

Black has more central space while White gains further queenside space by pushing the b-pawn again. Now what? Schiffler-Sokolskyīlack's next two most popular moves are 1.d5 and 1.Nf6 and they often transpose into the same line, the Schiffler-Sokolsky. White fianchettoes the bishop as planned, attacking Black's e-pawn. Black does less well defending the e-pawn with either 2.d6 or 2.f6 but both are playable. Although this trade's a central Black pawn for a wing White pawn, Black scores very well. Often a trade follows with 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.Bxe5. 1.e5īlack's most common response is 1.e5, immediately attacking the b-pawn. Prepared opponents can cause White difficultiesīlack has several viable options against the Polish.Prepares to fianchetto the dark-squared bishop.The Polish is very distinctive and once 1.b4 is played, a game is in the Polish Opening with little chance at transposing into something else. Instead of playing in the center, White fights for an advantage on the queenside. Although only the ninth-most popular opening move, it's a respectable option with some devoted followers. The Polish Opening, also known as the Sokolsky or the Orangutan, is the opening 1.b4 by White. Although now less popular at the GM level, it can be used when someone desperately needs a win as White, and remains a good option for more casual players.

The heyday of the KIA was the 1960s when GMs Pal Benko and Bobby Fischer won regularly with it, as IM Jeremy Silman discusses here. Like several hypermodern openings, the King's Indian Attack was first known to be played by Bonnerjee Mohishunder in his games with John Cochrane in Calcutta (Kolkata), India in the 1850s, but did not become more widely popular until the 1920s.

A clear example of the King's Indian Attack as the reversed King's Indian Defense. It essentially creates a reverse King's Indian Defense and play often continues in that vein with something like 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e5 or 4.Nf6. Sicilian Variation (2.c5)īlack can also immediately announce the intention to claim as much space as possible with. Black doesn't want to play Nd7 before moving the bishop off of c8. The Keres Variation, named for GM Paul Keres, is mainly a move order subtlety where Black develops the c8-bishop as quickly as possible, to be followed up with. It's the most common way to meet Nf3 and g3 from White, both developing and beginning to claim the central space that White has foregone. Black has twenty possible responses to Whites opening move. Whichever order Black plays the first two moves. The beginning chess position offers White twenty possible first moves. Therefore, chess openings explained are always better than chess openings memorized.Some specific early variations are below. However, the more you understand the logic and ideas that justify each move, the better you’ll become at analyzing potential opponent threats and conspiracies, and the better you’ll be at responding to them with the next best move. One thing is clear – memorization skills are needed in order to improve your grasp of chess openings. There are over a 1,000 chess openings variations, but much less than that are used by the majority of chess players worldwide.Īs a chess player, you probably had the following two questions pass in your mind: Which opening/s should I stick to How many chess openings should I memorize? The answers to these questions depend on your personality, level of devotion to the game, and the number of people you speak with. Chess openings are a grand project of humanity, stretching back in history and filled with theory, experience, and most importantly, passion and love for the game of chess.
