In chess, an Open Game is one which begins with the White moving 1. e4 and the Black responding with 1... e5. In contrast, Semi-open Games are those in which Black does not respond with 1. ... e5, but a move such as 1. ... e6 (the French Defense) or 1. ... c5 (the Sicilian Defense). 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. ... Chess position after 1. ... The Sicilian defence is a chess opening which begins with: 1. ...

White starts by playing 1.e4. This is the most popular opening move and it has many strengths — it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the queen and a bishop). The oldest openings in chess follow 1.e4. Bobby Fischer rated 1.e4 as "best by test". On the downside, 1.e4 places a pawn on an undefended square and weakens the squares d4 and f4; the Hungarian master Gyula Breyer melodramatically declared that "After 1.e4 White's game is in its last throes". If Black mirrors White's move and replies with 1...e5, the result is an open game (Hooper & Whyld 1992), (Watson 2006:87-90). Queen. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born chess Grandmaster and in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the official World Chess Champion. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ... Gyula Breyer (1893 – 1921) was a Hungarian chess player. ...

The most popular second move for White is 2.Nf3 attacking Black's king pawn, preparing for a kingside castling, and anticipating the advance of the queen pawn to d4. Black's most common reply is 2...Nc6, which usually leads to the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano, Two Knights Defense, or Scotch Game. If Black instead maintains symmetry and counterattacks White's center with 2...Nf6 then the Petrov's Defense results. Initial placement of the pawns. ... This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. ... Initial position of kings and rooks Black has castled kingside (O-O), and White has castled queenside (O-O-O) Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of his original rooks. ... The Ruy Lopez, generally called the Spanish Game outside of English speaking countries, is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation): 1. ... The Giuoco Piano is a chess opening characterized by the moves 1. ... The Two Knights Defence is a chess opening that begins 1. ... The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... Petrovs Defence (sometimes spelled Petroffs) is the chess opening 1. ...

The most popular alternatives to 2.Nf3 are 2.Nc3 (the Vienna Game), 2.Bc4 (the Bishop's Opening) and 2.f4 (the King's Gambit). All of these three openings have some similarities with each other, in particular the Bishop's Opening frequently transposes to variations of the Vienna Game. The King's Gambit was extremely popular in the 19th Century. White sacrifices a pawn for quick development and to pull a black pawn out of the center. The Vienna Game also frequently features attacks on the Black center by means of a f2-f4 pawn advance. Vienna Game The Vienna Game is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ... The Bishops Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Kings Gambit The Kings Gambit is a chess opening that begins (in algebraic notation): 1. ... A transposition in chess is a position on the board that can be reached by the same piece in more than one way. ...

In the Center Game, 2.d4, White immediately opens the center but if the pawn is to be recovered after 2...exd4, White must contend with a slightly premature queen development after 3.Qxd4. An alternative is to sacrifice one or two pawns, for example in the Danish Gambit. The early queen developments of the Parham Attack and the Napoleon Opening look amateurish. Indeed they are generally only played by novices, but the Parham Attack has been played in a few grandmaster tournament games. The Portuguese Opening, Alapin's Opening, Konstantinopolsky Opening, and Inverted Hungarian Opening are rare, offbeat tries for White. The Center Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Danish Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Parham Attack, commonly known as the Patzer Opening or Queens Opening is considered the best chess opening according to Fischer and many other highly rated chess masters. ... The Napoleon Opening is an irregular chess opening starting with 1. ... The Portuguese Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... Alapins Opening is an unusual chess opening that starts with the moves 1. ... The Konstantinopolsky Opening is a rarely played chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Inverted Hungarian Opening is an unusual chess opening that starts with the moves 1. ...

Of the defenses in this section, only the Damiano Defense is truly bad, although the Elephant Gambit and the Latvian Gambit are very risky for Black. The Philidor Defense is not popular in modern chess because it allows White an easy space advantage while Black remains solid but cramped and passive. The Damiano Defense is a chess opening characterized by the opening moves 1. ... The Elephant Gambit (also called the Queens Pawn Counter Gambit or Englund Counterattack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves (in algebraic chess notation): 1. ... The Latvian Gambit. ... The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ...

Variations

Examples of open games:

• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Ruy Lopez
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Ponziani Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Scotch Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Italian Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 Giuoco Piano
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Evans Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 Two Knights Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 Hungarian Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 Four Knights Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 without 3...Nf6 Three Knights Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Konstantinopolsky Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Petrov's Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 Philidor Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 Latvian Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 Elephant Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qf6 Greco Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 Damiano Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bishop's Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Vienna Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.f4 King's Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Center Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Danish Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Parham Attack
• 1.e4 e5 2.Bb5 Portuguese Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.c3 Lopez Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Be2 Inverted Hungarian Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Alapin's Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Qf3?! Napoleon Opening

The Ruy Lopez, generally called the Spanish Game outside of English speaking countries, is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation): 1. ... The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Italian Game is a chess opening, or more accurately a family of chess openings, characterized by the moves 1. ... The Giuoco Piano is a chess opening characterized by the moves 1. ... The Evans Gambit is a chess opening with the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ... The Two Knights Defence is a chess opening that begins 1. ... The Hungarian Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Four Knights Game is a chess opening starting with the moves 1. ... The Three Knights Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Konstantinopolsky Opening is a rarely played chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... Petrovs Defence (sometimes spelled Petroffs) is the chess opening 1. ... The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation): 1. ... The Latvian Gambit. ... The Elephant Gambit (also called the Queens Pawn Counter Gambit or Englund Counterattack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves (in algebraic chess notation): 1. ... The Greco Defence is a chess opening that begins with 1. ... The Damiano Defense is a chess opening characterized by the opening moves 1. ... The Bishops Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... Vienna Game The Vienna Game is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ... The Kings Gambit The Kings Gambit is a chess opening that begins (in algebraic notation): 1. ... The Center Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Danish Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Parham Attack, commonly known as the Patzer Opening or Queens Opening is considered the best chess opening according to Fischer and many other highly rated chess masters. ... The Portuguese Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. ... The Lopez Opening is a chess opening characterized by the moves 1. ... The Inverted Hungarian Opening is an unusual chess opening that starts with the moves 1. ... Alapins Opening is an unusual chess opening that starts with the moves 1. ... The Napoleon Opening is an irregular chess opening starting with 1. ...

See also

• Chess Opening
• List of chess openings
• Encyclopedia of Chess Openings
• King's Pawn Game

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game (the opening moves). ... This is a list of chess openings by the ECO classification: See also Chess and chess openings. ... The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) is a book collection (now also a computer database) describing chess openings. ... The term Kings Pawn Game refers to any chess opening where White opens with 1. ...

References

• Hooper, David & Kenneth Whyld (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-866164-9

• Watson, John (2006), Mastering the Chess Openings, vol 1, Gambit, ISBN 978-1-904600-60-2