chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, a transposition is a sequence of moves that results in a position which may also be reached by another, more common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in the opening, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves. Players sometimes use transpositions deliberately, to avoid variations they dislike, lure opponents into unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory or simply to worry opponents. See review at In chess the verb "transpose" means to shift the game onto a different opening track from which it started. Transposition tables are an essential part of a computer chess program. Transpositions exist in other abstract strategy games such as shogi, Go, tic-tac-toe and

Hex Hex or HEX may refer to: Magic * Hex, a curse or supposed real and potentially supernaturally realized malicious wish * Hex sign, a barn decoration originating in Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the United States * Hex work, a Pennsylvania Dutch ...

Examples

Positions reached by different routes

For instance, the first position can be obtained from the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Nf6 But this position can also be reached from the English Opening: :1. c4 e6 :2. Nc3 Nf6 :3. d4 d5 so the English Opening has transposed into the Queen's Gambit. The second position shows another example. The position can arise from the

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

: :1. e4 e6 :2. d4 d5 :3. exd5 exd5 :4. Nf3 Nf6 The identical position can also be reached, with two extra moves played by each side, from the

Petrov Defense Petrov's Defence or the Petrov Defence (also called Petroff Defence, Petrov's Game, Russian Defence, or Russian Game – russian: Русская партия) is a chess opening characterised by the following moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nf6 Tho ...

: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nf6 :3. Nxe5 d6 :4. Nf3 Nxe4 :5. d3 Nf6 :6. d4 d5 This third position shows another example. This position can be reached from the Exchange variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Nf6 :4. cxd4 exd4 :5. Bg5 Bb4 :6. Qc2 h6 The identical position can also be reached from the Classical variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Bb4 :4. Qc2 d5 :5. cxd4 exd4 :6. Bg5 h6 The fourth position shows another example. The position can arise from the Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian Defence: :1. e4 c5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. d4 cxd4 :4. Nxd4 Nf6 :5. Nc3 e5 :6. Ndb5 d6 :7. Bg5 a6 :8. Na3 b5 The identical position can also be reached, with one extra move played by each side, from the Four Knights variation of the Sicilian Defence: :1. e4 c5 :2. Nf3 e6 :3. d4 cxd4 :4. Nxd4 Nf6 :5. Nc3 Nc6 :6. Bf4 d6 :7. Ndb5 e5 :8. Bg5 a6 :9. Na3 b5 The position on the right, featuring a Maróczy Bind, can be reached from the Sicilian Defence: :1. e4 c5 :2. Nf3 d6 :3. d4 cxd4 :4. Nxd4 g6 :5. c4 Bg7 :6. Nc3 Nf6 :7. f3 Nc6 :8. Be3 0-0 The identical position can also be reached from the King's Indian Defence: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 :3. Nc3 Bg7 :4. e4 0-0 :5. f3 d6 :6. Be3 c5 :7. Nge2 cxd4 :8. Nxd4 Nc6 The position on the right can be reached from the Sicilian Defence: :1. e4 c5 :2. Nf3 d6 :3. d4 cxd4 :4. Nxd4 Nf6 :5. Nc3 g6 :6. Nc3 Bg7 :7. f3 a6 :8. Qd2 h5 :9. 0-0-0 Nbd7 :10. Kb1 h5 :11. h4 Bb7 The identical position can also be reached from the Pirc Defence: :1. e4 d6 :2. d4 Nf6 :3. Nc3 g6 :4. Be3 Bg7 :5. Qd2 a6 :6. 0-0-0 b5 :7. f3 Bb7 :8. Nge2 Nbd7 :9. Kb1 c5 :10. h4 cxd5 :11. Nxd4 h5 The position on the right can be reached from the

Giuoco Piano The Giuoco Piano ( Italian: "Quiet Game"; ), also called the Italian Opening, is a chess opening beginning with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Bc5 "White aims to develop quickly – but so does Black. White can construct a pawn ce ...

: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Bc5 :4. d3 Nf6 :5. c3 d6 :6. 0-0 0-0 :7. Nbd2 a6 :8. Bb3 Ba7 :9. h3 h6 :10. Re1 Ne7 :11. d4 exd4 :12. cxd4 b5 :13. Bc2 c5 The identical position can also be reached from the Berlin Defence: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 Nf6 :4. d3 Bc5 :5. c3 d6 :6. 0-0 0-0 :7. Nbd2 a6 :8. Ba4 Ba7 :9. h3 h6 :10. Re1 Ne7 :11. d4 exd4 :12. cxd4 b5 :13. Bc2 c5 The position on the right, featuring an ''

isolani In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn that has no friendly pawn on an adjacent . Isolated pawns are usually a weakness because they cannot be protected by other pawns. The square in front of the pawn may become a good outpost or otherwise a good ...

'' can be reached by many different openings and move orders. For example, there's the Nimzo-Indian Defence: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Bb4 :4. e3 0-0 :5. Bd3 c5 :6. Nf3 cxd4 :7. exd4 d5 :8. 0-0 dxc4 :9. Bxc4 Nc6 :10. a3 Be7 Caro–Kann Defence: :1. e4 c6 :2. d4 d5 :3. exd5 cxd5 :4. c4 Nf6 :5. Nc3 e6 :6. Nf3 Bb4 :7. Bd3 dxc4 :8. Bxc4 0-0 :9. 0-0 Nc6 :10. a3 Be7

Transposition possibilities of some openings

Some openings are noted for their wide range of possible transpositions, for example the Catalan Opening and Sicilian Defence. For a simple example, the opening moves 1.d4 e6 can transpose very quickly into a wide range of openings, including:

References

{{chess Chess terminology