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72-541: The Traxler Counterattack , also known as the Wilkes-Barre Variation , is a chess opening that begins with the moves: The opening is a variation of the Two Knights Defense where White has chosen the offensive line 4.Ng5, immediately attacking the f7-square with the knight and bishop, and Black has replied 4...Bc5, counterattacking the f2-square. It is one of several ways Black can avoid

144-466: A queenside minority attack to pressure White's e4-pawn. This is often carried out by means of ...b5, ...Bb7, and placing a knight on d5, or c4 via b6. Players began experimenting with 5...a6 in the 1920s, often transposing to the Scheveningen after a subsequent ...e6. The Czech chess master Karel Opočenský was among the first to combine 5...a6 with ...e5, and in an attempt to have

216-604: A Scheveningen ). The Najdorf begins: Black's 5...a6 aims to deny the b5-square to White's knights and light-square bishop while maintaining flexible development . If Black plays 5...e5 ?! immediately, then after 6.Bb5+ ! Bd7 (or 6...Nbd7 7.Nf5) 7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 (or Qxd7) 8.Nf5, the knight on f5 is difficult to dislodge without concessions. Games in the Najdorf frequently feature opposite-side castling, where White castles long and both sides launch simultaneous attacks on their opponents' kings. Black usually plans

288-408: 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

360-540: 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

432-578: 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

504-399: 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

576-588: 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

648-440: A simultaneous pawn storm on opposite sides of the board. This approach has become the modern mainline and is seen regularly at the highest level. The main move. In the early days of the Najdorf 7.Qf3 was popular, but the reply 7...h6 did not allow White to obtain any advantage. Nowadays, White players almost universally respond with the move: 7.f4. White threatens 8.e5, but Black has several options: Historically speaking, this

720-523: 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

792-601: 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

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864-576: 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

936-429: Is 6.Kf1, as the white king can no longer be checked, forcing Black to play Qe7 moving out of danger, and allowing White to capture the rook. After 7...d5! 8.exd5 Nd4, however, Black still has a strong attack, but White maintains advantage after 9.d6! This move is preferred by most modern masters, winning a pawn and avoiding the complications that arise after 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+. After 5...Ke7 (better than Kf8 as Black should free

1008-448: 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,

1080-475: Is classified as code C57 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings . This is an extremely natural move and the whole point of Ng5. The knight is defended by the bishop on c4, and is forking the black queen and rook. But now the shocking sacrifice 5...Bxf2+ !! ( diagram ) will draw out the white king and bring the black queen into play with gain of time. If White captures the bishop, Black can continue

1152-493: 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

1224-539: 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

1296-619: 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

1368-488: 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

1440-587: 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

1512-480: 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

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1584-606: 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

1656-407: 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

1728-462: 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

1800-446: 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

1872-745: 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

1944-597: 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

2016-794: The Fried Liver Attack . The variation was first seen in the game J. Reinisch– Karel Traxler played in Hostouň in 1890. Later it was named after Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania by Frank Marshall , who claimed to be first to analyze and publish it, so today 4...Bc5 is known as both the Traxler Variation and (in the United States and the United Kingdom only) the Wilkes-Barre Variation. The opening

2088-697: 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

2160-419: 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

2232-611: The Sicilian Defence is one of the most popular, reputable, and deeply studied of all chess openings . Modern Chess Openings calls it the " Cadillac " or " Rolls-Royce " of chess openings. The opening is named after the Polish-Argentine grandmaster Miguel Najdorf , although he was not the first strong player to play the variation. Many players have relied on the Najdorf (notably Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov , although Kasparov would often transpose into

Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-663: 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

2376-424: The 1930s, this received little attention until Fischer regularly adopted it, and it was a frequent guest at the top level through the 1970s. White plays 6.Bc4 with the idea of playing against f7, so Black usually counters with 6...e6 7.Bb3 b5. The Sozin has become less popular because of 7...Nbd7 where Black intends to follow up with ...Nc5 later. It is possible to avoid the 7...Nbd7 option with 7.0-0, but this cuts out

2448-492: The Amsterdam Variation, leading to a more defensive kingside pawn structure. The idea is to eventually counterattack on the g1–a7 diagonal with a move like ...Qb6, preventing White from castling. An example line would be 6...g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.a4 Nc6 (note 8...Nc6 as opposed to the usual Najdorf ...Nbd7, as c6 is a more flexible square for the knight with a queen on b6) 9.Bd3 Qb6. Introduced by Weaver Adams during

2520-592: 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

2592-671: The Black's move 6...e5. Garry Kasparov would often transpose to the Scheveningen (6...e6) to avoid this problem when the two competed for the World Championships. In the 1980s and 1990s, a number of English players ( John Nunn , Nigel Short, and Murray Chandler ) began using an approach previously tried against other Sicilian variations, such as the Dragon. The English Attack, named for them, involves 6.Be3, and often leads to opposite-side castling with both sides launching

2664-609: 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 ,

2736-661: 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. Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation The Najdorf Variation ( / ˈ n aɪ d ɔːr f / NY -dorf ) of

2808-493: The Lipnitzky/Fischer Attack (6.Bc4) for much of his career. He won numerous games with it as White, though in the following years counterattacking approaches were found for Black that led to its decline, though a modern variation (7...Nbd7) caused a resurgence and it appeared in the 1993 PCA World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short . Anatoly Karpov faced the Najdorf many times with

2880-439: 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

2952-493: 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

Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-438: The aggressive possibility of castling long. Because of the success of various players with these variations, White often plays 6.Be2 and goes for a quieter, more positional game, whereupon Black has the option of transposing into a Scheveningen Variation by playing 6...e6 or keeping the game in Najdorf lines by playing 6...e5. Another option is to play 6...Nbd7. Some lines include: GM Daniel King recommends 6...g6 against

3096-425: The attack with 6...Nxe4+, after which Kg1 and Ke3 are considered the best moves (as moving the king to any square where it can be checked can lead to a decisive attack for Black), both of which are usually followed up by ...Qh4. If White blunders by taking the rook on h8, a common beginner mistake, mate in four follows: 8...Qf4+ 9.Ke2 (9.Kd3 Nb4+ 10.Ke2 Qf2 # ) Qf2+ 10.Kd3 Nb4+ 11.Kxe4 Qf4#. The best move after Bxf2+

3168-506: 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

3240-524: 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

3312-508: 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

3384-413: 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

3456-453: The e4-pawn, since ...b4 is a threat. It was not until early 2008 that an answer to Black was finally found. After 9.0-0 b4, White has the positional sacrifice 10.Nd5!, which gives Black long-term weaknesses and an open e-file for White to play on. Since then, it has been popular on all levels of play. A notable feature of the Najdorf is the sheer amount of potential white replies - Grandmasters have played 22 different responses to 5...a6. Beside

3528-537: 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

3600-421: The f-file for the king's rook ), White should move the bishop again since if it stays on f7, Black can play h6 attacking the knight and undermining the defense of the bishop. White is considered to have a slight edge, but lagging in development due to having to move the bishop and knight multiple times. The absence of the f7-pawn may also be used in Black's favor, as the rook will be active on f8 and

3672-454: 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

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3744-492: The hands of the Najdorf Variation." So from then on he played something else. A Ruy Lopez as Black, something classic in which the other had to know how to play chess to beat him. 6.Bg5 is an aggressive attempt by White to refute the opening and was regarded as the main line until the 1980s when its use began to decline. Bobby Fischer, who called the Najdorf "one of the greatest creations in chess theory", favoured

3816-420: The idea Qe8–g6(–h5) is a new possibility. The main line continues with 6.Bd5 (also possible are 6.Bb3 and 6.b4), which is often given an exclamation mark by theory books. This precise move gives rise to the possibility of future Bxc6 as well as overprotecting the e4-pawn. Black has a chance to exchange knight for bishop but the knight exchange reduces Black's counterattacking chances. Black can now develop

3888-399: 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

3960-502: 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

4032-485: The middle of the twentieth century, this odd-looking pawn move has mostly been used as a surprise weapon to combat the Najdorf. Should Black continue with 6...e5 anyway, White can respond with 7.Nde2 following up with g4 and Ng3, fighting for the weak light squares by playing g5. It is thus recommended that Black prevents g4 altogether with 7...h5. Black can also employ a Scheveningen set-up with 6...e6 followed by 7.g4 b5 8.Bg2 Bb7, forcing White to lose more time by defending

4104-598: 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

4176-405: 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

4248-408: 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

4320-742: 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

4392-436: 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

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4464-459: 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

4536-606: 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

4608-497: The rook to f8, threatening to win the f2-pawn by Bxf2+, Kxf2 and Nxd5+ discovered check . 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Ke2 ?? 6... Nd4+ 7. Kd3 ? b5 !! 8. Bb3 Nxe4!! 9. Nxd8 (diagram) 9... Nc5+ 10. Kc3 Ne2+ ! 11. Qxe2 Bd4+ 12. Kb4 a5+ 13. Kxb5 Ba6+ 14. Kxa5 Bd3+ 15. Kb4 Na6+ 16. Ka4 Nb4+ 17. Kxb4 c5 # Bibliography Chess opening Opening moves that are considered standard are referred to as "book moves", or simply "book". When

4680-436: 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

4752-570: 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

4824-461: The seventh or the fourteenth. So then, being a practical person, he thought 'if you have to do something at 7:00AM or at 9:00 or at 10:00, better do it as soon as you get up, and get it over with'. Ironically, Najdorf would abandon the variation later when the theory developed to become very sophisticated: "Here comes some kid who's memorized the moves and he kills me. He arrives with his books, he gets me into something I don't know and Najdorf dies at

4896-442: 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

4968-415: The variation named after him, claimed to have shown it to Miguel Najdorf himself. However, Najdorf was a stronger player and, with the help of other strong Argentine players in the 1950s, deepened the analysis of the opening. He played it as early as 1937. it was Miguel who realized that in this position the move 5...a6 was always useful for Black. If it is not played on the fifth move it will be played on

5040-461: 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

5112-474: The white pieces, and frequently opted for the Classical/Opočenský Variation (6.Be2) (inspired by Efim Geller, who acted as Karpov’s second). The Classical Variation aims to castle kingside for a more positional game, which suited Karpov's style. He contributed both to the theory and the popularity of the variation while at his peak, finding ways to exploit the weakness of the d5-square created by

5184-715: Was the usual reply until the mid-1960s, when the rejoinder 7.Bc4 put the move "out of business". Recently, however, the line has seen a resurgence in high-level play. The idea for Black is to postpone ...e6 to retain more dynamic options (for example, to play ...e7–e5 in one move). The most important developments include: This has become the modern main line. Since the early 1990s, the English Attack, 6.Be3 followed by f3, g4, Qd2 and 0-0-0 in some order, has become extremely popular and has been intensively analysed. Four lines are then usual for Black: Introduced by Veniamin Sozin in

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