Barcza Opening
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Barcza Opening
The Barcza System is a chess opening system played by White, comprising the moves Nf3, g3, Bg2 and 0-0, regarded as non-committal moves whilst Black exposes their intention. It is named after the Hungarian grandmaster Gedeon Barcza who employed the opening on many occasions throughout his career. After playing the four moves outlined above White will usually choose to direct play into another opening system such as the Réti Opening (by playing c4), the King's Indian Attack (by playing d3, Nbd2 and e4), the Catalan (by playing d4 and c4), or the Hippopotamus (by playing b3 and Bb2). The Barcza System is thus essentially a transpositional tool where White delays committing to a specific structure until it is clear how Black intends to develop. The Barcza System only has independent significance on the rare occasions where play does not enter another opening complex. The Barcza System has been suggested as a universal system ideal for club players by grandmasters such as Lajos P ...
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Gedeon Barcza
Gedeon Barcza (August 21, 1911 – February 27, 1986) was a Hungarian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. He was eight-time Hungarian Chess Championship, chess champion of Hungary. Chess career In 1940, Barcza took third place, behind Max Euwe and Milan Vidmar, at Maróczy Jubiläum in Budapest. In September 1942, he took sixth place at the first European Championship in Munich; the event was won by Alexander Alekhine. In 1948, he took second place in Karlovy Vary; the event was won by Jan Foltys. In 1948, he tied for second/third place in Venice; the event was won by Miguel Najdorf. In 1950, he tied for second/fourth place in Salzbrunn (Szczawno Zdrój); the event was won by Paul Keres. In 1952, he took fifteenth place in Saltsjöbaden (interzonal). In 1957, he won in San Benedetto del Tronto. In 1961, he took third place in Vienna. In 1962, he tied for third/sixth place in Moscow. In 1962, he tied for fourteenth/fifteenth place in Stockholm (interzonal). Barcza won the H ...
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Réti Opening
The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose "traditional" or "classic method" begins with the moves: : 1. Nf3 d5 : 2. c4 White attacks Black's pawn from the , which may occasion 2...dxc4. White may couple this plan with a fianchetto (g3 and Bg2) to create pressure on the light squares in the . The opening is named after Czechoslovak chess player Richard Réti (1889–1929). The opening is in the spirit of the hypermodernism movement that Réti championed, with the center being dominated from the wings rather than by direct occupation. If White fianchettos both bishops, castles kingside, and refrains from occupying the center with pawns, the result may be described as the Réti System. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the opening is found in codes A04–A09, where it is closely associated with the King's Indian Attack. History According to Réti, the opening was introduced into master play in the early part of 1923. Schiller, Eric (1988). ''Ho ...
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King's Indian Attack
The King's Indian Attack (or KIA) is a chess opening where White adopts the setup more commonly seen being played by Black in the King's Indian Defence. The King's Indian Attack is characterised by the following moves: the central pawns are developed to e4 and d3, the knights are developed to d2 and f3, the is fianchettoed at g2 following the g-pawn's move to g3, and White castles kingside. This pattern can either be achieved via a 1.e4 (typically against either the French Defence or a Sicilian Defence with a subsequent ...e6) or as a universal system starting with 1.Nf3. History The use of the King's Indian Attack at grandmaster level was originally an offshoot from the widespread use of the King's Indian Defence in the 1950s. As grandmasters began to appreciate the advantages of playing the King's Indian Defence as Black, the use of the same system as White, with an extra move in hand, inevitably became attractive. Prominent players who have employed the King's India ...
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Catalan Opening
The Catalan Opening is a chess opening where White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3, although various other openings can transpose into the Catalan. The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (''ECO'') lists codes E01–E09 for lines with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2; other lines are part of E00. In the Catalan, White adopts a combination of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening. White combines the space-gaining moves d4 and c4 with g3, preparing to fianchetto the king's bishop. This places pressure mainly on the queenside while hoping to keep the white king safe in the long-term. The c4-pawn can become vulnerable, however, and White might have to sacrifice a pawn. Black has two main approaches to play against the Catalan: in the Open Catalan Black plays ...dxc4 and can either try to hold on to the pawn with ...b5 or give it back for extra time to free their game. In the Closed Catalan, Black does not captur ...
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Hippopotamus Defence
The Hippopotamus Defence is a chess employed by Black, consisting of a double structure (bishops on b7 and g7) and a small (pawns on d6 and e6). The knights are typically developed to e7 and d7 and the rook's pawns to a6 and h6. This structure can be obtained by a wide variety of move orders but it occurs most frequently via the Modern Defence (1.e4 g6) or Owen's Defence (1.e4 b6). The Hippopotamus can also be played against queen's pawn openings or flank openings and is thus a genuinely universal system. The same structure is also occasionally utilized by White. History The first master strength player to experiment with Hippopotamus-type structures appears to have been the Slovak International Master Maximilian Ujtelky. The opening first came to public prominence, however, after being adopted twice by Boris Spassky in his 1966 World Championship match against Tigran Petrosian (after which the setup was dubbed the "Hippopotamus" by commentators). Spassky would appear to h ...
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Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates Cycle a total of eight times (1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, and 1988). Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1975, and 1981). He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of ' Nemzet Sportolója' (Sportsman of the Nation), Hungary's highest national sports achievement award. His main hobby is singing operatic arias; he has a fine baritone voice, a quality shared by Vasily Smyslov, a chess world champion and g ...
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David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein (; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in World Chess Championship 1951, 1951. Bronstein was one of the world's strongest players from the mid-1940s into the mid-1970s, and was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics. He was also a renowned chess writer; his book ''Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953'' is widely considered one of the greatest chess books ever written. Early life David Bronstein was born in Bila Tserkva, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, to Jewish parents. Growing up in a poor family, he learned chess at the age of six from his grandfather. As a youth in Kiev, he was trained by the renowned International Master Alexander Konstantinopolsky. He finished second in the Kiev Championship when he was only 15, and achieved the Soviet Master title at the age of 16 for hi ...
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Yasser Seirawan
Yasser Seirawan (; born March 24, 1960) is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States Chess Championship, United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess author and commentator. Early life Seirawan was born in Damascus, Syria. His father was Syrian and his mother an English nurse from Nottingham, where he spent some time in his early childhood. When he was seven, his family immigrated to Seattle, Washington, where he attended Queen Anne Elementary School, Edmond S. Meany Middle School, Meany Middle School, and Garfield High School (Seattle, Washington), Garfield High School. He honed his game at a now-defunct coffeehouse, the Last Exit on Brooklyn, playing against the likes of Latvian-born master Viktors Pupols and six-time Washington (state), Washington State Champion James Harley McCormick. Career Seirawan began playing chess at 12; at 13, he became Washington junior champion. At 19, he ...
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