The Centre Pawn OpeningHooper & Whyld (1992), p. 72. ''Centre Pawn Opening''. (or the MacLeod Attack) is a

chess opening The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established Chess_theory#Opening_theory, theory. The other phases are the chess middlegame, middlegame and the chess endgame, endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''op ...

characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. c3 The opening was analyzed by Ruy López in his 1561 book, but has never been popular. It was played 17 times in the New York 1889 tournament by the Canadian master Nicholas MacLeodHooper & Whyld (1992), p. 72. ''Centre Pawn Opening''. but has otherwise arisen rarely in tournament play.

Discussion

White's second move prepares to push a

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pa ...

to d4, establishing a strong . Play can potentially

transpose In linear algebra, the transpose of a Matrix (mathematics), matrix is an operator which flips a matrix over its diagonal; that is, it switches the row and column indices of the matrix by producing another matrix, often denoted by (among other ...

to other openings, most likely the

Ponziani Opening The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4, e4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5, e5 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3, Nf3 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc ...

or the

Göring Gambit The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. d4 Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise ''Sopra il giuoco degli Scacchi, Osservazioni pratiche d’anonimo Autore Modenese'' ("On ...

in the Scotch Game.

Eric Schiller Eric Schiller (March 20, 1955 – November 3, 2018) was an American chess player, trainer, arbiter and one of the most prolific authors of books on chess in the 20th century. Early life and education Schiller was born in New York City. He atten ...

states, however, that the opening is too slow, that Black can respond vigorously with 2...d5 to eliminate transpositional possibilities and solve all his opening problems, as after 3.exd5 Qxd5, the move 4.Nc3 is not available to chase the

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

away and gain a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

. After 2...d5, MacLeod played 3.Nf3 in MacLeod–

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, New York 1889, which continued 3...dxe4 (3...Nc6 is the Ponziani) 4.Nxe5 Qd5 (4...Bd6 5.Nc4 Be6 6.d4 exd3) 5.d4 exd3 6.Nd3 with an equal game after move 10 (

Keres In Greek mythology, the Keres (; Ancient Greek: Κῆρες) were female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and who were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields. Although they were present during death and dyin ...

). After 2...Nf6 3.d4, Rusakov– Verlinsky, USSR 1947, continued 3...Nc6 (3...Nxe4 was tried in Morphy–Bottin, Paris 1858) 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 g5 6.Bg3 exd4 7.e5 dxc3, where 8.Nxc3! would have given White the upper hand with more (Keres).Matanović 1981, p. 122, n. 2

References

Bibliography * * *{{cite book , last=Schiller , first=Eric , authorlink=Eric Schiller , title=Unorthodox Chess Openings , publisher=

Cardoza Publishing Avery Cardoza is an American author, professional gambler, and publisher. Cardoza is the owner of the Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of ...

, year=2003 , isbn=1-58042-072-9 Chess openings