Ponziani opening
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The basic position of the Ponziani opening after 3. c2 – c3
The Ponziani opening (also an outdated English knight game ) is an opening of the chess game ; it is one of the open games . The ECO code is C44.
The Ponziani opening begins with the trains
- 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5
- 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6
- 3. c2-c3
It was first analyzed at the beginning of the 18th century by its namesake, the Italian chess player and writer Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani . With the Ponziani opening after 3. c2 – c3 on the next move with 4. d2 – d4, White plans to take control of the center of the chessboard. A disadvantage of the pawn move to c3, however, is that the knight on b1 cannot enter his usual field of development for the time being. Black's counterplay is therefore based on the attack of the e4 pawn, with 3.… d7 – d5, with 3.… Ng8 – f6 or aggressively with 3.… f7 – f5. Against all these attacking moves White gets a good game at first: after 3.… d7 – d5 for example with 4. Qd1 – a4, often followed by Bf1 – b5 with pressure on c6. Otherwise 4. d2 – d4 usually works, which often results in interesting parts.
After further analysis by Howard Staunton towards the end of the 19th century, interest in this opening waned. Today it is used very rarely and hardly played in grandmaster games.
However, if you meet badly prepared opponents, despite the loss of speed (development of a pawn instead of a minor piece in the third move, which also blocks the knight on b1 or the bishop on c1 if the latter moves to d2 later), you initially have the surprise effect and well-analyzed variants on the white side. Black has to play correctly in order to be able to take advantage of White's development deficit on the queenside after the opening has been completed; on the other hand, the second open diagonal in particular often offers white queen after a4 opportunities to attack.
literature
- Péter Tomcsányi: The Ponziani Opening . Prime Rate Szolgáltató Betéti Társaság, Budapest 1997, ISBN 9789630478175 .
- Dave Taylor, Keith Hayward: Play the Ponziani . Everyman Chess, 2009, ISBN 978-1-85744-620-3 .