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 ...
for
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, usually considered a variation of the
Vienna Game
The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nc3
White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, and is also more recent.
The original idea behind the Vienna Game was to play a delayed King's Gambit with f ...
Bishop's Opening
The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Bc4
White attacks Black's f7-square and prevents Black from advancing the d-pawn to d5. By ignoring the beginner's maxim "develop knights before bishops", White ...
:
:2. Bc4Nf6
:3. Nc3Nxe4
It involves many complications, but with accurate play is viable for both sides. The variation was given its name by Tim Harding in his 1976 book on the Vienna Game, in which he said that the bloodthirstiness of the character of play was such that "a game between
Dracula
''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...
and the
Frankenstein Monster
Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...
would not seem out of place."
The line is rarely seen in top-level play. Jacob Øst-Hansen deployed it against
John Nunn
John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was form ...
in Teesside 1972.
Vasyl Ivanchuk
Vasyl Mykhailovych Ivanchuk (; born March 18, 1969) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster, Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading chess player since 1988, Ivanchuk has been ranked at No. 2 on t ...
used it against
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
in Roquebrune in 1992 in a game that ended in a draw.
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov (, ; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.
He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championshi ...
played it as Black in a
simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
in Canada 2011. In 2019,
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru Nakamurarapid game in St. Louis against
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (; born 26 April 1998) is a Polish Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. A Chess prodigy, prodigy, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and . he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 17 in the FIDE w ...
.
Annotated moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4
:Another common way of reaching the same position is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 (Bishop's Opening) Nf6 3.Nc3. Or the Alekhine's Defence: 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5! etc
3... Nxe4
:This move defines the Frankenstein–Dracula Variation. White cannot win immediately, since 4.Nxe4 brings 4...d5.
4. Qh5
:4.Nxe4 d5 is considered to give Black no problems. 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe4 is considered good for Black as long as he avoids 5...Nc6 (5...d5) 6.Qf3+ Kg8 7.Ng5 and White wins (7...Qxg5 8.Qd5). 4.Qh5 threatens Qxf7#, a threat that White continues to renew in this line.
4... Nd6
:This move is the only good response to White's dual threats against f7 and e5; 4...Ng5 would be met by 5.d4 Ne6 6.dxe5 with some advantage. Also possible is 6.d5, when 6...g6 loses to 7.dxe6, as in Böök–Heidenheimo 1925. Instead, 6.d5 Nd4 led to very complicated play in Kis–Csato, Hungarian Team Championship 1993.
5. Bb3
:Swedish grandmaster
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972.
Chess career
At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. ...
recommended 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxe7+ Bxe7 7.Be2, claiming that White has some advantage. (See Harding's 1998 column cited below.)
5... Nc6
:5...Be7 (returning the pawn) is a alternative, for example 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Nxe5 0-0 (7... g6!? is worth a try) 8.0-0 Nxe5 9.Qxe5 Bf6 10.Qf4 Ne8 11.d4 c6 12.d5; however, White has a better game ( Larsen; Nielsen–Muir, corr. 1971).
6. Nb5 g6 7. Qf3 f5
:
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 195 ...
once won a game with 7...f6 8.Nxc7+ Qxc7 9.Qxf6 b6 10.Qxh8 Bb7 11.Qxh7 0-0-0, but he has not found followers. If Black tries 7...Nf5, then White continues 8.g4 (also strong is 8.Qd5 Nh6 9.d4 d6 10.Bxh6 Be6 11.Qf3 Bxh6 12.d5 Hughes–Fogarty, Pittsburgh 2013) 8...a6 9.gxf5 axb5 10.fxg6 Qe7 11.gxf7+ Kd8 12.Ne2 (preventing ...Nd4) e4 13.Qg3+/−.
8. Qd5 Qe7
:8...Qf6 has also been tried and leads to notably different games. For instance, after 9 Nxc7+ Kd8 10 Nxa8 b6 11. d3 Bb7 12.h4 as in the ...Qe7 line, Black has the strong 12...Ne7! that he cannot play when the queen is on e7, and now White has a very poor game. If White wants to avoid Black's attack, the line 11.d4 Nxd4 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.Nf3 Bb7 14.Qxd4 (this would be a terrible move with the black queen on e7) followed by 14...exd4 15.Bg5 Qxg5 16.Nxg5 calm down with almost equal game. White can choose other more promising lines involving several queen moves.
9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8
:Black is at the moment a rook down, but will eventually regain the
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
, leaving him down the exchange. In return, Black will play for an .
10... b6 (diagram)
:Black almost always continues with this move, preparing ...Bb7 to pick up the trapped knight. In return for his material, Black has a good and his
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
s will be well placed on the . He will try to justify his
sacrifice
Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving.
Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
by avoiding a queen
exchange
Exchange or exchanged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Exchange (film), or ''Deep Trap'', 2015 South Korean psychological thriller
* Exchanged (film), 2019 Peruvian fantasy comedy
* Exchange (TV program), 2021 Sou ...
and attempting to
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
White. White will secure his
king
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
(usually by
castling
Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king (chess), king two squares toward a rook (chess), rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king ...
) and his
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 ...
(which for the moment is somewhat short of squares), hold onto his extra material and eventually may go on the offensive and attack the black king stuck in the centre of the board. Whether Black has sufficient compensation is a matter of opinion. One possible continuation is 11.d3 Bb7 12.h4 (threatening to win Black's queen with Bg5) 12...f4 13.Qf3 Nd4 (13...Bh6 14.Bd2 is also possible) 14.Qg4 (a 1969 recommendation by Anthony Santasiere, threatening to trade queens with Qg5), when Black has choices 14...Bh6, 14...Bg7, and 14...Bxa8. (See Harding's 1998 column cited below.)
John Nunn
John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was form ...