A Beginner Garden of Chess Openings

8/2/2019 A Beginner Garden of Chess Openings

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A Beginner Garden of Chess Openings

A guide by David A. Wheeler.

The first moves of a chess game are termed the "opening" or "opening moves". A good openingwill provide better protection of the King, control over an area of the board (particularly the

center), greater mobility for pieces, and possibly opportunities to capture opposing pawns and

pieces.

The possible opening moves of chess have been extensively studied for hundreds of years, andmany of these sequences have been given names to simplify discussion of a game.

This document briefly lists a few of the more well-known chess openings, so that when you see the

first few moves you can at least say "Ah! That's the X!", where X is some well-known opening.

Many books and encyclopedias give "how to play" information on each opening; here, we'll

concentrate on at least knowing some common approaches to starting chess. This is a small subsetof well-known openings; many others are not covered here. Before you play a particular opening,

you'd be wise to study it in more depth than given here. Pictures show the opening position;selecting the picture will show the opening moves animated one move at a time if you have a PGN

viewer installed.

In all openings there is a struggle for key territory, in particular the center squares, and an effort to

deploy pieces and pawns in useful positions. Some are direct, while others are more subtle andindirect approaches toward these goals.

There are three groups of openings covered here:

1. White can start by moving his King's pawn 2 spaces, i.e. playing "e4". This move has many

strengths - it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (theQueen and a Bishop). This is a popular first move, leaving Black with two options:

1. Black may choose to mirror White's move and reply with "e5" for the same reasons,

leading to openings such as theRuy Lopez,Giuoco Piano (including theEvansGambitvariant), and King's Gambit.

2. Black can also try something other than mirroring White's "e4" move, leading to

openings such as the Sicilian Defense, French Defense,Caro-Kann,Center

Counter, and Pirc/Modern.2. White can start by moving the Queen's pawn to "d4". This leads to openings such as the

Queen's Gambit,King's Indian Defense,Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, and Queen's IndianDefense, andDutch Defense.

3. White can start with some other move than "e4" or "d4". One example is the English

Opening.

Each of these openings is briefly described below.
http://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Ruy%20Lopezhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Ruy%20Lopezhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Giuoco%20Pianohttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Giuoco%20Pianohttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Evans%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Evans%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Evans%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Evans%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Kings%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Sicilian%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#French%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Caro-Kannhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Caro-Kannhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Center%20Counterhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Center%20Counterhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Center%20Counterhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Pirc-Modernhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Queens%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Kings%20Indian%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Kings%20Indian%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Indianhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Indianhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Dutch%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Dutch%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#English%20Openinghttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#English%20Openinghttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Giuoco%20Pianohttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Evans%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Evans%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Kings%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Sicilian%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#French%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Caro-Kannhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Center%20Counterhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Center%20Counterhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Pirc-Modernhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Queens%20Gambithttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Kings%20Indian%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Indianhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Indianhttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Dutch%20Defensehttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#English%20Openinghttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#English%20Openinghttp://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/#Ruy%20Lopez


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Ruy Lopez

The Ruy Lopez (also called the "Spanish" opening) starts out as1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

The Ruy Lopez is an old opening; it is named after Ruy Lopez, a 16th Century Spanish

clergyman and chess enthusiast. He made a systematic study of this and other chess openings,

which he recorded in a 150 page book. However, although it is named after him, this

particular opening was known earlier; it is included in the Gottengen manuscript, which datesfrom 1490. Popular use of the Ruy Lopez opening did not develop, however, until the mid

1800's when Jaenisch, a Russian theoretician, "rediscovered" its potential. The opening is still

in active use; it is a favorite of Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer. In it, White creates apotential pin of the d-pawn or Knight and starts an attack immediately, while simultaneously

preparing to castle.

White generally directs pressure on Black's e-pawn and tries to prepare for a pawn on d4. It'sknown that Black's best reply on move 3 is a6, which attacks White's attacking bishop. Afterthat, White can back up (Ba4) or exchange pieces (Bxc6).

Giuoco Piano


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This "Quiet Game" has White performing a mild attack with his Bishop, but Black is oftenable to even up the game with his defenses. It starts as:1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5

If White then replies "d3", you have the "Guioco Pianissimo" ("The Quietest Game") - a very

passive game.

If White replies with "b4?!", you have the "Evans Gambit", in which White offers a pawn in

exchange for a powerful center and possibly opening his Queen Bishop.

King's Gambit


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This opening was the most popular opening in the 1800s. White offers a pawn in exchangefor rapid development. It's rarely seen now at the master level; according to Keene it's been

found that Black can obtain a reasonable position (giving nothing for White's pawn).1. e4 e5 2. f4

A natural following move is "exf4" accepting the gambit.

Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian starts as:1. e4 c5

The Sicilian is popular at the master level. Black immediately fights for the center, but byattacking from the c-file (instead of mirroring White's move) he creates an asymmetrical

position that leads to lots of complicated positions. Black tries to attack White's e-pawn, often

through a Knight at f6 and Bishop at b7. Black would like to make the move "d5" withoutretribution.


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The Sicilian has been extensively studied, and there are many variations. A popular variationis the "Dragon" variation, which starts as:1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4

4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6

In this variation, Black finachettos a bishop on the h8-a1 diagonal. This is called the

"Dragon" variation because Black's pawn structure is supposed to look like a dragon.

Another variation that's quite popular is the "Najdorf" variation. It starts just like the Dragon,

and diverges on Black's move 5:1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4

4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6

According to Grandmaster Daniel King White often responds with "Be2", permitting Black to

attack the center with "e5!".


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French Defense

In the French Defense, Black lets White have more control over the center, in exchange for

which he builds a (hopefully) safe wall of pawns. The French Defense starts as:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5

Games generally involve jockeying for position. The center usually becomes closed, two

competing pawn chains arise, and each player tries to outflank the other. White generally tries

to play e5; Black tries to play c5 or f6. Black's queen Bishop often becomes trapped anduseless, and it's known as the "French Bishop".

Caro-Kann

The Caro-Kann is like the French defense - Black lets White build control of the center, and

Black tries to get a pawn at d5. It looks like a "wimpy Sicilian". The Caro-Kann starts out as:1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5

The main line of the Caro-Kann is

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4


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Black gets to eliminate one of White's central pawns and can get his pieces developed, which

is an advantage over the French Defense. However, Black's pieces end up with more of a

passive defensive role, so players of this opening are often looking for White to make amistake (however slight).

Center Counter

The Center Counter starts out as:1. e4 d5

This opening is also called the "Scandinavian" opening. A common continuation is exd5

Qxd5.

Pirc/Modern

This opening goes by various names, such as "Pirc" and "Modern". It starts:1. e4 d6

or1. e4 g6

Keene labels the "Modern Defense" as the sequence:


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1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7

This is a relatively new opening. In the 1930s this was considered inferior, but by the 1960s it

was found to be quite playable. Black lets White take the center with the view to undermining

and ruining White's "wonderful" position. This opening is tricky to play and correct play of itis counter-intuitive (immediate center control is not a goal, since Black is trying to undermine

that control).

Queen's Gambit

Now we look at openings other than "1. e4". The Queen's Gambit starts with:1. d4 d5 2. c4

White offers up a pawn in exchange for rapid development. Black can accept the gambit withdxc4, playing "Queen's Gambit Accepted", which is a risky way to play this gambit. Black

can also play Nc6 (the Tchigoran Defense), e6 (which leads to the Tarrasch Defense), or play

e6 (the Orthodox Defense).

King's Indian Defense


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This is a "hypermodern" opening, where Black lets White take the center with the view tolater ruining White's "wonderful" position. It's a risky opening, a favorite of both Kasparov

and Fischer.1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7

Black will be interested in playing c5, and when White plays d5, reply with e6 and b5.

Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, and Queen's Indian Defense

All of these "Indian" defenses start with:1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6

The Nimzo-Indian continues with "Nc3 Bb4". In the Nimzo-Indian, White tries to create apawn center and mass his pieces behind behind them for attack.

Dutch Defense


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The Dutch defense starts as:1. d4 f5

The Dutch defense is an aggressive counterplay by Black. Black immediately begins to movetoward White's kingside in an attempt to crush White. However, it also creates weaknesses in

Black's position from the beginning - this move of the f-pawn weakens Black's defenses and

doesn't help develop pieces.

English Opening

The English opening is a "flank" manuever. It starts very differently:1. c4

Here White hopes to control the center by first gaining support on the side. A common

response for Black is "c5".

References

How to Play the Opening in Chess. 1993. Raymond Keene and David Levy. ISBN 0-8050-

2937-0.

The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings.


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Batsford Chess Openings 2. 1989, 1994. Garry Kasparov and Raymond Keene. New York,

New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.

(C) 1997-2002 David A. Wheeler. Released under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).

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A Beginner Garden of Chess Openings