Openings

Today we’ll talk about something different rather than Rook Endgames that I was covering lately. If not endgames, than what, you may ask? Right, we are going to talk about openings, which is something opposite to the endgames. Don’t get disappointed yet since I’m not going to cover the openings you know and play on […]

This article is a continuation of Rapid Chess Improvement: Evaluation of Positions, which covered the main things a chess player needs to work on in order to improve the game. Opening repertoire is a very tricky thing to work on. You do not want to spend too much time studying opening lines which you may […]

The Scotch Game received its name from a correspondence match in 1824 between Edinburgh and London. Popular in the 19th century, by 1900 the Scotch had lost favor among top players because it was thought to release the central tension too early and allow Black to equalize without difficulty. However, this opening is still very […]

It is named after the famous 18th century player François-André Danican Philidor, who advocated it as an alternative to the common 2…Nc6. Today it is known for being a solid, but rather passive, opening for black. It is rarely seen in top level play. Philidor’s main idea behind the move 2…d6 was of course to […]

Italian opening is one of the oldest chess openings. It was analyzed by the greatest Italian masters in XVI century. The main idea for white is formation of ideal pawn center by playing c2-c3 and pushing d2-d4. Black has a weak f7 square, which white using as a target for its attacks.

The opening was developed by Russian master Alexander Petrov. The main idea of Petrov’s Defense (or so called Russian game) is not to defend e5 pawn, but to symmetrically attack white’s e4 pawn. This is strategically rich opening and it’s being used by top player around the globe even these days.

The two knight defense usually leads to a sharp game. Sacrifices are very common here for black as well as for white. This opening is played at the very top level even today.

This opening is the one played very often. Black avoids drawish 4 knights game playing 3…Be7. This opening is not very well known and analyzed, so it may be a good idea to play it, if you want to surprise your opponent. Psychology is big part of chess.

The four knights opening is also very old and well known. Knights can be developed in any order, but the given one is the most common. This opening is more often played by beginners, who avoid complex pawn exchanges. This is a solid opening, but since it’s too symmetrical, white do not get as much […]

Spanish game is one of the oldest and well analyzed openings. The opening was first played and studied by the greatest chess players of XV and XVI century Luzena and Lopez from Spain. This is probably single the most popular opening which is being played today at all levels: from beginners to the elite grandmasters.