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80-487: The Scandinavian Defense (or Center Counter Defense , or Center Counter Game ) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: This opening is classified under code B01 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings . The Scandinavian Defense, described in the poem Scachs d'amor , is the oldest opening by Black recorded in modern chess. Considered to be the most directly challenging move available to Black after 1.e4,

160-408: 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

240-540: A bit, but they only address center control peripherally and are slower than 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

320-399: 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

400-409: 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 the opponent's pawn structure, seizing control of key squares, making favorable exchanges of minor pieces (e.g. gaining the bishop pair), or gaining

480-588: 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

560-579: A reversed Danish Gambit . Most common after 3...c6 is 4.d4 cxd5, transposing to the Panov–Botvinnik Attack of the Caro–Kann Defence . 3...e6!? is the sharp Icelandic Gambit or Palme Gambit , invented by Icelandic masters who looked for an alternative to the more common 3...c6. Black sacrifices a pawn to achieve rapid development. The most critical line in this double-edged variation is thought to be 4.dxe6 Bxe6 5.Nf3. A third major alternative

640-465: A revival after the move was played in a game by Bronstein against GM Andrija Fuderer in 1959, although Bronstein ultimately lost the game. Bronstein's game featured the older line 4.d4 Nf6, while other grandmasters, including Karl Robatsch , explored fianchetto systems with 4.d4 g6 and a later ...Ng8–h6. The line's reputation suffered after a string of defeats, however, including two well-known miniatures won by Bobby Fischer against Robatsch in

720-616: A rise in popularity. The popular name also began to switch from "Center Counter Defense" to "Scandinavian Defense" around this time. Danish GM Curt Hansen is also considered an expert in the opening. Australian GM Ian Rogers has adopted it frequently starting in the 1980s. In 1995, the Scandinavian Defense made its first appearance in a world chess championship match, in the 14th game of the PCA final at New York City. Viswanathan Anand as Black obtained an excellent position using

800-448: 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 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

880-523: 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

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960-580: A variation of the Nimzowitsch Defense after 3...Nc6 (1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5), or Black can play 3...e5, as well. After 3...Nc6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 0-0-0 Black has better development to compensate for White's center after a future c4. Black may also respond to 3.d4 with 3...e5. After the usual 4.dxe5, Black most often plays the pawn sacrifice 4...Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Nc6. After White defends the pawn, Black follows up with ...Bg4+ and ...0-0-0, e.g. 6.Bb5 Bg4+ 7.f3 0-0-0+ and Black has enough compensation for

1040-601: 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

1120-576: 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

1200-560: Is 3...Bg4!?, the sharp Portuguese Variation or Jadoul Variation. In this line, Black gives up the d-pawn in order to achieve rapid development and piece activity; the resulting play is often similar to the Icelandic Gambit. The normal continuation is 4.f3 Bf5 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.c4. Occasionally seen is 3...g6, the Richter Variation , which was played on occasion by IM Kurt Richter in the 1930s. Another common response

1280-441: Is 3.Bb5+. The most popular reply is 3...Bd7, though the rarer 3...Nbd7 is gaining more attention recently. After 3.Bb5+ Bd7, White has several options. The most obvious is 4.Bxd7+, after which White can play to keep the extra pawn with 4...Qxd7 5.c4. The historical main line is 4.Bc4, which can lead to very sharp play after 4...Bg4 5.f3 Bf5 6.Nc3, or 4...b5 5.Bb3 a5. Finally, 4.Be2 has recently become more popular, attempting to exploit

1360-422: Is 3.Nc3 because it attacks the queen with gain of tempo . After 3.Nc3, Black has three main choices: 3...Qa5, 3...Qd8, and 3...Qd6. This is considered the "classical" line, and is currently the most popular option. White can choose from multiple setups. A common line is 4.d4 c6 (or 4...e5) 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Bf5 (6...Bg4 is a different option. Even though Black has shown that ...Bf5 can be an excellent move, trading

1440-555: Is 3.c4, with which White attempts to retain the extra pawn, at the cost of the inactivity of the light-square bishop. Now Black can play 3...c6, the Scandinavian Gambit , which is the most common move. The line 4.dxc6? Nxc6, described by Emms as "a miserly pawn grab", gives Black too much central control and development. Furthermore, after 4.dxc6 Black can play 4...e5, the Ross Gambit , which after 5.cxb7 Bxb7 resembles

1520-402: Is 4.b4?!, described by Nigel Davies as an "ancient gambit line". Grandmasters who have ventured this line as White include Lasker, Capablanca, and Paul Keres . If Black plays correctly, White should not have sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn, but it can be difficult to prove this over the board . Davies suggests delaying the gambit with 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.b4 Qxb4 6.a4 !? , with

1600-448: 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,

1680-493: 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

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1760-539: 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

1840-619: 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

1920-479: Is not shut in on c8. This line can also be compared to the Caro–Kann variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5!?; since in this Scandinavian line Black has played ...c5 in one rather than two moves, he has a comfortable position. This line often leads away from open positions, however, towards blocked center positions, likely not Black's original intent. White can also gambit the e-pawn, most frequently by 2.d4, transposing into

2000-587: 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

2080-431: Is regarded as inferior. One idea is that after the natural interposition 4.Be2, Black plays 4...Qg6 attacking the g2-pawn. White will usually sacrifice this pawn, however, by 5.Nf3 Qxg2 6.Rg1 Qh3 7.d4 with a massive lead in development. In 1990, David Letterman played this line as Black in a televised game against Garry Kasparov , and was checkmated in 23 moves. Alternatives to 3.Nc3 include 3.d4, which can transpose into

2160-480: Is somewhat inflexible because it blocks White's c-pawn; also, after 1...d5 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

2240-606: 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

2320-454: 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 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

2400-462: 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

2480-446: 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

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2560-568: The 1962 Chess Olympiad (later published in My 60 Memorable Games ) and William Addison in 1970. The variation with 4...g6 "has been under a cloud ever since [Fischer's] crushing win", but the 3...Qd8 variation as a whole remains playable, although it is now considered somewhat passive. It is played particularly by IMs John Bartholomew and Daniel Lowinger, and by the GMs David Garcia Ilundain and Nikola Djukic. This move, called

2640-745: 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

2720-620: The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit . Other gambits such as 2.Nf3?! (the Tennison Gambit ) are seldom seen. In general, none of these sidelines are believed to offer White more than equality, and the overwhelming majority of masters opt for 2.exd5 when facing the Scandinavian. The Scandinavian is thus arguably Black's most "forcing" defense to 1.e4, restricting White to a relatively small number of options. This has helped to make

2800-597: 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

2880-697: 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

2960-419: 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

3040-663: 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

3120-532: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Chess Opening Theory " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try the purge function . Titles on Misplaced Pages are case sensitive except for

3200-817: 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 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

3280-592: 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

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3360-609: 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 ,

3440-485: The Gubinsky-Melts Defense, offers another way to play against 3.Nc3, and it has been growing in popularity in recent years. At first sight the move may look dubious, exposing the queen to a later Nb5 or Bf4, and for many years it was poorly regarded for this reason. Numerous grandmaster games have since shown 3...Qd6 to be quite playable, however, and it has been played many times in high-level chess since

3520-534: 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 Opening Theory From Misplaced Pages,

3600-889: The Modern Variation is to give back the pawn in order to achieve quick development. 3...Nxd5 is the most obvious reply, although 3...Qxd5 is sometimes seen. Black wins back the pawn, but White can gain some time by attacking the knight. White usually responds 4.c4, when the knight must move. The most common responses are: White may also play 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.c4. Now 5...Nb6 6.c5!? is a sharp line; Black should respond 6...N6d7!, rather than 6...Nd5? 7.Qb3, when Black resigned after 7...b6? 8.Ne5! in Timman –Bakkali, Nice Olympiad 1974, and 7...Bxf3 8.Qxb7! Ne3 9.Qxf3 Nc2+ 10.Kd1 Nxa1 11.Qxa8 also wins for White. White can also continue with development, delaying c2–c4, or omitting it altogether. An important and recently popular alternative to 3...Nxd5

3680-439: 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

3760-493: 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

3840-441: The Scandinavian Defense fairly popular among club-level players, although it remains relatively rare at the grandmaster level. Chess opening 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

3920-426: The Scandinavian Defense is 2...Nf6. The idea is to delay capturing the d5-pawn for another move, avoiding the loss of time that Black suffers in the ...Qxd5 lines after 3.Nc3. Now White has several possibilities: The Modern Variation is 3.d4. GM John Emms calls this the main line of the 2...Nf6 variations, saying that "3.d4 is the common choice for White...and it is easy to see why it is so popular." The idea behind

4000-424: The Scandinavian. Another setup after 3...Qa5 is to target the b7-pawn by fianchettoing the bishop on the h1–a8 diagonal, instead of placing it on the a2–g8 diagonal, by 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 c6 6.Nf3 followed by 0-0, Rb1, and then exploiting the b7-pawn by b4–b5. The line with 4.g3 has been tried by Anand, Baadur Jobava , Gyula Sax , and Francisco Vallejo Pons among others. A more speculative approach against 3...Qa5

4080-417: The bishop for the knight after 6...Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 removes the knight, which if not removed, will find its way to e5 with excellent prospects.) 7.Bd2 e6. White has a few options, such as the aggressive 8.Qe2, or the quiet 8.0-0. Black's pawn structure (pawns on e6 and c6) resemble a Caro–Kann Defence structure, therefore many Caro–Kann players wishing to expand their repertoire have adopted this form of

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4160-506: 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

4240-524: 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

4320-577: 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 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

4400-508: 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

4480-537: 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

4560-917: The 💕 Look for Chess Opening Theory on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Chess Opening Theory in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use

4640-454: 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

4720-488: The general goal of the defense is to prevent White from controlling the center of the board with pawns, effectively forcing an open game , while allowing Black to build a strong pawn structure. The Scandinavian Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as a fictional game between Francesc de Castellví and Narcís Vinyoles in Valencia around 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess. It

4800-571: The idea of Bc1–a3, as a possible way to rehabilitate this line. The retreat with 3...Qd8 was depicted in Castellvi–Vinyoles, the Valencian Variation , may be the oldest of all Scandinavian lines. Prior to the 20th century, it was often considered the main line, and was characterized as "best" by Howard Staunton in his Chess-Player's Handbook , but was gradually superseded by 3...Qa5. In the 1960s, 3...Qd8 experienced something of

4880-399: 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

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4960-406: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was an occasional choice in this era for top players including Siegbert Tarrasch , Rudolph Spielmann , and Savielly Tartakower . Alexander Alekhine used it to draw against World Champion Emanuel Lasker at St. Petersburg 1914 , and future World Champion José Raúl Capablanca won twice with it at New York 1915. A regular user from the 1950s onwards

5040-491: The main lines of the Scandinavian Defense. One option is to defer or avoid the exchange of e-pawn for d-pawn. This is most often done by 2.Nc3, which transposes into the Dunst Opening after 2...d4 or 2...dxe4. If instead 2.e5?! is played, Black can play 2...c5, develop the queen's bishop, and play ...e7–e6, reaching a favorable French Defense setup, since here unlike in the standard French Black's light-squared bishop

5120-502: 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

5200-473: The mid-1990s. White players against this line have found an effective setup with d4, Nf3, g3, Bg2, 0-0, and a future Ne5 with a strong, active position. The variation was covered thoroughly in a 2001 book by Michael Melts . 3...Qe5+ ?! , the Patzer Variation , is regarded as bad for Black; for example after 4.Be2 c6 5.Nf3 Qc7 6.d4 White has a handy lead in development. Likewise the rare 3...Qe6+?!

5280-483: The misplaced bishop on d7 after 4...Nxd5. White's 3.Nf3 is a flexible move that, depending on Black's reply, can transpose into lines with ...Nxd5 or ...Qxd5. White's 3.Nc3 transposes into a line of Alekhine's Defence , normally seen after 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5, and generally thought to be equal . After 3...Nxd5 4.Bc4, the most common reply is 4...Nb6, although 4...Nxc3, 4...c6, and 4...e6 are also viable continuations. There are several ways for White to avoid

5360-405: 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

5440-832: The opening against Garry Kasparov , although Kasparov won the game. During the sixth round of the 2014 Chess Olympiad at Tromsø , Magnus Carlsen chose the Scandinavian against Fabiano Caruana , and won; Carlsen used the opening again to draw with Caruana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad at Baku . Carlsen used the opening as Black in a blitz game to defeat Viswanathan Anand at the 2019 Grand Chess Tour stop in Kolkata. White normally continues 2.exd5 where Black has two major continuations: 2...Qxd5 and 2...Nf6 (the Modern Scandinavian ). The rare gambit 2...c6 (the Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit )

5520-551: The pawn, because he is better developed and White's king is stuck in the center. Less popular is 4...Qxe5, since the queen has moved twice in the opening and is in the center of the board, where White can attack it with gain of time (Nf3). Grandmasters such as Tiviakov have shown, however, that it is not so easy to exploit the centralized queen. Another common response after 2...Qxd5 is the noncommittal 3.Nf3. After 3...Bg4 4.Be2 Nc6, White can transpose to main lines with 5.d4, but has other options, such as 5.0-0. The other main branch of

5600-742: 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

5680-436: 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

5760-459: 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

5840-606: 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

5920-436: 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

6000-570: 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

6080-442: 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

6160-461: 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

6240-472: Was Yugoslav International Master (IM) Nikola Karaklajic , but a lengthy period of non-support by top players ended by the 1960s, when former world championship finalist David Bronstein and women's world champion Nona Gaprindashvili played it occasionally. Danish grandmaster (GM) Bent Larsen , a four-time world championship candidate, played it occasionally from the 1960s onwards; he defeated World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it at Montreal 1979, spurring

6320-511: Was also listed in the 1497 Lucena 's book "Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess with 150 Games". Analysis by Scandinavian masters in the late 19th century showed it is playable for Black; Ludvig Collijn played the opening with success. Although the Scandinavian Defense has never enjoyed widespread popularity among top-flight players, Joseph Henry Blackburne and Jacques Mieses often played it, and greatly developed its theory in

6400-412: Was played successfully by Joseph Blackburne on at least one occasion, but after 3.dxc6 is thought to be unsound and is almost never seen in master-level play. The main continuation after 2.exd5 is to immediately recapture the d5-pawn with the queen, developing it early and controlling a sizable quantity of squares on the board, often leading to sharp games. After 2...Qxd5, the most commonly played move

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