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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
Set yourself up for success by understanding the art of the chess opening
Chess Openings For Dummies helps beginning and intermediate chess players improve their game by making the first few moves count. With a strong opening, you can dictate the flow of the game, control the center, and keep your king safe. This book shows you how to make tactical early moves that put you on a strong footing for the rest of the game. Chess master James Eade shares his expert knowledge for coming out triumphant in open, semi-open, closed, and semi-closed games. Plus, you'll discover the perks of advancing with flank openings and learn the major mistakes to avoid. Learn the importance of online competitions, computers, and faster-paced chess events and their impact on the game. In language anyone can understand, this Dummies guide helps you gain a strategic advantage in chess.
- Discover the most effective openings for open and closed games
- Advance your game with new and advanced opening techniques
- Learn why certain openings have become more popular—and why you should use them
- Gain the upper hand in the first few moves and keep opponents on their toes
Looking to improve your chess openings? Chess Openings For Dummies makes it easy.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Principles of Play
Chapter 1: Understanding Chess Openings
Identifying a Chess Opening
Reviewing Chess Shorthand
Chapter 2: Exploring the Elements of Chess
Getting Time on Your Side
When Spacing Out Is Good
Making the Most of Your Material
Chapter 3: Picking the Right Type of Opening
Considering Naming Conventions
Examining Opening Types
Part 2: Winning with Open Games
Chapter 4: Gambling with Gambits
Why Gamble with a Gambit?
Trotting Out the King’s Gambit
Delving into the Danish Gambit
Gambits for Black
Gambits All the Way
Chapter 5: Opening Softly with a Big Stick: The Bishop Makes Its Move
Preying with the Bishop’s Opening
Keying Up for the Giuoco Piano
Attacking with the Evans Gambit
Chapter 6: Workin’ on Some Knight Moves
Calling in the Calvary: The Four Knights
Ambitious but a Bit Ambiguous: The Two Knights Defense
Chapter 7: Employing the Royal Ruy
Running with the Ruy López
Closing the Deal with the Open Variation
Staying Open-Minded with the Closed Variation
Marshalling Your Forces with the Marshall Attack and the Anti-Marshalls
Chapter 8: The Best of the Rest of the Open Games
Pouring on the Scotch
Waltzing with the Vienna Game
Dabbling with Petroff’s Defense
Part 3: Having It Both Ways with Semi-Open Games
Chapter 9: Sharpening the Sicilian
The People’s Choice
Entering the Dragon
Knocking Around the Najdorf
Claws Out in the Chelyabinsk
Can They Cancan in the Kan?
Some Words about the Anti-Sicilians
Chapter 10: Parlez-vous the French?
Nothing Diplomatic Here
Charging the Advance
Staying Classical
Winning with the Winawer
Taking Out the Tarrasch
Chapter 11: Anyone Can Caro-Kann
Caring about the Caro-Kann
The Classical Variation
Being Advanced
Chapter 12: Rope-a-Dope with the Pirc and Modern Defenses
Picking the Pirc
The Austrian Attack
Picking the Pirc Classical
Thoroughly Modern Maneuvers
Chapter 13: The Best of the Rest of the Semi-Open Games
Analyzing Alekhine’s Defense
Striking Back with the Scandinavian
Part 4: Conquering with Closed and Semi- Closed Games
Chapter 14: Offering the Queen’s Gambit
The Queen’s Gambit Accepted
Remaining Orthodox
Testing the Tartakower
Trading on the Exchange
Chapter 15: Declining with the Slav and Semi-Slav
Declining or Delaying?
Going Down the Main Line
Meeting the Meran Variation in the Semi-Slav
Betting on the Botvinnik Variation
Chapter 16: Getting Hypermodern with the Nimzo-Indian
What Is the Nimzo-Indian?
Playing Differently with the Sämisch
Kicking Off with the Classical Variation
Running with the Rubinstein
Nimzo’s Friends — Some Related Indians
Chapter 17: Fighting Back with the King’s Indian
The Center Can Wait
Getting Classical
Playing Differently with the Sämisch
Finessing with the Fianchetto System
Chapter 18: Grinding in the Grünfeld
Hypermodern to the Max
Examining the Exchange Variation
Rolling Out the Russian System
Chapter 19: The Best of the Rest of the Semi-Closed Games
Loving the London System
The Trompowsky Tango
Going Dutch
The Leningrad
The Stonewall Dutch
Part 5: Advancing with Flank Openings
Chapter 20: Speaking the King’s English
The British Are Coming!
Reversing the Sicilian
Stampeding in the Four Knights
Staying Symmetrical
Chapter 21: Getting Réti
The Contemporary Réti
The Radical Réti
Chapter 22: The Best of the Rest of the Flank Openings
Larsen Attack
Some Other Flank Action
Part 6: The Part of Tens
Chapter 23: Ten Common Mistakes to Avoid in the Opening
Wasting Time
Leading with the Lady
Losing Material
Abandoning the Center
Creating Weaknesses
Pawn Grabbing
Exposing the King
Blocking Lines
Falling for Traps
Memorizing Moves
Chapter 24: Ten Best Ways to Study Chess Openings
Getting a Coach
Study Online
Finding a Friend
Reading Annotations
Playing in Real Time
Blitzing It Out
Basing the Data
Revving an Engine
Studying Your Games
Buying A(nother) Book
Chapter 25: Ten (or so) Great Chess Websites
Playing Sites
Training Sites
Informational Sites
Index
About the Authors
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 1
TABLE 1-1 Chess Piece Abbreviations
TABLE 1-2 Chess Symbols
Chapter 2
TABLE 2-1 The Relative Value of Chess Pieces
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1-1: An opening move, but not an opening.
FIGURE 1-2: The Bishop’s Opening.
FIGURE 1-3: Each square can be referenced by its coordinates.
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2-1: Black’s queen is under attack and must move again.
FIGURE 2-2: The four center squares are the key to controlling space.
FIGURE 2-3: A knight on the edge of the board attacks only two squares.
FIGURE 2-4: A knight in the center attacks eight squares.
FIGURE 2-5: White is now attacking squares on Black’s side of the board.
FIGURE 2-6: The Sämisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense features doubled ...
FIGURE 2-7: White’s d-pawn is isolated.
FIGURE 2-8: Black and White both establish pawn chains in the Advance Variation...
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3-1: The Advance Variation of the French Defense.
FIGURE 3-2: Lines are opened with White’s and Black’s very first moves.
FIGURE 3-3: The Sicilian Defense is the most popular semi-open game.
FIGURE 3-4: It’s more difficult to open lines in closed games.
FIGURE 3-5: The usual start of a semi-closed game.
FIGURE 3-6: The English Opening.
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4-1: White uses the f-pawn to attack Black’s pawn on e5.
FIGURE 4-2: When Black accepts the King’s Gambit, he cedes some central control...
FIGURE 4-3: White’s minor pieces are nicely centralized.
FIGURE 4-4: A natural move, but one that loses the game for Black.
FIGURE 4-5: Black challenges White in the center.
FIGURE 4-6: An interference check spoils White’s fun.
FIGURE 4-7: Black decides against capturing the offered pawn and simply develop...
FIGURE 4-8: This is the Falkbeer Countergambit, when Black tries to attack the ...
FIGURE 4-9: White gives a surprising check in the opening.
FIGURE 4-10: Black challenges White in the center.
FIGURE 4-11: Black gave the d-pawn away in exchange for easier development.
FIGURE 4-12: White’s king and queen are somewhat vulnerably placed.
FIGURE 4-13: The Danish Gambit.
FIGURE 4-14: White is going to cash in one of his bishops to inflict structural...
FIGURE 4-15: White’s king is in a tight spot, while Black has...
Chapter 5
FIGURE 5-1: The start of the Bishop’s Opening.
FIGURE 5-2: A typical maneuvering scenario.
FIGURE 5-3: White has gained a big space advantage.
FIGURE 5-4: Black deploys their bishop as in the Italian Game.
FIGURE 5-5: A careless moment by White allows Black to strike with force.
FIGURE 5-6: The starting position for the Giuoco Piano.
FIGURE 5-7: Black restrains White’s queenside advances.
FIGURE 5-8: White exploits Black’s poor coordination.
FIGURE 5-9: Black changes the dynamic of the game by opening the center.
FIGURE 5-10: White is struggling to keep his weaknesses covered.
FIGURE 5-11: The starting position for the Evans Gambit. White’s b-pawn is offe...
FIGURE 5-12: White has set up the usual battery of queen and bishop on the a2-g...
FIGURE 5-13: When Black’s king remains in the center, both sides have to look o...
FIGURE 5-14: Black chases White’s bishop away from its favorite spot on c4.
FIGURE 5-15: Black has completed his development, while White struggles with hi...
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6-1: The starting position for the Four Knights.
FIGURE 6-2: With the a-pawn gone, White employs this rook lift to launch an all...
FIGURE 6-3: White tries to open the position to gain counterplay.
FIGURE 6-4: The beginning position of the Two Knights Defense.
FIGURE 6-5: White advances his central pawns to restrain Black’s pieces.
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7-1: The Ruy López.
FIGURE 7-2: The Open Variation of the Ruy López.
FIGURE 7-3: A typical position in the Open Ruy López.
FIGURE 7-4: A typical position from the Open Variation in the Ruy López.
FIGURE 7-5: The Closed Variation of the Ruy López.
FIGURE 7-6: A typical position from the Closed Variation of the Ruy López.
FIGURE 7-7: The real starting position of the Chigorin Variation.
FIGURE 7-8: The Marshall Attack.
FIGURE 7-9: One of several Anti-Marshalls.
FIGURE 7-10: The “real” starting position of the Marshall Attack.
Chapter 8
FIGURE 8-1: The starting position of the Scotch Opening.
FIGURE 8-2: Sometimes, the rules of the opening can be broken.
FIGURE 8-3: Forcing Black to pay attention to the b7–pawn.
FIGURE 8-4: A typical position in the main line Scotch.
FIGURE 8-5: The starting position of the Vienna Game.
FIGURE 8-6: White seeks the initiative on the kingside before completing the de...
FIGURE 8-7: Black is playing on the light squares.
FIGURE 8-8: White invites Black to capture on c4 to gain even greater control o...
FIGURE 8-9: Black takes control of the center.
FIGURE 8-10: Petroff’s Defense.
FIGURE 8-11: This variation is the so-called Nimzowitsch Attack, which has been...
FIGURE 8-12: White launches his attack against Black’s king.
FIGURE 8-13: White wants to build a broad center.
FIGURE 8-14: White has more space, but Black has access to open files and diago...
FIGURE 8-15: More space usually provides greater piece mobility.
Chapter 9
FIGURE 9-1: The Sicilian Defense.
FIGURE 9-2: The Dragon Variation.
FIGURE 9-3: A typical position in the Yugoslav Attack.
FIGURE 9-4: White attacks on the kingside while Black counterstrikes in the cen...
FIGURE 9-5: The Najdorf Variation.
FIGURE 9-6: A popular position in the English Attack.
FIGURE 9-7: White launches an early kingside attack.
FIGURE 9-8: The starting position that leads to Sveshnikov and Chelyabinsk Vari...
FIGURE 9-9: A typical position in Chelyabinsk Variation.
FIGURE 9-10: Another typical position in the Chelyabinsk Variation.
FIGURE 9-11: The Kan Variation is a solid choice for Black in the Sicilian Defe...
FIGURE 9-12: White launches an immediate attack on the kingside.
FIGURE 9-13: Black is developing all his pieces before committing his king.
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10-1: The French Defense.
FIGURE 10-2: The Advance Variation of the French Defense.
FIGURE 10-3: Opposite castling invites a sharp fight.
FIGURE 10-4: White sacrifices a piece to open files toward Black’s king.
FIGURE 10-5: Black wants the light-squared bishops exchanged.
FIGURE 10-6: Black’s knight is stronger than White’s knight.
FIGURE 10-7: The Classical Variation of the French Defense.
FIGURE 10-8: White moves the knight on c3 to be able to support his center with...
FIGURE 10-9: A typical position from the classical French.
FIGURE 10-10: Black has sacrificed a piece for the attack.
FIGURE 10-11: The Winawer Variation of the French Defense.
FIGURE 10-12: Black protects the g7-pawn and attacks White’s center simultaneou...
FIGURE 10-13: Black closes the center.
FIGURE 10-14: White moves the king to avoid a check on c3.
FIGURE 10-15: Black makes room for the king on c7 to bring the king to safety a...
FIGURE 10-16: The Tarrasch Variation of the French Defense.
FIGURE 10-17: Black is only temporarily up a pawn.
FIGURE 10-18: White uses the pin of the e-pawn to launch an attack.
FIGURE 10-19: Black provokes a confrontation despite not having completed his d...
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11-1: The Caro-Kann Defense.
FIGURE 11-2: The Main Line of the Caro-Kann Defense.
FIGURE 11-3: The Classical Variation of the Main Line Caro-Kann.
FIGURE 11-4: Black doesn’t want to allow White to play Ne5.
FIGURE 11-5: Typical development of the Classical Variation.
FIGURE 11-6: The Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann.
FIGURE 11-7: Black immediately attacks White’s center instead of developing pie...
FIGURE 11-8: The attack of Black’s center begins.
FIGURE 11-9: Black develops his pieces in typical fashion.
FIGURE 11-10: Black attacks White’s center before castling.
Chapter 12
FIGURE 12-1: The Pirc Defense.
FIGURE 12-2: The Austrian Attack.
FIGURE 12-3: One of White’s main options in the Austrian Attack.
FIGURE 12-4: Black wants to eliminate White’s bishop pair.
FIGURE 12-5: The Classical Variation of the Pirc Defense.
FIGURE 12-6: White starts the attack on f7.
FIGURE 12-7: Black targets White’s “weak” pawn on d5.
FIGURE 12-8: The Modern Defense.
FIGURE 12-9: White develops fast while Black advances his pawns.
FIGURE 12-10: White launches an attack in the center.
Chapter 13
FIGURE 13-1: Alekhine’s Defense.
FIGURE 13-2: The Modern Variation of the Alekhine Defense.
FIGURE 13-3: Black gets ambitious on the queenside.
FIGURE 13-4: The Exchange Variation is a popular choice against the Alekhine De...
FIGURE 13-5: The black knight has entered White’s side of the board.
FIGURE 13-6: The Scandinavian Defense.
FIGURE 13-7: The Mieses Variation is a popular choice for Black in the Scandina...
FIGURE 13-8: White launches a kingside attack.
FIGURE 13-9: The Portuguese Variation is a sharp choice for Black.
FIGURE 13-10: White’s king is pulled out of his “safe” hiding hole.
Chapter 14
FIGURE 14-1: The Queen’s Gambit.
FIGURE 14-2: The Queen’s Gambit Accepted.
FIGURE 14-3: One of the most typical positions of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted (...
FIGURE 14-4: Black has a solid position, typical of the QGA.
FIGURE 14-5: The Orthodox Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined.
FIGURE 14-6: Black is mixing up two variations.
FIGURE 14-7: White’s king is still uncastled.
FIGURE 14-8: The Tartakower Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined.
FIGURE 14-9: White has given up his dark-squared bishop.
FIGURE 14-10: Both sides are developing their pieces to natural squares.
FIGURE 14-11: The Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined.
FIGURE 14-12: Black breaks the pin of the knight on f6.
FIGURE 14-13: Black has rerouted the knight to d6, where it can jump to both e4...
Chapter 15
FIGURE 15-1: The Slav Defense.
FIGURE 15-2: The Main Line Slav Defense.
FIGURE 15-3: White has more space and active pieces.
FIGURE 15-4: Black is targeting the c4-square.
FIGURE 15-5: The Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav Defense.
FIGURE 15-6: A typical situation in the Meran Variation.
FIGURE 15-7: Both sides have developed their pieces to natural squares.
FIGURE 15-8: The Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav.
FIGURE 15-9: White pries open lines on the queenside.
FIGURE 15-10: Long theoretical lines dominate in the Botvinnik Variation.
Chapter 16
FIGURE 16-1: This bishop move establishes the Nimzo-Indian.
FIGURE 16-2: The Sämisch Variation.
FIGURE 16-3: White combines a flank attack with a central advance.
FIGURE 16-4: Black takes control of the e4-square.
FIGURE 16-5: The Classical Variation.
FIGURE 16-6: A typical position for this variation.
FIGURE 16-7: Another typical position of the Classical Variation.
FIGURE 16-8: The Rubinstein Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense.
FIGURE 16-9: A typical position in the main line Rubinstein Variation.
FIGURE 16-10: Black counters aggressively to White’s setup.
FIGURE 16-11: The Queen’s Indian Defense.
FIGURE 16-12: The Bogo-Indian Defense.
Chapter 17
FIGURE 17-1: The King’s Indian Defense.
FIGURE 17-2: The main line of the Classical Variation.
FIGURE 17-3: White penetrates the light squares on the kingside.
FIGURE 17-4: Black is choosing a flexible setup.
FIGURE 17-5: The Sämisch Variation of the King’s Indian Defense.
FIGURE 17-6: The players castle in opposite directions.
FIGURE 17-7: Black interferes with White’s pawn structure.
FIGURE 17-8: The Fianchetto System of the King’s Indian Defense.
FIGURE 17-9: A typical position of the Fianchetto System.
Chapter 18
FIGURE 18-1: The Grünfeld Defense.
FIGURE 18-2: The Exchange Variation of the Grünfeld Defense.
FIGURE 18-3: This is an interesting twist on the Exchange Variation.
FIGURE 18-4: White prefers a strong knight over a passed pawn.
FIGURE 18-5: Black launches his attack on White’s center.
FIGURE 18-6: The Russian System against the Grünfeld Defense.
FIGURE 18-7: The passed d-pawn has the potential to disrupt Black’s plans.
FIGURE 18-8: White executes a series of threats to disrupt Black’s play.
FIGURE 18-9: Black attacks the bishop and invites White to tango in some terrif...
Chapter 19
FIGURE 19-1: The London System.
FIGURE 19-2: Both sides have been playing standard, old-fashioned London moves.
FIGURE 19-3: Black aims to attack on the queenside.
FIGURE 19-4: The Trompowsky Attack.
FIGURE 19-5: Black is aiming for smooth development and control over the light ...
FIGURE 19-6: Attacking the b2-pawn is a common idea for Black in the Trompowsky...
FIGURE 19-7: The Dutch Defense.
FIGURE 19-8: The main line of the Leningrad Variation.
FIGURE 19-9: Black is targeting the weak dark squares in White’s po...
FIGURE 19-10: The Modern Stonewall setup for Black.
FIGURE 19-11: A dangerous flank attack option for Black.
Chapter 20
FIGURE 20-1: The English Opening.
FIGURE 20-2: The Sicilian Defense.
FIGURE 20-3: A typical position from the Botvinnik Variation.
FIGURE 20-4: An unusually unbalanced position for such a solid opening.
FIGURE 20-5: The Four Knights.
FIGURE 20-6: The Reversed Dragon Variation of the English Opening.
FIGURE 20-7: A typical position from the Four Knights Variation.
FIGURE 20-8: The Symmetrical English.
FIGURE 20-9: The Rubinstein Variation of the Symmetrical English.
FIGURE 20-10: A typical position from the Symmetrical English.
Chapter 21
FIGURE 21-1: The Réti Opening.
FIGURE 21-2: White’s idea is to advance the pawns on the queenside, while Black...
FIGURE 21-3: Symmetrical pawn distribution doesn’t mean a boring game.
FIGURE 21-4: White launches an early attack on the queenside.
FIGURE 21-5: White sacrifices a pawn to expand on his lead in development.
FIGURE 21-6: Black focuses on putting his pieces on good squares and preparing ...
Chapter 22
FIGURE 22-1: The Larsen Attack.
FIGURE 22-2: A typical variation of the Larsen Attack.
FIGURE 22-3: Should the knight retreat or …?
FIGURE 22-4: Black sacrifices a pawn for the initiative.
FIGURE 22-5: Black has a strong initiative.
FIGURE 22-6: Bird’s Opening.
FIGURE 22-7: The Reversed Stonewall.
FIGURE 22-8: White has a massive space advantage, and the kingside attack is lo...
FIGURE 22-9: Black starts a flank attack on move three!
FIGURE 22-10: Black has a strong initiative
.
Chapter 23
FIGURE 23-1: Pointlessly moving the same piece twice is a mistake.
FIGURE 23-2: White’s check is a waste of time.
FIGURE 23-3: Black gets a “free” developing move by attacking the queen.
FIGURE 23-4: White is about to lose material.
FIGURE 23-5: Black abandons the center.
FIGURE 23-6: White creates weak squares on the f- and h-files.
FIGURE 23-7: White dares Black to capture the pawn on b2.
FIGURE 23-8: It’s not worth exposing the king simply to establish a central paw...
FIGURE 23-9: White blocks the bishop’s line prematurely.
FIGURE 23-10: A well-known trap in the Caro-Kann Defense.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
Index
About the Authors
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Chess Openings For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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Introduction
We aren’t trying to tell you the best opening moves. We are trying to help you find the best openings for you! Computers have changed the way we look at chess openings. They can play anything, so the best players seem to be playing anything, but that doesn’t mean you should be playing anything and everything.
People have their preferences. They play certain types of positions better than they can others, and no two players are exactly alike. Find what seems interesting to you and pay attention to that. You will discover more about your own personal preferences as you gain experience.
Also, what people play against you will change! When James started playing chess in 1972 at the age of 15, everyone was playing what Bobby Fischer played, and when Carsten started playing in 1981 at the age of 9, the most popular openings were entirely different. In this new edition, we have kept what was best from the first edition, and Carsten has provided examples of what is popular today in top-flight competitions.
As a guiding principle: stick with what you know, expand from there, and have fun. Play the openings that lead to games that you enjoy playing and that you feel you understand. If you are having fun, you are a winner at the game of chess.
Chess openings have been written about for centuries, but new books on the subject appear all the time. The analysis of leading experts has been augmented recently by sophisticated software and blindingly fast processing power. New insights are causing reevaluations of even the oldest of chess openings.
Chess has so many possible move orders, even in the opening phase of the game, that it’s humanly impossible to commit them all to memory. Most players become specialists with a very small number of openings in order to avoid unfamiliar territory.
We looked at all these dense, technical, highly specialized tomes on chess openings, and I decided I wanted to write a different kind of book. We wanted to give average chess enthusiasts a way to choose an opening that would suit their style of play.
But the question is always, which of the myriad chess openings should you adopt for yourself? This book is intended to help you find the right chess opening for you.
About This Book
No single book can comprehensively cover all the chess openings. Entire books have been devoted to a single variation on a single opening. You don’t want to spend hours trying to memorize chess openings; you just want to be able to play them well and get to the type of game you enjoy.
What this book does provide is a guide to the general principles behind playing a chess opening well, and specific examples of practical play. I break down the openings into different types and include examples of wins and losses in the most common openings, which help you develop a feel for what type of game you’ll be getting into if you decide to play one of them.
For each variation of an opening, I present a game in which White wins, followed by a game in which Black comes out on top. Throughout these games,
I offer commentary that helps you see where a player’s strategy succeeds or fails. Remember, no opening gives you a 100-percent success rate — you need to know the good and the bad in order to make an informed choice.
The great thing about this book is that you decide where to start and what to read. It’s a reference work that you can jump into and out of at will. Just head to the table of contents or the index to find the information you want.
Conventions Used in This Book
We use the following conventions throughout the text to make things consistent and easy to understand:
We use italics to define chess terms that you may not be familiar with.
We use bold to indicate a move in a chess game. Bold type distinguishes the actual moves made in the game from moves that appear in our comments about the game.
Web addresses appear in italics.
When this book was printed, some web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If you come across a two-line web address, rest assured that we haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. So, when you’re using one of these web addresses, just type exactly what you see on the page, pretending that the line break doesn’t exist.
Foolish Assumptions
We may be going out on a limb, but as we wrote this book, here’s what we assumed about you:
You’ve played chess before and are familiar with the game’s terminology.
You’re familiar with chess notation. (In case this is a particularly bad assumption, I include a short primer in
Chapter 1
.)
You want to better your game, whether that means being able to beat your nemesis, play in a chess league, or join your school’s chess team.
You own a reference work such as
Chess For Dummies,
2nd Edition (Wiley). A reference is a great help when you run into something unfamiliar.
How This Book Is Organized
This book is organized into six parts. The first part helps you understand chess openings in general terms. The next four parts get down to specific chess openings grouped together by opening type. The last part is the Part of Tens — a For Dummies staple that watchers of David Letterman’s show will be familiar with.
Part 1: Principles of Play
In this part, I explain what an opening is, how openings vary from one another, and how they’re classified. I also identify the type of player who enjoys playing the openings in each category, so you can skip to the openings that sound like your style of play.
Part 2: Winning with Open Games
Games that begin 1.e4 e5 open up lines for speedy mobilization of your pieces and allow you to attack quickly. The openings I describe in this part are some of the oldest in the game, but they’re also some of the most popular because they allow players to attack early and often.
Part 3: Having It Both Ways with Semi-Open Games
When you’re playing Black and you want to shake things up, you can respond to 1.e4 with something other than 1… .e5 and establish a semi-open game.
These openings have fewer open lines, but they still feature plenty of piece mobility. The resulting games feature imbalanced positions in which White and Black are trying to achieve different goals, which leads to fighting defenses.
Part 4: Conquering with Closed and Semi-Closed Games
When White’s first move is 1.d4 and Black responds with 1… .d5, you’ve established a closed game. Closed games require a lot of strategy and planning. You do more maneuvering and have fewer tactical battles in the early stages of the game with these openings. I also include responses to 1.d4 other than 1… .d5 in this part.
Part 5: Advancing with Flank Openings
When you open with a flank opening, the pawns on the outer files make the first moves; you put the center pawns into play later in the game. The English Opening 1.c4 is by far the most popular flank opening, but there are others as well. These openings provide you with more flexibility in responding to your opponent’s moves, and confrontations often come later in the game, after you’ve moved your pieces off their starting positions.
Part 6: The Part of Tens
The last thing you want to do is make an error in an opening, so I include a chapter on ten mistakes not to make. I also offer chapters on ten ways to study chess openings and ten great websites.
Icons Used in This Book
To make this book easier to read and simpler to use, I include some icons that can help you find and fathom key ideas and information.
This icon appears next to ideas that can help you understand a chess opening, or the game in general, a little more easily.
Anytime you see this icon, you know the information that follows is so important that it’s worth reading more than once.
This icon flags information that means a mistake is about to be made.
This icon lets you know what type of chess player typically likes the opening under discussion.
Beyond the Book
As if we didn’t already pack this book with a ton of great information on chess openings, you can access the book’s Cheat Sheet at Dummies.com. This Cheat Sheet provides quick and handy info and tips you can use on the go. To access this Cheat Sheet, simply go to https://www.dummies.com/ and search for “chess openings cheat sheet.”
Where to Go from Here
This book is organized so that you can go wherever you want to find complete information. Want to know about the various types of chess openings? Go to Chapter 3. Want to know about the Sicilian Defense? Go to Chapter 9. You can use the table of contents to find broad categories of information or the index to look up more specific details.
If you’re not sure where you want to go, you may want to start with Part 1. It gives you all the basic info you need to understand chess openings, and it points to places where you can find more detailed information.
Part 1
Principles of Play
IN THIS PART …
Understand the basics of chess openings
Explore the elements of chess
Pick the right opening for your style of play
Chapter 1
Understanding Chess Openings
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding what a chess opening is
Choosing openings that fit your playing style
Getting familiar with chess notation
Chess is typically divided into three phases: the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. Although the exact point of transition from one phase to another can sometimes be ambiguous, each phase of the game has properties that distinguish it from the others. The opening phase of the game is typically all about mobilizing your forces as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
In this chapter, we explain how you know when an opening has been established. We also ask you to sit back and think about your style of play, because how you play the game helps determine what type of openings you favor. Finally, we include a quick review of basic chess notation.
Identifying a Chess Opening
The first phase of a chess game is called the opening. In this phase of the game, players will concentrate on two things: the rapid mobilization of their forces and grabbing space.
In the following sections, we explain what makes an opening an opening, and we show you how one move turns into an opening.
Distinguishing “the” opening from “an” opening
In chess, opening can mean two different but related things, and it all depends on whether “the” or “an” comes before opening.
The phrase “the opening” refers to the phase of the game when you get your pieces (by pieces, I’m referring to the rooks, bishops, knights, queen, and king — basically, everything but the pawns) off the back rank and reposition them where they can do the most good. (The other phases of the game are the
middlegame
and the
endgame
.)
The phrase “an opening” refers to a specific sequence of moves. When a move or a specific sequence of moves by pawns and/or pieces is given a name, you have yourself a “chess opening.” These openings are what we cover throughout this book.
There are countless chess openings. Some are named after players, some after locations (countries, cities, rivers, resorts, and even boats), and some are named after animals! But to be considered an opening, for the purposes of this book, a sequence of moves must have a name. (We cover chess naming conventions, which are frequently a source of head-shaking, in Chapter 3.)
Chess players and scholars generally agree on what to call a particular opening, but sometimes it depends on where you are. For example, the Ruy López, which we cover in Chapter 7, is called the Spanish Opening in some parts of the world. Throughout this book, we refer to the generally accepted opening names as they’re used in the United States.
Seeing how a move turns into an opening
Openings are defined and categorized by their pawn structure and piece placement. Although the pawns may not appear to have a lot of power when you’re in the thick of a game, at the start of the game, they open lines for your pieces to take advantage of and restrict your opponent’s pieces and pawns from squares.
The most frequently played opening move is 1.e4 because it does the most to help you develop your pieces (or move the pieces from their starting position). However, the move 1.e4 is not considered a specific opening (see Figure 1-1).
Ranks, files, and diagonals are collectively referred to as lines. The move 1.e4 opens a line for both the queen and the bishop. They’re now free to move from their starting positions.
If Black responds to the move 1.e4 with 1 … . e5, you have a position that can be classified as a double king pawn, which is a type of opening known as an open game. (We cover the variety of chess opening types in Chapter 3.) But these opening moves are not yet a particular opening because they don’t have a name.
However, if White continues with 2.Bc4, you have yourself a named opening! This position is called the Bishop’s Opening, which we cover in Chapter 5 (see Figure 1-2).
FIGURE 1-1: An opening move, but not an opening.
FIGURE 1-2: The Bishop’s Opening.
Watching an opening transform right before your eyes
According to Wikipedia, The Oxford Companion to Chess lists 1,327 named chess openings and variations. A variation is an alternate line of play within a particular opening. Not that we have counted all of them, but we are sure there are even more. The reason we know this is that new variations are invented or discovered all the time, and at some point, what used to be an opening move becomes an opening. Indeed, I (Carsten) have written about variations that didn’t have a name before I named them!
It’s also possible to arrive at a particular opening or variation by different move orders, or to start out in one opening and end up in another, which is called transposing. Many opening systems offer the possibility of transposing from one opening into another, and top-notch players use this possibility to keep their opponents guessing.
It’s not so much the exact sequence of moves that matters, but the position you arrive at. As long as you understand the general ideas behind that position, you’ll be able to navigate through the maze of possibilities at your disposal.
Finding an opening that’s right for you
People have different styles of play when it comes to chess. Your style doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with how you behave in real life. You may be shy and retiring in your everyday encounters, but a real tiger when it comes to chess, or vice versa.
I (James) first became serious about chess when Bobby Fischer challenged Boris Spassky for the World Championship in 1972. I had suffered a skiing injury and spent some of my enforced downtime with a chess book that featured a lot of Nimzo-Indian Defenses (see Chapter 16) and French Defenses (see Chapter 10). They became the openings that I chose to play in tournaments.
I noticed, however, that the majority of players in those tournaments played Sicilian Defenses (see Chapter 9) and King’s Indian Defenses (see Chapter 17). It became clear to me that this was because Fischer played those openings. Fischer was a trendsetter.
But what about you? Do you want to play something that’s in fashion now, or do you want to go your own way? Out of all the available openings that exist in chess, which ones are right for you?
There is no right or wrong chess style. Two great players became World Champions in the 1960s, and their styles could not have been more different. Mikhail Tal (1936–1992) became World Champion in 1960 and was one of the fiercest attacking players of all time. On the other side of the ledger was Tigran Petrosian (1929–1984), who became World Champion in 1963. He was a staunch defender who was extremely difficult to beat.
Ask yourself what appeals to you the most about chess. Do you always want to be the aggressor and go on the attack at all costs? Check out the openings in Chapter 4. They may be right up your alley.
CHESS FASHION SENSE
A chess opening can become popular simply because a famous player uses it. Another opening can become unpopular if a move is discovered that seems to give the advantage to one player over the other. Openings can be rehabilitated, too — sometimes, even newer moves are discovered that change the evaluation yet again.
Chess openings have been exposed to enormous scrutiny, but there still are no final answers as to which variations are best. Chess programs running on powerful computers have ranked the openings, and some previously thought sound have been shown to be suspect. We always felt that the “latest and greatest” wasn’t for us. We wanted to play something we understood, and it was fine by us if it wasn’t popular with other players. Play what you like, and don’t worry about chess fashion.
The different openings can be grouped by type, as we explain in more detail in Chapter 3. In general terms, openings that feature open lines and easy piece development are grouped in Part 1 of this book. Openings with closed lines and more limited piece mobility are grouped in Part 4.
You may already know what type of player you are, and the organization of this book will steer you toward the type of opening that suits you best. If you don’t know what type of chess player you are, browse through openings from each type and see which one appeals to you the most.
After you figure out the type of opening you like, take a closer look at some of the specific openings in that section. You’ll find games where White’s strategy succeeds and games where Black’s strategy comes out on top. If you feel an intuitive attraction to any particular opening, pay attention to that feeling!
If an opening seems too complicated — or if it just doesn’t feel right to you — keep looking. Matching the right opening to your style of play makes you a better player, and it guarantees you more playing pleasure in the long run.
Reviewing Chess Shorthand
Throughout this book, we use game scores from notable games to explain how an opening influenced the outcome of a game. These game scores use standard chess notation, also known as algebraic notation. Unless you’re a chess novice, you’re probably familiar with chess shorthand, but we include the main points in the following sections just in case you need a quick refresher.
Describing the board and pieces
Chess players use an alpha-numerical system to record chess moves. Each file (column) is given a letter from a to h. Each rank (row) is given a number from 1 to 8 (see Figure 1-3). So, the lower left-hand square is a1, the upper right-hand square is h8, and so on.
The pieces are described as shown in Table 1-1. (Note that capital letters are used to distinguish these abbreviations from the letters that describe the files.)
If the only designation is a square, such as 1.e4, that implies a pawn move.
TABLE 1-1 Chess Piece Abbreviations
Abbreviation
Piece
K
King
Q
Queen
R
Rook
B
Bishop
N
Knight
If on White’s second move the bishop moves in front of the king, it would be written as 2.Be2. If you’re not comfortable with chess notation, find someone who is, and ask the person to explain it to you. It’s much easier than it looks!
FIGURE 1-3: Each square can be referenced by its coordinates.
Describing the action
Chess is an action-packed game. Those who’ve played enough often comment on whether a move is good, bad, or fatal when writing about a game. The chess symbols shown in Table 1-2 are the shorthand for conveying these ideas.
TABLE 1-2 Chess Symbols
Symbol
Definition
?
A bad move
??
An extremely bad move
?!
A dubious move
!?
An interesting move containing some risk
!
A very good move
!!
A brilliant move
0–0
Kingside castling
0–0–0
Queenside castling
x
A capture has taken place
+
Check
++
Double check
#
Checkmate
1–0
White wins the game
0–1
Black wins the game
1/2–1/2
The game is drawn
Chapter 2
Exploring the Elements of Chess
IN THIS CHAPTER
Increasing the mobility of your pieces
Gaining an advantage in space
Winning the battle for material
Examining some common pawn structures
Making sure the king is secure
Chess openings may seem to veer off in a million different directions, but they all share certain fundamental characteristics: time, space, material, pawn structure, and king safety.
Army generals know that getting their forces someplace fast can be more important than the magnitude of the force itself. They know that if they have more room to maneuver, they may be able to outflank the opposition. These military teachings apply to the game of chess as well. In this chapter, we break down the fundamental elements of the game and help you understand how you can use these concepts to your advantage and to avoid mistakes.
Every rule has an exception, and most rules are really only guidelines meant to steer you very generally in the right direction. However, you’d better have a good reason for violating the basic principles of chess openings, or you may find yourself wishing that you hadn’t.
Getting Time on Your Side
The element of time in chess is called development. Development doesn’t refer to the speed at which the game is played or how long it takes to complete a game. It refers to how quickly and effectively you deploy your forces.
Each side takes a turn making a move, and each turn is important. You want to spend this time increasing the mobility of your pieces. A move that increases their mobility is called a developing move.
The power of the pieces is tied to their mobility. The player who develops his pieces to effective squares most efficiently has more power to command. If you make a move that doesn’t increase your mobility, you may be wasting time. Because White has the first move, White starts out with a slight advantage in time.
Here are some points to keep in mind to maximize your mobility:
Make only as many pawn moves as are necessary to get your pieces out.
Move your knights toward the center.
Put your pieces on active squares that are also safe from enemy attack.
Avoid moving one or two pieces multiple times in the opening. Get everyone into the act.
Focus the pieces toward the center.
Castle quickly to get the rooks connected and give them access to the action.
Chess players use the Italian word tempo to refer to a single unit of time. They speak of winning or losing a tempo, meaning that they’ve either gained or lost time. Winning a tempo is like getting a free move, and losing a tempo is like giving your opponent an extra turn.
In the Scandinavian Defense, Black eliminates White’s center pawn, but at the cost of a tempo following the moves 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3. White develops the knight to c3, where it attacks the Black queen on d5. The queen must move for a second time, and White gains a tempo (see Figure 2-1).
FIGURE 2-1: Black’s queen is under attack and must move again.
When Spacing Out Is Good
In many ways, chess is a game of spatial conquest. All things being equal, the player who controls the most space controls the game. In the opening, the quest for space usually involves a fight for the center (see Figure 2-2).
If you gain an advantage in space, you have more freedom of movement for your pieces. Most pieces gain more mobility when you move them toward the center, which is called centralization. A knight, for example, has significantly less mobility on the edge of the board than it does in the center. (See Figures 2-3 and 2-4.)
The most popular opening move is 1.e4. It opens a line for the queen and the light-squared bishop, but it also grabs space (see Figure 2-5).
The most common opening strategy is to use the center pawns and minor pieces (the bishops and knights) to control the four center squares. If these pieces are centralized and your opponent’s pieces are not, you’ll generally have more space, which means more mobility and more power.
FIGURE 2-2: The four center squares are the key to controlling space.
FIGURE 2-3: A knight on the edge of the board attacks only two squares.
FIGURE 2-4: A knight in the center attacks eight squares.
FIGURE 2-5: White is now attacking squares on Black’s side of the board.
Here are some other points to keep in mind regarding space:
Control the center prior to initiating attacks on the wing.
Avoid locking your bishops behind your own pawns.
If you have less space, try to exchange pieces of equal value.
If your opponent launches a flank attack, strike back in the center.
Keep the king away from the center until the endgame.
Making the Most of Your Material
The collective force of the pieces is referred to as material. Not all material is created equal, however. Some pieces are more mobile than others. The more mobile a piece is, the more powerful it is. The queen has the most mobility and is the strongest piece on the board. Table 2-1 shows the relative value of the pieces. The table doesn’t include the king, because there’s no way to value the king — its loss means the game is over!
TABLE 2-1 The Relative Value of Chess Pieces
Piece
Value
Pawn
1
Knight
3
Bishop
3.25
Rook
5
Queen
9
All things being equal, you don’t want to give up a powerful piece for one of lesser value. That’s why in the Scandinavian Defense (refer to Figure 2-1), the queen is forced to move a second time after the White knight attacks it. If Black allows the knight to capture the queen, Black faces a significant material deficit and will almost certainly lose the game.
It’s common in various chess openings to use the threat of winning material to gain time or space. Advantage in time or space may be temporary, but material advantages tend to be more lasting. The exception to this rule is the gambit (see Chapter 4), where material is sacrificed in order to gain time.
Even then, one idea behind the gambit is to eventually recover the material investment by winning it back while retaining an edge in either space or time.
A developing move that also threatens to win material can be very powerful. If your opponent has to spend time guarding against material loss, you may be able to dictate the action. This ability is referred to in chess as the initiative.
Whenever you see your opponent’s king and queen on the same rank or file, try to attack them with a rook.
Here are some terms to keep in mind related to material:
A knight attack on two pieces of greater value is called a fork.
A bishop attack on a piece that can’t move away without exposing a piece of greater value to capture is called a pin.
A bishop attack on a piece of greater value that can’t move away without exposing another piece of greater value to capture is called a skewer.
Structuring your pawns
The strategy involved in many chess openings can only be understood by considering the pawn structure. If your pawn structure is solid and you can damage your opponent’s structure, you gain an advantage out of the opening.
At the start of the game, the pawn structure is rock solid as the pawns stand shoulder to shoulder on their rank in front of the pieces. The pawns do, however, have to be disturbed in order to develop the pieces. Pawns can’t move backward, so every advance is a commitment, but one that must be made. In the following sections, we explain some common pawn structures.
Doubled pawns: Trouble on the horizon
When two pawns of the same color are on the same file, they’re referred to as doubled. This is normally a positional weakness. The mobility of the pawn in the back is compromised; you can’t use it to protect the pawn in front.
Some openings are designed to afflict the opposition with doubled pawns. The Sämisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (see Chapter 16) is one such opening (see Figure 2-6).
The pawns on c3 and c4 are doubled. Black’s subsequent opening strategy is to attack the pawn on c4 and to tie White’s pieces down in defense. Pieces that get stuck doing guard duty may drift into passivity.
All things being equal, doubled pawns represent a weakness. If you can exchange one of them for one of your opponent’s healthy pawns, by all means do so.
FIGURE 2-6: The Sämisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense features doubled pawns.
Isolated pawns: 1 is a lonely number
If there are no pawns of the same color on a pawn’s adjacent files, the pawn is referred to as isolated. An isolated pawn can be a positional weakness because you can only defend it with pieces. Another drawback is that other pawns can’t attack the square in front of an isolated pawn.
If an enemy piece is positioned in front of an isolated pawn, driving it away may be impossible. In that case, the isolated pawn’s mobility is halted. The term chess players use for such a situation is blockade.
The fight for control over the square in front of an isolated pawn can be the main strategy in certain openings. In the Queen’s Gambit Accepted (see Chapter 14), White is often saddled with an isolated d-pawn (see Figure 2-7).
White tries to execute the advance d4-d5, and Black tries to prevent it. If White succeeds, the isolated pawn will be eliminated or used to disrupt the organization of Black’s pieces. If Black succeeds in blockading the pawn, however, White’s position may become weak.
