Opening (chess)

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Starting position in chess

The opening is the first phase of a game of chess . It comprises about the first 10 to 15 moves of a game, and ends after the development of the characters; it is followed by the middlegame . Depending on which stones are drawn first, one speaks of an open , half-open or closed game.

General opening strategy

The aim of the opening is to develop the pieces, to dominate the center squares and to bring the king - through castling - into a safe position.

The great chess teachers Ruy López , Gioachino Greco , François-André Philidor , Siegbert Tarrasch , Aaron Nimzowitsch and the world chess champions contributed to the opening lesson. As a result, a number of principles have emerged that apply more or less independently of the opening system chosen. These "golden rules" can serve as a guide if a player does not have a precise knowledge of the variant:

  1. If possible, occupy the center with your own farmers.
  2. As a rule, develop the lightweight pieces first , first knight, then bishop.
  3. Make sure that the king is positioned securely through castling as early as possible .
  4. If possible, move each piece only once in the opening.
  5. Develop the pieces in such a way that they achieve their maximum effectiveness (for example, Nb1 – c3 and not Nb1 – a3).
  6. After developing the minor pieces and castling, bring the queen and the rooks into play.
  7. Think carefully about pawn moves because you cannot undo them.

Summary: Every move should serve to control the center, to secure the king, to develop one's own pieces, to ward off a specific threat or to attack the opposing king.

These rules do not apply absolutely, there are numerous exceptions: In the frequently played Scandinavian Defense, Black already moves his queen on move two and thus violates the sixth of the principles mentioned. In the somewhat rarer Alekhine defense , the black king jumper is drawn three times in the opening phase (Ng8 – f6 – d5 – b6) - in contradiction to principle no Center with its own farmers (principle no. 1).

In addition, chess textbooks warn against errors (sometimes called "cardinal errors"):

  • The pulling of marginal pawns
  • The lady's early wandering
  • The pulling out of the bishops in front of your own center pawns, who are thereby blocked.

These opening errors as well as the violation of the opening principles often result in the loss of one or more tempi . In the Brooklyn variant of the Alekhine defense (1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ng8), for example, Black “gave away” two tempos by returning to the basic position after two moves of the knight. In general, there is a warning against a loss of tempo in the opening, even if the disadvantage for Black in the mentioned opening variant is relatively small.

Gambits are a special case . This is how openings are called in which a pawn (or several pawns or in some cases a minor piece) is sacrificed in order to compensate for a developmental advantage or a positional advantage. The Evans gambit (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4) sacrifices the less important b-pawn and receives a tempo advantage (Black has to run the bishop twice, or after 5. c3 three times move) and a positional advantage (the white bishop is better on c4 than the black bishop on b4). Gambits are still played frequently and with great pleasure by amateurs. With a few exceptions (e.g. Marshall Gambit ), they have become rare among top grandmasters , as the defense strategies in most gambit openings have been so well researched that the compensation for the sacrificed pawn is often no longer considered sufficient. The queen's gambit is actually not a gambit, as Black's extra pawn can hardly be held in the accepted queen's gambit, which is why the pawn sacrifice is usually rejected.

Special openings

The word opening is not only the general name for the first section of the game, but also for certain sequences of moves that are often played in practice and are therefore given their own name. These terms have evolved over time and are therefore often not uniform or systematic, but have proven to be quite useful. They are often derived from positional features (e.g. four knights game ), the name of the chess masters who have made a special contribution to researching or establishing a certain opening (e.g. Caro-Kann ) or from the origin of these players ( e.g. Spanish game , after the Spaniard Ruy López de Segura , who is eponymous in English). The part of the name Indian (e.g. Damenindisch ) does not refer to the country India, but only to the fact that these openings were viewed as particularly foreign until the 19th century. If the characteristic move is made by White, the opening is often called "...- attack" or "...- game" (e.g. Viennese game ), if it is made by Black it is often called "... defense" (e.g. Sicilian Defense ), regardless of whether the opening is more offensive or defensive.

Many openings appear after just a few moves and then branch out into opening variants . These variants often have their own names (for example, in the Sicilian Defense one differentiates between the dragon variant , the Najdorf variant , the Taimanow variant and many others). If one of these variants is preferred by far, it is called the “main variant” and the others the “secondary variants”. In some cases an opening is not so much characterized by which move sequence is played, but rather by the types of positions that arise. The individual variants are then linked to one another by changing trains . Then one speaks more of an opening system . If a move appears in a game between well-known masters that has not previously been described in the literature, one speaks of an innovation (see below).

In principle, openings are divided into three different systems, which are named after the typical pawn structures :

The terms are only to be understood in a very general sense and have exceptions: In the "open" games, there are also calm, positional plays with a closed pawn structure in almost every opening. On the other hand, there are also sharp continuations in the "closed" games with moving figures in an open exchange of blows. Gambit openings can be found in all three groups ; these are particularly numerous among the open games. In addition, the classification is not uniform internationally. For example, in the English-language literature, a distinction is made between "closed games" and "semi-closed games".

In addition to the traditional names of the openings, there is now a systematic cataloging of all opening variants, the ECO key . The NIC key represents a compromise between the two .

An opening trap is a sequence of moves with which a player tries to trick his opponent into making a mistake. Often such a sequence of moves only proves to be effective against inexperienced players and is at one's own disadvantage if the opponent plays correctly. They say: The opponent "refutes" the variant. There are recurring motives in these cases. Many take advantage of the fact that the fields f2 and f7 represent weaknesses in the basic position. Before castling, these squares are only defended by the respective king. A covered attack figure that penetrates this square can cause a mate attack (for example in midshipman mate ) or (in the case of a knight) build a fork against the rook and queen. Other opening traps exploit an early opening of the e-file for chess bids or bondage .

Examples of well-known openings

category Surname Initial moves (frequent continuation) ECO key
Open games Italian 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – c4 (3.… Bf8 – c5) C50-C54
Spanish 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 C60-C99
Scottish 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. d2 – d4 C45
Philidor Defense 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 d7 – d6 C41
Runner game 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Bf1 – c4 C23-C24
King's Gambit 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. f2 – f4 C30-C39
Semi-open games French 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e6 (2. d2 – d4 d7 – d5) C00-C19
Caro-Kann 1. e2 – e4 c7 – c6 (2. d2 – d4 d7 – d5) B10-B19
Sicilian 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 B20-B99
Pirc Ufimzew Defense 1. e2 – e4 d7 – d6 B07-B09
Modern defense 1. e2-e4 g7-g6 B06
Alekhine Defense 1. e2 – e4 Ng8 – f6 B02-B05
Scandinavian 1. e2 – e4 d7 – d5 B01
Closed games Queen's Gambit declined 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 D30-D39
Queen's Gambit accepted 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 d5xc4 D20-D29
Nimzowitsch Indian 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 E20-E59
Ladies Indian 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 E11-E19
King's Indian 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 g7 – g6 along with… d7 – d6 E60-E99
Grünfeld Indian 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 g7 – g6 along with… d7 – d5 D80-D99
Benoni Defense 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 e7-e6 A60-A69
Dutch 1. d2-d4 f7-f5 A80-A99
English 1. c2 – c4 (1.… e7 – e5 or Ng8 – f6 or c7 – c5) A16-A39
Réti opening 1. Ng1-f3 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 A04-A09
Irregular openings Orangutan opening 1. b2-b4 A00
Larsen opening 1. b2-b3 A01
Bird opening 1. f2-f4 A02-A03

The story of the chess opening

The history of chess openings begins with Chaturanga, which is generally regarded as the oldest chess version . In this game, the moves of the pieces were so limited that many moves would pass before enemy pieces met. Chaturanga evolved into Schatrandsch , the forerunner of the modern European chess game. For this game, tabijen were developed to speed up the start of the game . H. From the end positions reached via a fixed sequence of moves, set-up variants emerged from which the actual game began.

In the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century, the game of chess received its current rules and the first chess books by the leading players of that time appeared. The book Repeticion de Amores e Arte de Axedres con CL Juegos de Partido by Luis Ramírez Lucena , the Göttingen manuscript , Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de le partite by Pedro Damiano and Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez by Ruy López de Segura contain opening variants according to the new rules of the game.

Most of the variants described in the first chess books belong to the open games , which were by far the most frequently played openings until the 19th century. The systematisation of chess openings began in the 19th century with the manual of the game of chess and targeted research with the work of leading chess masters such as the Berlin School . During this time, the majority of the semi-open games were created , which gained great popularity, especially in the 20th century. With the transition to the strategic-positional chess propagated by Wilhelm Steinitz and further developed by Siegbert Tarrasch, the closed games and especially the openings with 1. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 gained importance in the late 19th century .

In the early 20th century, the hypermodern school, which was influenced by Aaron Nimzowitsch , developed the concept of initially controlling the center with figures and then allowing the middle peasants to move into the center later. As a result, the openings without early moves by the middle pawns, especially the Indian openings, gained enormous popularity among the closed games .

In modern tournament practice, a well-founded opening course is essential for sporting success. Since the introduction of the chess information tool in 1966, digital opening databases and the availability of tournament games on the Internet, opening innovations have become more and more popular among chess players. In addition, since the 1990s, powerful chess computers and chess programs have been available to all chess players to support the analysis of the opening, so that it is becoming increasingly difficult to surprise your opponent with a creative variant. As a result, certain game systems emerge that are considered particularly promising and do not have any obvious weaknesses. Nevertheless, it has also happened recently that the popularity of individual variants in top chess has changed considerably. When Wladimir Kramnik successfully used the Berlin variant of the Spanish game at the 2000 World Chess Championship with Black against Garry Kasparov , who was considered almost invincible , this contributed significantly to the fact that the well-known opening variant suddenly appeared more frequently in top chess and is still part of most of the repertoire today Top player heard.

The fact that the opening knowledge has grown so enormously in the meantime and that many variants have been analyzed well into the middle game is increasingly being viewed critically. Bobby Fischer therefore made the suggestion to draw the basic position of the figures. This variant of chess, Fischer random chess , is enjoying growing popularity, especially on the Internet.

Opening literature

The first comprehensive account of the chess openings was made by Paul Rudolph von Bilguer , co-founder of the Berlin School , in his Handbuch des Schachspiels in 1843 . In the 20th century u. a. Max Euwe , Paul Keres , Luděk Pachman , Alexei Suetin and Rolf Schwarz emerged as authors of opening books. Most of the time, an attempt is made to present the basic ideas of an opening using master games. There are also works that are limited to listing and evaluating variants (e.g. the encyclopedia of chess openings ). In this context, the commonly used term theory or state of theory is misleading. It is about empirical knowledge from master games and published opening analyzes.

As a rule, the main variants of an opening - these are the variants most played, usually also the variants recognized as the best moves - are discussed in detail in opening books. Side variants - moves that are seldom played, usually weaker moves - are listed but dealt with in less detail. Today the opening books have lost some of their importance. The openings are shown in extensive chess databases.

Chess programs have a so-called opening book in which common opening variants are stored in order to give the computer an advantage in the opening phase or at least to save time.

Opening renovation

An innovation or theoretical innovation is the use of a move not previously played in a chess opening. These variants, mostly kept secret in preparation for major tournaments, attract a lot of attention in the chess press. They are specially marked in publications such as the chess informator . The Tarrasch Trap already showed the extent of the necessary preparation for a successful innovation. Significant innovations often lead to independent opening systems, for example Polugajewski variant or Sveshnikov variant . The long-term value of an innovation is only determined during continuous practical testing.

example

A well-known example of a failed innovation is the Gothenburg variant . In the Gothenburg interzonal tournament in 1955, the Argentine players Miguel Najdorf , Oscar Panno and Herman Pilnik prepared an innovation for Black on move 9 in the Najdorf variant of the Sicilian Defense. After 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 h6 9. Bh4 happened 9.… g5 . This new move came on the board almost simultaneously in three games. However, the Soviet players Geller , Keres and Spasski won their games after 10. fxg5 Nfd7 11. Nxe6 . As a result, the Gothenburg variant no longer appeared playable for Black. In 1958, however, Bobby Fischer rehabilitated the variant: In Portorož he brought another innovation in his game against Gligorić on move 13 and kept this game drawn .

Most frequent starting move

White most often begins with e2 – e4. This move was often seen as the only sensible start move until the 20th century. Rauser put it “1. e4 and White wins ”. Fischer expressed this more cautiously : “I don't know what God would answer against me in 1. e4.” Since the move e2 – e4 emphasizes the development principle most, it is recommended for learners.

Trains 1800-1900 1901-1935 1935-1998
Open games
1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 64% 31% 15%
Semi-open games
1. e2 – e4 (without e7 – e5) 23% 20% 35%
Closed games
1. d2-d4 d7-d5 10% 28% 15%
1. d2 – d4 (without d7 – d5) 3% 16% 23%
Others 5% 12%

This statistic shows the shift from symmetrical defenses to asymmetrical openings. In the 19th century, for example, more than half of the games began with 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5. In particular, the Sicilian (1.… c7 – c5) and French (1.… e7 – e6) defenses have established themselves as the answer to 1. e2 – e4 . More Indian variants (1.… Ng8 – f6) are played on 1. d2 – d4. The English opening (1. c2 – c4) has also become more popular with strong players .

Web links

Commons : Opening  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b The list follows the introductory chess book "Schach - Introduction, Tactics, Pattern Games " (Buch und Zeit Verlag, 1987, ISBN 3816691102 ), which in turn refers to Theo Schuster : "Schachöffnungen".
  2. ↑ In the book Schach-Phenomen Bobby Fischer (Copress-Verlag), Aleksander Pasternjak describes the history of this Gothenburg variant in detail. (Page 11 ff)
  3. ^ John Watson : Secrets of modern chess strategy (Part 2: New ideas and the modern revolution). Gambit, London 1998; P. 93.