The English Opening is the chess opening 1.c4 (in algebraic notation), the fourth most popular opening move in chess. White begins the fight for the center by staking a claim to the d5 square. Common responses are 1...e5 (which can lead to positions similar to the Sicilian Defence but with opposite colors), 1...c5 (the Symmetrical Variation), and 1...Nf6. Also perfectly playable are 1...e6 (often leading to a Queen's Gambit Declined after 2.d4 d5) and 1...c6 (often leading to a Slav Defence after 2.d4 d5, a Caro-Kann Defence after 2.e4 d5, or a Reti Opening after 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3). Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... The first moves of a chess game are the opening moves, collectively referred to as the opening. ... Algebraic chess notation is the method used today by all competition chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers to record and describe the play of chess games. ... The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening which begins with: 1. ... The Queens Gambit Declined (QGD) is, in its broadest sense any variation of the Queens Gambit chess opening where Black does not play the Queens Gambit Accepted, 2. ... The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ... The Caro-Kann Defence is a common chess opening characterized by the moves (see algebraic notation): 1. ... This chess opening for white starts with 1. ...

The English is a very flexible opening. Although many lines of the English have a distinct character, as the above discussion suggests it often transposes into other openings. If White plays an early d4, the game will usually transpose into either the Queen's Gambit or an Indian defence. For example, after The Queens Gambit is a chess opening that starts with the moves 1. ... In chess openings, the Indian defences are characterized by the opening moves 1. ...

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 d5

the game has transposed into the Grünfeld Defence, usually reached by the move order The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ...

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5.

Note, however, that White can also play

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4

making it impossible for Black to reach a Grünfeld, and instead more or less forcing him to defend a King's Indian Defence with 3...d6. Black also cannot force a Grünfeld with 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5, since White can deviate with 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.g3. The Kings Indian Defence is a chess opening that begins 1. ...

Instead of playing an early d4, White can also play Nf3 and fianchetto the king's bishop (g3 and Bg2), transposing into a Reti Opening. In chess the fianchetto (Italian little flanking) is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward. ... The king (♔♚) is the most important piece in the game of chess. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... This chess opening for white starts with 1. ...

The many different transpositional possibilities available to White make the English a slippery opening for Black to defend against, and make it advisable for him to consider carefully what move order to employ. For instance, if Black would like to play a Queen's Gambit Declined, the most accurate move order to do so is 1...e6 2.d4 d5. (Of course, White can again play the Reti instead with 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3.) If Black plays instead 1...Nf6 2.Nc3 e6, White can avoid the QGD by playing 3.e4 instead. The Queens Gambit Declined (QGD) is, in its broadest sense any variation of the Queens Gambit chess opening where Black does not play the Queens Gambit Accepted, 2. ...

The English derives its name from the English (unofficial) world champion, Howard Staunton, who played it during his 1843 match with Amant. It fell out of favor (the opening was notably disdained by Morphy), but is now recognized as a solid opening that may be used to reach both classical and hypermodern positions. Botvinnik, Karpov, and Kasparov all employed it during their world championship matches. Bobby Fischer created a stir when he switched to it from the King's Pawn against Boris Spassky in 1972. Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st... The 1984 World Chess Championship was between Anatoly Karpov (left) and Garry Kasparov (right). ... Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810 - June 22, 1874) was an English polymath. ... Pierre Charles Fournier de St. ... Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, was an American chess player. ... The Queens Indian Defence is a hypermodern opening Hypermodernism is a school of chess thought which advocates controlling the centre of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns, thus inviting the opponent to occupy the centre with pawns which can then become objects of attack. ... Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik (Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) (August 17, 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Anatoli Karpov Anatoli Yevgenyevich Karpov (Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Garry Kimovich Kasparov (Гарри Кимович Каспаров) (born April 13, 1963) is a chess grandmaster and the strongest chess player in the world. ... Bobby Fischer. ... The term Kings Pawn Game refers to any chess opening where White opens with 1. ... Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasski) (Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ...

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings

The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings has classified the English Opening under the codes A10 through A39: The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) is a book collection (now also a computer database) describing chess openings. ...

• A10 1.c4
• A11 1.c4 c6 (Caro-Kann Defence)
• A12 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3
• A13 1.c4 e6
• A14 1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0-0
• A15 1.c4 Nf6
• A16 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3
• A17 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6
• A18 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 (Mikenas-Carls Variation)
• A19 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 c5
• A20 1.c4 e5
• A21 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3
• A22 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6
• A23 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 c6 (Bremen System, Keres Variation)
• A24 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 (Bremen System with ...g6)
• A25 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6
• A26 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6
• A27 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 (Three Knights System)
• A28 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6
• A29 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 (Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto)
• A30 1.c4 c5 (Symmetrical Variation)
• A31 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 (Symmetrical, Benoni Formation)
• A32 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6
• A33 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Nc6
• A34 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3
• A35 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6
• A36 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3
• A37 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3
• A38 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6
• A39 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4

Sources

• Modern Chess Openings, 14th ed., pgs. 661-665.

External links

• Chess Books about the English Opening