Chapter 8 - A Key To The Openings

ALAPIN'S OPENING: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—K2

This is a poor opening for White because his Knight's development is not aggressive and because it blocks White's King Bishop. (See Diagram 40:)

ALBIN COUNTER GAMBIT: 1 P—Q4, P—Q4; 2 P—QB4, P—K4

Black's counter gambit is premature and unsound. After 3 QPxP, P—Q5 Black must rely on tricky play to compensate for his minus Pawn. White gets a clear advantage by straightforward development.

ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, N—KB3

Black tempts the advance of White's center Pawns. After 2 P—K5, N—Q4; 3 P—QB4, N—N3; 4 P—Q4, P—Q3; 5 P—KB4 White has a formidable center and a tremendous advantage in mobility. With accurate play he can stifle Black. (See Diagram 26.)

BIRD'S OPENING: 1 P—KB4

This avoidance of a center Pawn move generally hampers White's development. White rarely plays this opening, which has remained a specialized resource of a small number of players.

BISHOP'S OPENING: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 B—B4

Old-fashioned and rarely played nowadays. The move of the Bishop lacks bite and White therefore generally plays 2 N—KB3.

BLUMENFELD COUNTER GAMBIT: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 N—KB3, P—K3; 3 P—B4, P—B4; 4 P—Q5, P—QN4

This counterattack against White's Pawn position is considered premature. White gets a good lead in development and mobility by answering 5 B—N5.

BUDAPEST DEFENSE: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 P—QB4, P—K4

Black offers a Pawn in the hope of getting a strong attack. White generally gets the better game by playing for a lead in development; the extra Pawn is only of secondary importance.

CARO-KANN DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—QB3

A solid and phlegmatic defense which generally continues 2 P—Q4, P—Q4 without giving either side any marked winning possibilities.

CATALAN SYSTEM: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 P—QB4, P—K3; 3 N—KB3, P—Q4; 4 P—KN3

This line often transposes into the Reti Opening. White's fianchettoed Bishop at King Knight 2 frequently has great power. White thus- gives Black the problem of neutralizing the power of the fianchettoed Bishop.

CENTER COUNTER GAME: 1 P—K4, P—Q4

After the usual continuation 2 PxP, QxP; 3 N—QB3 White drives away Black's Queen with loss of time for Black.

CENTER GAME: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 P—Q4, PxP; 3 QxP

Black gains a lasting lead in developing with 3 ... N—QB3, attacking White's Queen. This is why the opening has practically disappeared from tournament play. (See Diagram 30.)

DANISH GAMBIT: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 P—Q4, PxP; 3 P—QB3

White offers a Pawn, and may offer a second one, for a lead in development. Whether or not he gets the attack he hopes for, depends on Black's resourcefulness and defensive skill.

DUTCH DEFENSE: 1 P—Q4, P—KB4

Black advances his King Bishop Pawn as a means of controlling the center. He holds in reserve the possibility of playing (a) ... P—K3 and ... P—Q4 or (b) . . . P—K3 and ... P—Q3 or (c) . . . P—Q3 and ... P—K4. Black has prospects of King-side attack, though White often has an opportunity to exploit Pawn weaknesses in Black's position.

ENGLISH OPENING: 1 P—QB4

White deliberately refrains from advancing a center Pawn, partly in order to wait until Black's intentions are revealed. This opening often transposes into the Reti Opening or Queen's Gambit Declined.
EVANS GAMBIT: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 B—B4, B—B4; 4 P—QN4

This enterprising offshoot of the Giuoco Piano offers Black a Pawn in the hope of gaining time for a considerable lead in development and resulting attacking chances. Black's safest course is 4 ... B—N3, seeking safety by refusing the Pawn. (See Diagram 18.)

FALKBEER COUNTER GAMBIT: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 P—KB4, P—Q4

This is a brisk method of declining the King's Gambit. It generally continues 3 KPxP, P—K5 when Black hopes to get enough compensation for the Pawn sacrificed. There are some brilliant games on record where inexact play by White allowed a fine finish by Black. But if White plays accurately and aggressively he should maintain the advantage.

FOUR KNIGHTS' GAME: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 N—B3, N—B3

A safe but dull opening which is very likely to lead to a draw. There are many symmetrical variations where White's chances of initiative are reduced to a minimum. (See Diagram 15.)

FRENCH DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—K3

This is almost invariably continued 2 P—Q4, P—Q4 with a critical fight for control of the center. As a rule White has greater freedom of action, and Black is often hampered by the fact that his Queen Bishop has little mobility. However, the French is a serviceable defense that has some attractive counterattacking features. (See Diagram 44.)

GIUOCO PIANO: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 B—B4, B—B4

This opening, the "Quiet Game," leads to unexciting chess when White later advances his Queen Pawn one square. But in those variations where White plays P—Q4, the resulting lines are generally very lively.

GRECO COUNTER GAMBIT: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, P—KB4

Black's counterattack against White's center is premature and generally leaves White with a considerable lead in development.

GRUENFELD DEFENSE: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 P—QB4, P—KN3; 3 N—QB3, P—Q4
This is a "hypermodern" defense. Black is perfectly willing to let White set up a broad, formidable-looking Pawn center by 4 PxP, NxP; 5 P—K4 etc. In return, Black hopes to take pot-shots at this Pawn center by fianchettoing his King Bishop. Whether the Bishop's pressure on the center compensates for White's superior command of the board, is an open question.

HUNGARIAN DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 B—B4, B—K2

Definitely a defense that favors White. Black's game is cramped and his development lacking in striking power. His reason for playing the defense is that he wishes to avoid the Giuoco Piano or the Evans Gambit.

KING'S GAMBIT: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 P—KB4, PxP

This is one of the oldest, liveliest, and most analyzed of all the chess openings. It has yielded White many flashy wins by quick attack along the King Bishop file. It has also resulted in snappy wins for Black when White's King was too exposed. Prudent players prefer to decline the gambit by 2 ... B—B4. This leads to a more sedate tempo and gives Black an easier game without quite ruling out all the fireworks.

KING'S INDIAN DEFENSE: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 P—QB4, P—KN3 (followed by ... P—Q3)

This defense leads to a very complex game with chances for both sides. It is one of the best fighting defenses in reply to 1 P—Q4. (See Diagrams 36, 56.)

NIMZOINDIAN DEFENSE: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 P—QB4, P—K3; 3 N—QB3, B—N5

Another great fighting defense. For the time being this leaves White in the dark as to whether Black will play . . . P—Q4, or ... P—B4, or ... P—Q3 followed by ... P—K4. A possible drawback is that Black generally ex: changes his advanced Bishop for White's Queen Knight. With the Bishop-pair at his disposal, White has promising attacking possibilities.

NIMZOVICH DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, N—QB3

A cramped, unpopular defense which offers Black poor prospects. White's strongest reply is 2 P—Q4.

PETROFF'S DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—KB3
Black can generally hold his own with this enterprising counterattack, despite the fact that Black's second move is attacking at an extremely early stage.

PHILIDOR'S DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, P—Q3

The early blocking of the King Bishop does Black no good. Black's pieces have little scope and the defense is therefore rarely played. (See Diagram 30.)

PONZIANI'S OPENING: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3;3P—B3

White's third move is not aggressive enough and allows Black to counterattack comfortably with 3 ... P—Q4! Since this counter menaces White's initiative, the opening is rarely seen in serious play. (See Diagram 41.)

QUEEN'S GAMBIT ACCEPTED: 1 P—Q4, P—Q4; 2 P—QB4, PxP

The acceptance of the gambit removes Black's Queen Pawn from the center and therefore often gives White a strong initiative based on his dominating position in the center. For this reason, Black generally declines the gambit. (See Diagram 32.)

QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED: 1 P—Q4, P—Q4; 2 P—QB4, P—K3 (or 2 ... P—QB3)

As indicated in the previous opening, Black declines the gambit in order to maintain a Pawn in the center. In this way he can fight for control of the center. In many variations, however, Black captures the gambit Pawn later in the game. There are two possible reasons for this. One is to begin simplifying exchanges which will free Black's game. The other reason is that this capture is often a prelude to a freeing maneuver based on ... P—QB4 or ... P—K4 or both.

This opening gives White many chances of exerting powerful pressure on Black's game. Thus, White is often in a position to exploit the hemmed-in position of Black's Queen Bishop. White's freedom of action is often decisive in other respects, too. Thus, he frequently makes winning use of an open Queen Bishop file, or a powerful outpost for a Knight at K5, or the powerful attacking diagonal QN1—KR7. (See Diagram 23.)

QUEEN'S INDIAN DEFENSE: 1 P—Q4, N—KB3; 2 P—QB4, P—K3; 3 N—KB3, P—QN3
This generally continues 4 P—KN3, B—N2; 5 B—N2 when we witness a duel between the two Bishops on the long diagonal. The opening favors White, who has a freer game. Black's chances of seizing the initiative are very slight.

RETI OPENING: 1 N—KB3, P—Q4; 2 P—B4

The "hypermodern" opening par excellence, dedicated to subtle maneuvering. White always fianchettoes the King Bishop and sometimes the other Bishop too. (For example: 2 ... P—QB3; 3 P—QN3, N—B3; 4 P—N3, B—B4, 5 B—KN2 etc.) The resulting positions are usually suitable for slow-motion jockeying that would seriously tax the patience of the average player.

RUY LOPEZ: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 B—N5

The powerful Bishop move puts Black's position under lasting pressure. This opening is considered the strongest, as far as White is concerned, of all those where both players advance the King Pawn two squares. If Black does not handle the opening carefully, he is likely to find himself in a seriously compromised position because of lack of terrain for his pieces.

SCOTCH GAME: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3P—Q4, PxP; 4NxP

This old-fashioned opening has lost much of the popularity it once enjoyed. By moving his King Knight twice, White wastes time and gives Black an opportunity to fight for the initiative with 4 ... B—B4 or 4 ... N—B3. The Scotch Gambit (4 B—QB4, B—B4) gives Black even less to worry about, and has altogether disappeared from serious play. (See Diagram 39.)

SICILIAN DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—QB4

The most courageous and the most aggressive of all the "irregular" replies to 1 P—K4. In all variations this defense leads to a complicated fighting game in which both players have chances for a win. This has always been the favorite defense of players who want lively play on ground of their own choosing. (See Diagram 35.)

THREE KNIGHTS' GAME: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 N—B3, B—N5

Occasionally played to avoid the Four Knights' Game. It offers Black equality in a number of rather characterless variations.
TWO KNIGHTS' DEFENSE: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—KB3, N—QB3; 3 B—B4, N—B3

A lively opening, full of fight—especially if White tries to win the King Bishop Pawn with 4 N—N5. There are interesting variations, many of them complicated and some of them involving speculative Pawn sacrifices on both sides.

VIENNA GAME: 1 P—K4, P—K4; 2 N—QB3

Theoretically inferior to 2 N—KB3 as it does not attack Black's King Pawn and therefore gives Black time to develop and to try to seize the initiative. In playing this opening White generally aims at an early advance of his King Bishop Pawn, but theory gives Black even chances.

You will find this key useful in a number of ways. When you hear of an opening, for the first time, you can consult the key to get an idea of what the opening is like. Again, by reading the description in the key, you can decide whether a given opening would suit your taste and style. By experimenting in this way, you will be able to decide on the openings you want to study and specialize in.

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