. Henkin. These books by Averbakh and others were collected into

5568-690: The first edition of Modern Chess Openings . It is now the longest-published opening treatise in history; the fifteenth edition (commonly called MCO-15 ), by Grandmaster Nick de Firmian , was published in April 2008. According to Hooper and Whyld, the various editions of Modern Chess Openings , the last edition of the Handbuch , and the fourth edition of Ludvig Collijn's Lärobok i Schack ("Textbook of Chess") in Swedish , with groundbreaking contributions by Rubinstein, Reti, Spielmann and Nimzowitch, "were

5664-412: The five-volume Comprehensive Chess Endings in English. In recent years, computer-generated endgame tablebases have revolutionized endgame theory, conclusively showing best play in many complicated endgames that had vexed human analysts for over a century, such as queen and pawn versus queen. They have also overturned human theoreticians' verdicts on a number of endgames; for example by proving that

5760-454: The gambit pawn or return it. The Catalan Opening is characterized by White forming a pawn center at d4 and c4 and fianchettoing their king's bishop. It resembles a combination of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening . Since the Catalan can be reached from many different move orders, (one Queen's Gambit Declined -like move sequence is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3), it is sometimes called

5856-876: The game have a limited and rather unsatisfactory range of resources from which to choose." One of the earliest theories to gain attention was that of William Steinitz , who posited that a premature attack against one's opponent in an equal position could be repelled by skillful defence, and so a player's best bet was to slowly maneuver with the goal of accumulating small advantages. Emanuel Lasker in Lasker's Manual of Chess and Max Euwe in The Development of Chess Style outlined theories that they attributed to Steinitz. Leading player and theorist Aron Nimzowitsch's influential books, My System (1925), Die Blockade (1925) (in German ), and Chess Praxis (1936), are among

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5952-474: The initial position, White has twenty legal moves. Of these, 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.Nf3, and 1.c4 are by far the most popular as these moves do the most to promote rapid development and control of the center. A few other opening moves are considered reasonable but less consistent with opening principles than the four most popular moves. The Dunst Opening , 1.Nc3, develops a knight to a good square, but is somewhat inflexible because it blocks White's c-pawn; also, after 1...d5

6048-430: The knight is liable to be driven to an inferior square by ...d4. (Note that after 1.Nf3 the analogous 1...e5? loses a pawn.) Bird's Opening , 1.f4, addresses center control but not development and weakens the king position slightly. The Sokolsky Opening 1.b4 and the King's and Queen's fianchettos : Larsen's Opening 1.b3 and 1.g3 aid development a bit, but they only address center control peripherally and are slower than

6144-548: The legitimate result of such conflict would be a draw . The Bishops, united, are stronger than the Knights, as they strike from a greater distance. When the two Knights are left with a Bishop, the Rook has also the chance of exchanging for the latter, which can hardly be avoided by his adversary, and the two Knights, alone, have not the mating power. In 1941 Reuben Fine published his monumental 573-page treatise Basic Chess Endings ,

6240-502: The mid-1970s. Kasparov 's successes with the defense restored the King's Indian to prominence in the 1980s. Ernst Grünfeld debuted the Grünfeld Defense in 1922. Distinguished by the move 3...d5, Grünfeld intended it as an improvement to the King's Indian which was not considered entirely satisfactory at that time. The Grünfeld has been adopted by World Champions Smyslov , Fischer, and Kasparov. The Queen's Indian Defense

6336-597: The middlegame and the strategic plans chosen by both sides. For example, in the main line of the Winawer Variation of the French Defense (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3), White will try to use their bishop pair and space advantage to mount an attack on Black's kingside , while Black will seek simplifying exchanges (in particular, trading off one of White's bishops to blunt this advantage) and counterattack against

6432-524: The middlegame exist, such as The Art of Attack in Chess by Vladimir Vuković , The Art of Sacrifice in Chess by Rudolf Spielmann , The Art of the Checkmate by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn, The Basis of Combination in Chess by J. du Mont, and The Art of Defense in Chess by Andrew Soltis . Many significant chess treatises, beginning with the earliest works, have included some analysis of

6528-462: The more popular openings. The eleven remaining possibilities are rarely played at the top levels of chess. Of these, the best are merely slow such as 1.c3, 1.d3, and 1.e3. Worse possibilities either ignore the center and development such as 1.a3, weaken White's position (for instance, 1.f3 and 1.g4), or place the knights on poor squares (1.Na3 and 1.Nh3). Black has twenty complementary responses to White's opening move. Many of these are mirror images of

6624-632: The most comprehensive treatment of the subject up until that time. The mid-20th century also saw the publication of The Middle Game , volumes 1 and 2, by former World Champion Max Euwe and Hans Kramer, and a series of books by the Czechoslovak -German grandmaster Luděk Pachman : three volumes of Complete Chess Strategy , Modern Chess Strategy , Modern Chess Tactics , and Attack and Defense in Modern Chess Tactics . Another key turning point in middlegame theory came with

6720-444: The most important works on the middlegame. Nimzowitsch called attention to the possibility of letting one's opponent occupy the centre with pawns while you exert control with your pieces as in the Nimzo-Indian or Queen's Indian defences. He pointed out how in positions with interlocking pawn chains, one could attack the chain at its base by advancing one's own pawns and carrying out a freeing move (pawn break). He also drew attention to

6816-405: The most popular first moves for White, but with one less tempo . Defenses beginning with 1...c6 and 1...e6, often followed by the center thrust 2...d5, are also popular. Defenses with an early ...d6 coupled with a kingside fianchetto are also commonly played. The most important scheme of classifying chess openings for serious players is by ECO code , a series of 500 opening codes assigned by

6912-756: The number had increased to about 20,000. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld wrote in 1992 that, "Since then there has been a steady increase year by year of the number of new chess publications. No one knows how many have been printed..." The world's largest chess library , the John G. White Collection at the Cleveland Public Library , contains over 32,000 chess books and serials, including over 6,000 bound volumes of chess periodicals. Chess players today also avail themselves of computer-based sources of information. The earliest printed work on chess theory whose date can be established with some exactitude

7008-405: The opening, middlegame, and endgame. These began with his revision of Modern Chess Openings , which was published in 1939. In 1943, he published Ideas Behind the Chess Openings , which sought to explain the principles underlying the openings. In 1948, he published his own opening treatise, Practical Chess Openings , a competitor to MCO . In 1964, International Master I.A. Horowitz published

7104-474: The openings. "Endgame theory" consists of statements regarding specific positions, or positions of a similar type, though there are few universally applicable principles. "Middlegame theory" often refers to maxims or principles applicable to the middlegame. The modern trend, however, is to assign paramount importance to analysis of the specific position at hand rather than to general principles. The development of theory in all of these areas has been assisted by

7200-408: The opponent's pawn structure, seizing control of key squares, making favorable exchanges of minor pieces (e.g. gaining the bishop pair), or gaining a space advantage, whether in the center or on the flanks. At higher levels of competition, for many years the main objectives of opening play were to obtain a better position when playing as White and to equalize when playing as Black. The idea behind this

7296-742: The pawn, the Slav (2...c6) and the Queen's Gambit Declined (2...e6). Both of these moves lead to an immense forest of variations that can require a great deal of opening study to play well. Among the many possibilities in the Queen's Gambit Declined are the Orthodox Defense, Lasker's Defense, the Cambridge Springs Defense , the Tartakower Variation, and the Tarrasch and Semi-Tarrasch Defenses. Black replies to

7392-477: The popular reference sources for strong players between the two world wars ." In 1937–39 former World Champion Max Euwe published a twelve-volume opening treatise, De theorie der schaakopeningen , in Dutch . It was later translated into other languages. In the late 1930s to early 1950s Reuben Fine , one of the world's strongest players, also became one of its leading theoreticians, publishing important works on

7488-436: The position and gain active piece play at the cost of allowing White a pawn wedge at d5 and a central majority. Tal popularized the defense in the 1960s by winning several brilliant games with it, and Fischer occasionally adopted it, with good results, including a win in his 1972 world championship match against Boris Spassky . Often Black adopts a slightly different move order, playing 2...e6 before 3...c5 in order to avoid

7584-457: The publication of a short booklet in 1933, but this had little impact. The oldest openings tend to be named for geographic places and people. Many openings are named after nationalities of players who advocated them, for example Indian, English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Scotch, Russian, Italian, Scandinavian and Sicilian, or places where important games featuring the opening were played such as Vienna, Berlin, and Wilkes-Barre . The Catalan System

7680-606: The queen pawn to d4. Black's most common reply is 2...Nc6, which usually leads to the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5), Scotch Game (3.d4), or Italian Game (3.Bc4). If Black instead maintains symmetry and counterattacks White's center with 2...Nf6 then the Petrov's Defense results. The Philidor Defense (2...d6) is not popular in modern chess because it allows White an easy space advantage while Black's position remains cramped and passive, although solid. Other responses to 2.Nf3 are not seen in master play. The most popular alternatives to 2.Nf3 are

7776-407: The release of Alexander Kotov 's book Think like a Grandmaster in 1971. Kotov outlined how a player calculates by developing a tree of variations in his head, and recommended that players only examine each branch of the tree once. He also noted how some players seem to fall victim to what is now known as Kotov's Syndrome: they calculate out a large range of different lines, become dissatisfied with

7872-485: The result, and realizing that they are short on time, play a completely new candidate move without even checking whether it is sound. More recently, Jonathan Tisdall, John Nunn and Andrew Soltis have elaborated on Kotov's tree theory further. In 1999, Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances Since Nimzowitsch was published, in which Watson discusses the revolution in middlegame theory that has occurred since Nimzowitsch's time. Many books on specific aspects of

7968-436: The rules of chess in the late fifteenth century increased the speed of the game, consequently emphasizing the importance of opening study. Thus, early chess books, such as the 1497 text of Luis Ramirez de Lucena , present opening analysis, as do Pedro Damiano (1512) and Ruy López de Segura (1561). Ruy López's disagreement with Damiano regarding the merits of 2...Nc6 led to 3.Bb5 (after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6) being named for him as

8064-501: The same principle, such as the five-volume Encyclopedia of Chess Openings and Encyclopedia of Chess Endings treatises. Chess Informant was originally published twice a year, and since 1991 has been published thrice annually. Volume 100 was published in 2007. It now uses 57 symbols, explained in 10 languages, to annotate games (see Punctuation (chess) ), and is available in both print and electronic formats. In 2005, former World Champion Garry Kasparov wrote, "We are all Children of

8160-570: The semi-open games White plays 1.e4 and Black breaks symmetry immediately by replying with a move other than 1...e5. The most popular Black defense to 1.e4 is the Sicilian (1...c5), but the French (1...e6, normally followed by 2.d4 d5) and the Caro–Kann (1...c6, normally followed by 2.d4 d5) are also very popular. The Pirc and the Modern are closely related openings that are also often seen, while

8256-442: The sharpest lines for White. The Benko Gambit is often played by strong players, and is very popular at lower levels. Black plays to open lines on the queenside where White will be subject to considerable pressure. If White accepts the gambit, Black's compensation is positional rather than tactical, and their initiative can last even after many piece exchanges and well into the endgame . White often chooses instead either to decline

8352-403: The strategy of occupying open files with one's rooks in order to later penetrate to the seventh rank where they could attack the enemy pawns and hem in the opponent's king. Another of his key concepts was prophylaxis, moves aimed at limiting the opponent's mobility to the point where he would no longer have any useful moves. In 1952, Fine published the 442-page The Middle Game in Chess , perhaps

8448-765: The two bishops versus knight ending, which had been thought drawn for over a century, can be a win for the bishops (see Pawnless chess endgame § Minor pieces only and Chess endgame § Effect of tablebases on endgame theory ). Several important works on the endgame have been published in recent years, among them Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual , Fundamental Chess Endings by Karsten Müller and Frank Lamprecht , Basic Endgames: 888 Theoretical Positions by Yuri Balashov and Eduard Prandstetter, Chess Endgame Lessons by Benko, and Secrets of Rook Endings and Secrets of Pawnless Endings by John Nunn . Some of these have been aided by analysis from endgame tablebases. Gambit A gambit (from Italian gambetto ,

8544-408: The typical response to a moderately sound gambit is to accept the material and give the material back at an advantageous time. For gambits that are less sound, the accepting player is more likely to try to hold on to their extra material. A rule of thumb often found in various primers on chess suggests that a player should get three moves (see tempo ) of development for a sacrificed pawn, but it

8640-467: The vast literature on the game. In 1913, preeminent chess historian H. J. R. Murray wrote in his 900-page magnum opus A History of Chess that, "The game possesses a literature which in contents probably exceeds that of all other games combined." He estimated that at that time the "total number of books on chess , chess magazines , and newspapers devoting space regularly to the game probably exceeds 5,000". In 1949, B. H. Wood estimated that

8736-409: The very rare rook versus three minor pieces endgame, is surprisingly sophisticated. At page 439, he wrote, "Three minor Pieces are much stronger than a Rook, and in cases where two of them are Bishops will usually win without much difficulty, because the player of the Rook is certain to be compelled to lose him for one of his adversary's Pieces. If, however, there are two Knights and one Bishop opposed to

8832-461: The weakened pawns on White's queenside ; both players accept different combinations of advantages and disadvantages. This idea was a doctrine of the Soviet school of chess . A third objective, which is complementary to the previous ones and has been common since the 19th century, is to lure the opponent into positions with which the player is more familiar and comfortable than the opponent. This

8928-493: The world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, included over 300 pages of analysis of the openings in his 1847 treatise The Chess Player's Handbook. That work immediately became the standard reference work in English-speaking countries, and was reprinted 21 times by 1935. However, "as time passed a demand arose for more up-to-date works in English". Wilhelm Steinitz , the first World Champion , widely considered

9024-454: Was correct, and that Fine, Benko, and Soltis were wrong, although the ending can take up to 68 moves to win. Staunton's conclusions on these endgames were anticipated by the British master George Walker , who wrote in 1846 (and perhaps earlier): Although the two Bishops and Kt win, as a general proposition, against Rook, yet the two Knights with a Bishop cannot expect the same success; and

9120-499: Was one of the most important opening references for many decades. The last edition of the Handbuch was edited by Carl Schlechter , who had drawn a match for the World Championship with Emanuel Lasker in 1910. International Master William Hartston called it "a superb work, perhaps the last to encase successfully the whole of chess knowledge within a single volume." The English master Howard Staunton , perhaps

9216-491: Was originally applied to chess openings in 1561 by Ruy López de Segura , from an Italian expression dare il gambetto (to put a leg forward in order to trip someone). In English, the word first appeared in Francis Beale 's 1656 translation of a Gioachino Greco manuscript, The Royall Game of Chesse-play ("illustrated with almost one hundred Gambetts" ). The Spanish gambito led to French gambit , which has influenced

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