Trompowsky 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

Position after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5

The Trompowsky Opening , now known as the Trompowsky Attack , is an opening to the game of chess . The Trompowsky opening is a closed game and begins with the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5.

In the ECO codes , the Trompowsky opening is classified under the key A45.

Namesake of the opening

The opening is named after the Brazilian Octávio Trompowsky (1897–1984). He became champion of Brazil in 1939 through a competitive victory over Walter Oswaldo Cruz and represented his country at the Chess Olympiads in 1936 and 1939 .

Trompowsky played "his" opening regularly in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. The opening became known to an international audience when Trompowsky used it against Alexander Kiprow at the 1936 Chess Olympiad in Munich.

"Trompowski" or "Trompovsky" (as it is called in the title Trompovsky attack in the opening monograph by FM Wolfgang Gerstner) are frequent misspellings of his name.

Importance of the opening

Many players use the Trompowsky attack to avoid the extensive theory of Indian defenses .

The Trompowsky attack only became popular at the grandmaster level during the 1990s . The grandmasters who play or have played it more often include Julian Hodgson , Michael Adams and Igor Miladinović . Magnus Carlsen resorted to the Trompowsky attack as part of the first game of the 2016 World Chess Championship against Sergei Karjakin .

Main variants

The main continuations after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 are:

White is ready to give Black a double pawn on f6. So Black often evades this with 2.… Ne4 . 3. Bh4
- 3.… c5 4. f3 (or 4. Nd2) 4.… g5 5. fxe4 gxh4 with an unclear position. 4. Qd3 is replaced by Qb6! 5. b3 Qh6! 6. Nf3 Qc1 + 7. Qd1 Qb2 8. Nbd2 Nxd2 9. Nxd2 Qxd4 refuted.
- 3.… d5 4. f3 g5 (or 4.… Nd6) 5. fxe4 gxh4 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qa5
- 3.… g5 4. f3 gxh4 5. fxe4 with an unclear position.

2.… Ne4 3. h4
- 3.… d5 4. Nd2 Bf5 5. Nxe4 Bxe4 6. f3 h6 7. fxe4 hxg5 with an unclear position.
- 3.… c5 4. dxc5 (or 4. d5) 4.… Da5 + (or 4.… Sa6)

2.… Ne4 3. Bf4
- 3.… c5 4. f3 Da5 + (or 4.… Nf6 ?! 5. dxc5! Da5 + 6. Qd2! With a position reminiscent of the Sicilian, which is advantageous for White) 5. c3 Nf6
  - 6. d5 Qb6
  - 6. Nd2 cxd4 7. Nb3 and Black is spoiled for choice: 7.… Qf5, 7.… Qd8, 7.… Qb6
- 3.… d5
  - 4. e3 (with the idea of 5. Bd3 6. Bxe4)
  - 4. Nd2
  - 4. f3 Nf6 5. e4 !?
    - 5.… dxe4 6. Nc3 exf3 7. Nxf3 and the result is the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit with increased speed for White. Therefore, 6.… Nd5 is recommended. After the practically enforced 7. Nxd5 Qxd5 the queen is definitely in the center.
    - 5.… e6 6. e5 Nfd7 7. Be3 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. f4 results in positions similar to the Steinitz variant in the classical system of the French defense. However, White has not yet developed his knight b1 and was therefore able to support his center with c3. On 9.… Qb6, however, the active defense Sa4 is missing.

2.… c5
- 3. Bxf6 gxf6 4. d5 Qb6 and pressure against b2 by f5 and Bg7
- 3. Nc3 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qh4 with initiative.
- 3. d5
  - 3.… Qb6 4. Nc3 Qxb2 5. Bd2 Qb6 6. e4 d6 7. f4 with attack (where 7.… e5 is probably best).
  - 3.… Ne4 4. Bf4 Qb6

2.… e6 3. e4
- 3.… d5 4. e5 h6 5. Be3 Nfd7 6. f4 with transition to position patterns similar to the Steinitz variant in the classic system of the French defense.
- 3.… h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6
  - 5. Nf3 goes into the Torre attack .
  - 5. Nc3 Bb4 !?
  - have their own meaning: 5. c3, 5. Qd2, 5. Qd3

2.… d5 (the same applies to 2.… g6 / d6 / c6 / h6) 3. Bxf6
- exf6 4. e3
- gxf6 4. c4 and White receives the weakened black pawn structure for the pair of bishops . It is not clear whether this exchange promises an advantage; in Russia it is considered a compensation option.

bibliography

Robert Bellin: Trompowski Opening and Torre Attack. B. T. Batsford Ltd., London 1983, ISBN 0-7134-2399-4 .
Allan Savage: The Anti-Indian, Trompowski's Attack. Thinker's Press, Davenport, IA. 1984, 58 pages.
Jimmy Adams: Trompowsky Attack. The Chess Player, Nottingham 1986.
Heribert Franke: Queen's pawn games. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-440-05602-3 .
Andrew Soltis: The Trompowsky Attack 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 or 1 d4 d5 2 Bg5. Chess Digest, Dallas 1995, ISBN 0-87568-273-1 .
Wolfgang Gerstner: The Trompovsky attack in the queen pawn game. Schach-Profi-Verlag Reinhold Dreier, Ludwigshafen 1995, ISBN 3-929376-18-0 .
Julian Hodgson : Secrets of the Trompovsky. Hodgson Enterprises, London 1997, ISBN 0-9529373-2-8 .
Joe Gallagher : The Trompowsky. The Chess Press, Brighton 1998, ISBN 1-901259-09-9 .
Karl-Otto Jung: With Trompowsky and Torre Attack to Victory, Volume 1: The Repertoire. Neu-Jung-Verlag, Homburg 2003, ISBN 3-933648-20-3 .
Karl-Otto Jung: With Trompowsky and Torre Attack to Victory, Volume 2: Theory. Neu-Jung-Verlag, Homburg 2003, ISBN 3-933648-21-1 .
Peter Wells: Winning with the Trompowsky. B. T. Batsford Ltd., London 2003, ISBN 0-7134-8795-X .
Nigel Davies : the trompowsky. Everyman Chess, London 2005, ISBN 1-85744-376-4 .

Repertoire books from the perspective of those who follow suit against the Trompowsky attack:

Joe Gallagher: Beating the Anti-King's Indians. B. T. Batsford Ltd., London 1996, ISBN 0-7134-8012-2 . (Pages 111–136 deal with the repertoire move 2.… Ne4)
John Cox: dealing with d4 deviations, fighting the Trompowsky, Torre, Blackmar-Diemer, Stonewall, Colle and other problem openings. Everyman Chess, London 2005, ISBN 1-85744-399-3 . (Pages 10–32 deal with repertoire move 2.… e6)
Yelena Dembo: fighting the anti-King's Indians, how to handle White's tricky ways of avoiding the main lines. Everyman Chess, London 2008, ISBN 978-1-85744-575-6 . (Pages 7–44 deal with repertoire move 2.… c5)