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The first moves of a chess game are the opening moves, collectively referred to as the opening. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings or defenses, and have been given names such as the Ruy Lopez, Sicilian Defense, and Queen's Gambit Declined. There are dozens of different openings, which vary widely in character from quiet positional play (e.g. the Réti Opening and some lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined) to wild tactical play (e.g. the Latvian Gambit and Two Knights Defense, particularly the Wilkes-Barre Variation). A sequence of opening moves that is considered standard or follows that given in a reference work (such as the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings) is referred to as "the book moves" or simply "book." These reference works often present these move sequences in theory tables. A new move in the opening is referred to as a "novelty" or "theoretical novelty." At the point at which a game deviates from previously known opening theory, the players are said to be "out of book." In some opening lines, the moves considered best for both sides have been worked out to 30-35 moves or more. Serious chessplayers often spend years studying the openings, and continue doing so throughout their careers, since opening theory is constantly being refined. For a list of openings as classified by the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, see List of chess openings.
Aims of the openingAlthough a wide variety of moves are played in the opening, the aims behind them are broadly speaking the same. First and foremost, the aim is to avoid being checkmated and avoid losing material, as in other phases of the game. However, assuming neither player makes a blunder in the opening, the main aims include:
Apart from these ideas, other strategic plans 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 favourable exchanges of minor pieces (e.g. gaining the bishop pair), or gaining a space advantage, whether in the centre or on the flanks. In more general terms, many writers (for example, Reuben Fine in The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings) have commented that it is White's task in the opening to preserve and increase the advantage conferred by moving first, while Black's task is to equalise the game. Many openings, however, give Black a chance to play aggressively for advantage from the very start. According to IM , 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 Winawer Varation of the French, White will try to use his 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 the weakened pawns on White's queenside. Opening nomenclatureEarly in the history of chess the lack of an adequate or widely used system of chess notation made it very cumbersome to describe the opening moves of a game. It was natural to assign names to sequences of opening moves to make them easier to discuss. Opening theory began being studied more scientifically from the 1840s on, and many opening variations were discovered and named in this period and later. Unfortunately opening nomenclature developed haphazardly, and most names are more historical accidents than based on any systematic principles. The oldest openings tend to be named for geographic places and people. Many openings are named after nationalities, for example English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Scotch, Russian, Italian, Scandinavian, and Sicilian. Cities are also used, such as Vienna, Berlin, and Wilkes-Barre. The Catalan System is named after the Catalonia region of Spain. 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 Defense, Morphy Defense, and the Réti System. Some opening names honor two people, such as with the Caro-Kann. A few opening names are descriptive, such as Giuoco Piano (Italian: "quiet game"). More prosaic descriptions include Two Knights and Four Knights. Descriptive names are less common than openings named for places and people. 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 the Orangutan, Hippopotamus, Elephant, and Hedgehog. Many terms are used for the opening as well. In addition to Opening, common terms include Game, Defense, Gambit, and Variation; less common terms are System, Attack, Counterattack, Countergambit, Reversed, and Inverted. To make matters more confusing, these terms are used very inconsistently. Consider some of the openings named for nationalities: Scotch Game, English Opening, French Defense, and Russian Game — the Scotch Game and the English Opening are both White openings, the French is indeed a defense but so is the Russian Game. Although these don't have precise definitions, here are some general observations about how they are used.
A small minority of openings are prefixed with "Anti-". These are openings intended to avoid a particular line otherwise available to one's opponent, for example the Anti-Marshall (against the Marshall (Counter) Attack in the Ruy Lopez) and the Anti-Meran Gambit (against the Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav Defense). Classification of chess openingsVarious classification schemes for chess openings are in use. The ECO scheme is given at list of chess openings. The beginning chess position offers White 20 possible first 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 the knight is liable to be kicked to an inferior square by ...d4. (Note that after 1.Nf3 the analogous 1...e5? just 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 1.b3 and 1.g3 aid development a bit, but they only address center control peripherally and are slower than the more popular openings. The 11 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 like 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 20 possible responses to White's opening move. Many of these are mirror images of the most popular first moves for White, but with a tempo less. 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 king-side fianchetto are also commonly played. One reasonable way to group the openings is
Open games (1.e4 e5)
White starts by playing 1.e4 (moving his King's pawn 2 spaces). This is the most popular opening move and it has many strengths — it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the queen and a bishop). The oldest openings in chess follow 1.e4 and many lie along the Épine Dorsale. 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; the Hungarian master Gyula Breyer melodramatically declared that "After 1.e4 White's game is in its last throes". 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 and preparing to advance the queen pawn to d4. Black's most common reply is 2...Nc6, which usually leads to the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano, Two Knights Defense, or Scotch Game. If Black instead maintains symmetry and counterattacks White's center with 2...Nf6 then the Petrov's Defense results. The most popular alternatives to 2.Nf3 are 2.Nc3 (the Vienna Game), 2.Bc4 (the Bishop's Opening) and 2.f4 (the King's Gambit). All of these three 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 1800s. White sacrifices a pawn for quick development and to pull a black pawn out of the center. The Vienna Game also frequently features attacks on 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. The early queen developments of the Parham Attack and the Napoleon Opening look amateurish. Indeed they are generally only played by novices, but the Parham Attack has been played in a few grandmaster tournament games. The Portuguese Opening, Alapin's Opening, Konstantinopolsky Opening, and Inverted Hungarian Opening are rare, offbeat tries for White. Of the defenses in this section, only the Damiano Defense is truly bad, although the Elephant Gambit and the Latvian Gambit are very risky for Black. The Philidor Defense is not popular in modern chess because it allows White an easy space advantage while Black remains solid but cramped and passive.
Semi-open games (1.e4, Black plays something other than 1...e5)In 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, but the French and the Caro-Kann are also very popular. The Pirc and the Modern are also commonly seen, and the Alekhine has made occasional appearances in World Chess Championship games. The Center Counter and Nimzowitsch are playable but rare. Owen's Defense and the St. George Defense are oddities, although Tony Miles once used St. George's Defense to defeat then World Champion Anatoly Karpov. 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 his c-pawn to support his center (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5). Alekhine's, the Pirc and the Modern are hypermodern openings in which Black tempts White to build a large center with the goal of attacking it with pieces.
Closed games (1.d4 d5)
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 the King Pawn openings where the e4 pawn is undefended after the first move, the d4 pawn 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 between variations are more common and critical in the closed games. The Richter-Veresov Attack, Colle System, Stonewall Attack, and Blackmar-Diemer Gambit are classified as Queen's Pawn Games because White plays d4 but not c4. Although the Richter-Veresov is played at the top levels of chess, it is used only occasionally. The Colle and the Stonewall are both Systems, rather than specific opening variations. White develops aiming for a particular formation without great concern over how Black chooses to defend. Both these systems are popular with club players because they are easy to learn, but are rarely used by professionals because a well prepared opponent playing Black can equalize fairly easily. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is an attempt by White to open lines and obtain attacking chances. Most professionals consider it too risky for serious games, but it is popular with amateurs and in blitz chess. The most important closed openings are in 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 ...cxd5. White will get active pieces and possibilities for the attack. Black has two popular ways to decline 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 possibilites 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 the Queen's Gambit other than 2...dxc4, 2...c6, and 2...e6 are uncommon. The Chigorin Defense (2...Nc6) is playable but quite rare. The Symmetrical Defense (2...c5) is the most direct challenge to Queen's Gambit theory — Can Black equalize by simply copying White's moves? Most opening theoreticians believe the answer is no, and consequently the Symmetrical Defense is not popular. The Baltic Defense (2...Bf5) takes the most direct solution to solving the problem of Black's queen bishop by developing it on the second move. Although it is not trusted by most elite players, it has not been definitely refuted and some very strong grandmasters have played it. The Albin Countergambit (2...e5) is generally considered too risky for top-level tournament play, and the Marshall Defense (2...Nf6) is no longer played as it is thought to be definitely inferior for Black.
Indian systems (1.d4 Nf6)
The Modern Benoni Defense is a risky attempt by Black to unbalance 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. Often Black adopts a slightly different move order, playing 2...e6 before 3...c5. The Benko Gambit is now considered a sound opening for Black. 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 his initiative can last even after many piece exchanges and well into the endgame. White often chooses instead either to decline the gambit pawn or return it. 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. Black attacks the center with pieces and is prepared to trade a bishop for a knight to weaken White's queenside with doubled pawns. The Queen's Indian Defense 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 is a leading expert in this opening. The King's Indian Defense is aggressive and 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 featured in the games of Bronstein, Boleslavsky, and Reshevsky. Fischer's favored defense to 1.d4, its popularity faded in 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 Old Indian Defense was introduced by Tarrasch in 1902, but it is more commonly associated with Chigorin who adopted it five years later. It is similar to the King's Indian in that both feature a ...d6 and ...e5 pawn center, but in the Old Indian Black's king bishop is developed to e7 rather than being fianchettoed on g7. The Old Indian is solid, but Black's position is usually cramped and it lacks the dynamic possibilities found in the King's Indian. The Catalan Opening is characterized by White forming a pawn center at d4 and c4 and fianchettoing his 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 QGD-like move sequence is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3), it is sometimes called the Catalan System. The Neo-Indian Attack, Torre Attack, and Trompowski Attack are White anti-Indian variations. Related to the Richter-Veresov Attack, they feature an early Bg5 by White and avoid much of the detailed theory of other queen's pawn openings. The Black Knights' Tango or Mexican Defense introduced by Carlos Torre in 1925 in Baden Baden shares similarities with Alekhine's Defense as Black attempts to induce a premature advance of the white pawns. It may transpose into many other defenses. The (or Countergambit) bears a superficial but misleading resemblance to the Benko Gambit, as Black's goals are very different. Black gambits a wing pawn in an attempt to build a strong center. White can either accept the gambit or decline it to maintain a small positional advantage. Although the Blumenfeld is playable for Black it is not very popular. The is uncommon, but it was sometimes adopted by Keres. It will sometimes transpose into a variation of the Queen's Indian Defense but there are also independent lines. The Budapest Defense is rarely played in grandmaster games, but often played by amateurs. Although it is a gambit, White usually does not hold on to the extra pawn.
Other Black responses to 1.d4There are several other defenses that can be played to 1.d4. The most common is the Dutch Defense. The Dutch is quite aggressive. Adopted for a time by World Champions Alekhine and Botvinnik, it 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. The remaining openings in this section are uncommon. The Englund Gambit is a rare and dubious sacrifice. The Polish Defense has never been very popular but has been tried by Spassky, Ljubojevic, and , among others. The Kangaroo Defense, also known as the Keres Defense, often transposes into the Dutch, Nimzo-Indian, or Bogo-Indian. The Queen's Knight Defense is an uncommon opening that often transposes to the Nimzowitsch Defense after 1.d4 Nc6 2.e4 or the Chigorin Defense after 2.c4 d5, although it can lead to unique lines, for example after 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 or 2.c4 e5.
Flank openings (including English, Réti, Bird's, and White fianchettoes)The flank openings are the group of White openings typified by play on one or both flanks. White plays in hypermodern style, attacking 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 Indian systems) 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 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, 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. The English also frequently transposes into a d4 opening, but it can take on independent character as well including symmetrical variations (1.c4 c5) and the Sicilian Defense in reverse (1.c4 e5). Larsen's Opening and the Sokolsky Opening are occasionally seen in grandmaster play. Benko used 1.g3 to defeat both Fischer and Tal in the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao. With Bird's Opening White tries to get a strong grip on the e5-square. The opening can resemble a Dutch Defense in reverse after 1.f4 d5, or Black may try to disrupt White by playing 1...e5!? (From's Gambit).
Unusual first moves for WhiteEach of these openings is rarely adopted for one or more of the following reasons: it is considered too passive for White (e.g. 1.e3, 1.d3, 1.c3); it gratuitously weakens White's position (e.g. 1.f3, 1.h4); it does nothing to aid White's development or control the center (e.g. 1.f3, 1.a4, 1.h4); or it develops a knight to an inferior square (1.Nh3 or 1.Na3).
See also Fool's mate. See alsoReferences
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