English opening

English opening
a b c d e f G H   8th 8th 7th 7th 6th 6th 5 5 4th 4th 3 3 2 2 1 1   a b c d e f G H
Trains	1. c2-c4
ECO key	A10-A39
Named after	Nationality of Howard Staunton

The English opening is an opening in the game of chess . English is a flexible opening in which one can often switch to other opening systems; so a lot is possible from the Queen's Gambit to the Indian defenses to Sicilian . No other opening system offers such a variety of possibilities.

The English opening counts as a closed game and is classified in the ECO codes under the keys A10 to A39.

Replay

Each of its main variants begins with the following moves:

1. c2 – c4 ( move changes are common; e.g. 1. Nf3… 2. c4)

The main variants of the English opening include:

• English symmetry variant 1.… c7 – c5
• Sicilian on the move 1.… e7 – e5
• After the neutral development move 1.… Ng8 – f6 , the Mikenas system or Flohr - Mikenas system called 2. Nb1 – c3 e7 – e6 3. e2 – e4 is of greater importance. In the case of 3.… d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. d4 White relies on the space advantage of his robust pawn center. In the case of 3.… c5 4. e5 Ng8 White can defend his outpost e5 with 5. d4 cxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qe4 or after 5. Nf3 Nc6 with 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nxe5 8. Ndb5 put pressure on the pieces. Oleh Romanyschyn invented after 2. Nb1 – c3 e7 – e6 3. Ng1 – f3 b7 – b6 4. e2 – e4 (4. g2 – g3 c7 – c5 results in the English symmetry variant .) Bc8 – b7 5. Bf1 – d3 around Bc2 next to d4.

Naming

The opening designation first appeared in chess literature in 1868. The Neue Berliner Schachzeitung glossed over the game Cecil De Vere - Jules Arnous de Rivière from the Paris tournament in 1867, which the Englishman began with the move 1. c2 – c4. The unnamed commentator (probably the main editor Johannes Hermann Zukertort ) remarked on White's first move: "In order to limit the " Irregular opening "section as much as possible, we give it the name of the English , as English matadors like to play them." In England Until then, the Ponziani opening, which was analytically examined by Howard Staunton , was called the English opening. Since this opening was rarely played, the name of the opening was transferred to move 1. c2 – c4 and also established itself internationally.

The intensive attempts made by the Bremen chess master Carl Carls (1880-1958) to give the opening the name Bremer Partie were unsuccessful. Carls, who regularly opened his games with the two-step c-pawn move, argued that although the opening was "used by great masters ( Anderssen , Neumann , Minckwitz, etc.)", "but only very rarely". It had "been systematically researched neither by an Englishman, nor in England at all" and deserved to be named after the German Hanseatic city "for reasons of expediency". The German opening specialist Rolf Schwarz gave his monograph the title English-Bremen Partie in 1963 , but with the memory of Carl Carls, the attempts to introduce a new nomenclature related to Carls also disappeared in Germany.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neue Berliner Schachzeitung, born in 1868, p. 328.
2. ↑ Deutsche Schachzeitung, Volume 1874, p. 121.
3. ^ Carl Carls: Carl Carls and the Bremer Partie , Berlin 1957, p. 9.
4. ^ Rolf Schwarz: English-Bremen Partie , Berlin 1963.

literature

• Nick de Firmian : Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition: Random House Puzzles and Games, 2008. pp. 675-717. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7 .
• Nigel Davies: The English Opening . chessbase-DVD, ISBN 978-3-86681-088-4 .
• Lorin D'Costa: ABC of the English Opening . chessbase-DVD, ISBN 978-3-86681-440-0 .