The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Yugoslavian company Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant). It is currently undergoing its fifth edition. ECO may also refer to the opening classification system used by the encyclopedia.
Both ECO and Chess Informant are published by the Belgrade-based company Šahovski Informator. The moves are taken from thousands of master games and from published analysis in Informant and compiled by the editors, most of whom are grandmasters, who select the lines which they consider most relevant or critical. The chief editor since the first edition has been Aleksandar Matanović (1930-2023). The openings are provided in an ECO table that concisely presents the opening lines considered most critical by the editors. ECO covers the openings in more detail than rival single volume publications such as Modern Chess Openings and Nunn's Chess Openings , but in less detail than specialized opening books.
The books are intended for an international audience and contain only a small amount of text, which is in several languages. The bulk of the content consists of diagrams of positions and chess moves, annotated with symbols, many of them developed by Chess Informant. Chess Informant pioneered the use of Figurine Algebraic Notation to avoid the use of initials for the names of the pieces, which vary between languages.
Instead of the traditional names for the openings, ECO has developed a coding system that has also been adopted by other chess publications. There are five main categories, "A" to "E", corresponding to the five volumes of the earlier editions, each of which is further subdivided into 100 subcategories, for a total of 500 codes. The term "ECO" is often used as a shorthand for this coding system. ECO code is a registered trademark of Chess Informant.
The first edition was published in the following years:
The second edition was published in the following years:
Code | Author |
---|---|
04–05 | Bagirov, Vladimir |
18–19 | Bagirov, Vladimir |
13–14 | Botvinnik, Mikhail |
13–14 | Abramov, Lev |
10 | Filip, Miroslav |
12 | Filip, Miroslav |
15 | Filip, Miroslav |
17 | Filip, Miroslav |
36–39 | Filip, Miroslav |
70–79 | Geller, Efim |
95–99 | Gipslis, Aivars |
20–21 | Gufeld, Eduard |
23–26 | Gufeld, Eduard |
02–03 | Hort, Vlastimil |
80–85 | Kasparov, Garry |
30–31 | Korchnoi, Viktor |
34–35 | Korchnoi, Viktor |
28–29 | Krnić, Zdenko |
87 | Krnić, Zdenko |
28–29 | Cvetković, Srđan |
00–01 | Larsen, Bent |
16 | Larsen, Bent |
60–69 | Matanović, Aleksandar |
60–69 | Ugrinović, Dragan |
06 | Minev, Nikolay |
11 | Minev, Nikolay |
57 | Nunn, John |
88–89 | Nunn, John |
07–09 | Parma, Bruno |
44 | Polugaevsky, Lev |
50–53 | Polugaevsky, Lev |
86 | Polugaevsky, Lev |
90–94 | Polugaevsky, Lev |
96 | Polugaevsky, Lev |
27 | Suetin, Alexey |
54–56 | Suetin, Alexey |
58–59 | Suetin, Alexey |
22 | Sveshnikov, Evgeny |
33 | Sveshnikov, Evgeny |
40–43 | Taimanov, Mark |
45–49 | Taimanov, Mark |
32 | Uhlmann, Wolfgang |
The third edition was published in the following years:
The fourth edition was published in the following years:
The fifth edition was published in the following years:
The 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, known as openings, have standard names such as "Sicilian Defense". The Oxford Companion to Chess lists 1,327 named openings and variants, and there are many others with varying degrees of common usage.
In chess, the Smith–Morra Gambit is an opening gambit against the Sicilian Defence distinguished by the moves:
The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The Modern Defense is a hypermodern chess opening in which Black allows White to occupy the center with pawns on d4 and e4, then proceeds to attack and undermine this "ideal" center without attempting to occupy it.
The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves:
The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move:
The Caro–Kann Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The Benoni Defense, or simply the Benoni, is a chess opening characterized by an early reply of ...c5 against White's opening move 1.d4.
The Queen's Pawn Game is any chess opening starting with the move:
The King's Pawn Game is any chess opening starting with the move:
In chess, an exchange variation is a type of opening in which there is an early, voluntary exchange of pawns or pieces. Such variations are often quieter than other lines because the early release of tension minimizes the possibility of surprise tactics or sharp, forcing lines, particularly where it results in a symmetrical pawn structure.
In the game of chess, Indian Defence or Indian Game is a broad term for a group of openings characterised by the moves:
In chess, the Maróczy Bind is a term alternately used to refer to an opening or its associated pawn structure, named for the Hungarian grandmaster Géza Maróczy. When the Bind is discussed as an opening, it is defined as 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4. The Maróczy Bind opening is a continuation of the Sicilian Defence, Accelerated Dragon, where 5.c4 is the characteristic move.
A Semi-Closed Game is a chess opening in which White plays 1.d4 but Black does not make the symmetrical reply 1...d5.
The Nadanian Variation of the Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
Bibliography
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