Sokolski opening
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1. b2-b4 e7-e5 2. Bc1-b2 Bf8xb4 3. Bb2xe5
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2. Bc1-b2 f7-f6 3. e2-e4 Bf8xb4 4. Bf1-c4
The Sokolski opening is an opening in chess . It is determined by the opening pawn move 1. b2 – b4. It is also called the Orangutan Opening or the Polish Opening ; in the latter case it should not be confused with the thematically related Polish Defense 1. d2 – d4 b7 – b5. It is categorized under the ECO code A00 (rarely played openings).
Name and story
The chess master Savielly Tartakower gave this opening move the joke name Orangutan Opening, which he used several times in 1924 at the world-class tournament in New York . According to Tartakower, the b-farmer climbs up the board like a monkey a tree. Tartakower himself said that a visit to the New York Zoo during the tournament and the encounter with an orangutan there inspired him to choose the name.
The opening was not taken seriously at the master level for a long time and there were no imitators. It was not until the Soviet chess master Alexei Sokolski dealt intensively with this move and used it successfully , especially after the Second World War . Hence this opening first got its name in the Russian-speaking area. However, it is still rarely played and has an overall negative balance for White.
description
White already reveals his strategy with the first move: the center is not taken directly with a pawn (as is the case with the usual moves 1. e2 – e4 or 1. d2 – d4, for example), but indirectly attacked by means of the black-field runner.
White opens here with the b-pawn
- 1. b2-b4
often followed by the runner's move depending on the black reply
- 2. Lc1-b2
One possible variant is:
- 1. b2 – b4 e7 – e5
- 2. Bc1-b2 Bf8xb4
- 3. Bb2xe5
White exchanges an edge pawn for a central pawn, which increases his influence on the center, which is why Black often covers his e5-pawn with
- 2.… f7 – f6
After that, interesting games can develop when White offers the b-pawn as a sacrifice and thus shifts the pressure to the kingside (thought: queen after h5). According to theory, Black cannot refuse this sacrifice.
- 3. e2 – e4 Bf8xb4
- 4. Bf1 – c4 or even 4. f2 – f4 in the style of the King's Gambit with similar attacking ideas for White.
To avoid the first by ... e7-e5 resulting tactical variants, the US chess master drew Anthony Santasiere first first g1-f3 after the usual answer first ... d7-d5 2. b2-b4 through diverter in to give in to the orangutan opening. This variant is called Santasiere's folly in the USA .
After 1. b2 – b4 Black can also play 1.… c7 – c6, with the idea of 2. Bc1 – b2 a7 – a5 3. a2 – a3 a5xb4 4. a3xb4 Ra8xa1 5. Lb2xa1 Qd8 – b6. White then has problems with protecting the b-pawn. A well-known opening trap arises when Black tries to implement this plan in a different sequence of moves: After 1. b2 – b4 c7 – c6 2. Bc1 – b2 Qd8 – b6 3. a2 – a3 a7 – a5 White can 4. c2– c4 with the punch line 4.… a5xb4 5. play c4 – c5. Black cannot then play 5.… Qb6xc5 because after 6. a3xb4 he would lose material due to the double attack on the queen and rook. After another queen move (after c7 or d8), however, White gains a positional advantage.
The indirect preparation of a black pawn center is 1. b2 – b4 d7 – d5 2. Bc1 – b2 Qd8 – d6 with the idea of 3. b4 – b5 Qd6 – b4 and a pawn win. If 3. a2 – a3 then e7 – e5.
b2 – b4 in literature
The German writer Arno Schmidt (1914–1979) - a hobby chess player, of whom only two games against his wife Alice were recorded - wrote in a letter in 1959 that he “even beat the Wroclaw master Machate once - a name that gentleman Schmid will be familiar - with b2 – b4, my body opening ”. With "Machate" is meant the German chess master Gottlieb Machate , who played twice in German championships against the grandmaster Lothar Schmid ("Herr Schmid"). It is not known whether this victory by Arno Schmidt over Machate corresponds to reality (possibly with a simultaneous performance of Machate ). Another reference to the orangutan opening can be found in Schmidt's novel Das steinerne Herz . The book The Opening 1. b2 – b4 by Alexei Sokolski is in the library of his (former) house in Bargfeld near Celle.
swell
- ↑ The games Alice against Arno Schmidt ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Guido Graf: About the correspondence between Arno Schmidt and Hans Wollschläger . Bangert & Metzler, Wiesenbach 1997, p. 138. Quoted from www.musagetes.de ( Memento of the original of May 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Schach in Schmidt's work ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
literature
- Alexei Sokolski: The opening 1. b2 – b4 . Sportverlag, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-88086-019-X .
- Hans-Marcus Elwert : Win with 1. b4! . Rattmann, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-88086-115-3 .
- Efim Stoljar, Pawel Kondratjew : Sokolski opening . Schmaus, Heidelberg 1987.
- Leonhard Schiffler: Orangutan opening . Sports publishing house, Berlin 1953.
- Jerzy Konikowski and Marek Soszynski: The Sokolsky Opening 1. b4 in Theory & Practice . Russell Enterprises, Milford USA 2009, ISBN 978-1-888690-65-1 .
