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

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defens ...

characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. c3 The opening was played 17 times in the New York 1889 tournament by 19th-century Canadian chess master

Nicholas MacLeod Nicholas Menalaus MacLeod (8 February 1870, Quebec – 27 September 1965, Spokane, Washington) was a Canadian chess master. MacLeod won the Canadian Chess Championship in 1886 and 1888, and shared first but lost a play-off match for the title in ...

Hooper & 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 to d4, establishing a strong . Play can potentially transpose to other openings, most likely the Ponziani Opening or the Göring Gambit 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 away and gain a tempo. After 2...d5, MacLeod played 3.Nf3 in MacLeod– Gossip, 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). 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 , year=2003 , isbn=1-58042-072-9 Chess openings