This is the most common sequence, but the knights may develop in any order to reach the same position.
The opening is fairly popular with beginners who strictly adhere to the opening principle: "Develop knights before bishops." It was one of the workhorses in the family of the Open Game, at even the highest levels, until World War I. Thereafter it fell by the wayside, along with a number of other Open Games. In this period ambitious players explored the Ruy Lopez, believing it a better attempt by White to exploit the advantage of the first move. In the 1990s, this opening saw a renaissance, and is now seen in the praxis of players from beginner to grandmaster.
White's most common move is 4.Bb5, the Spanish Variation. This variation can also be reached from the Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence. After 4.Bb5, Black has four major alternatives.
The first of these is 4...Bb4, the Symmetrical Variation known as the Double Spanish Variation.
Black can play more aggressively by 4...Nd4, the Rubinstein Variation. White cannot win a pawn with 5.Nxe5, since Black regains the pawn with the advantage of the bishop pair after 5...Qe7 6.Nf3 (6.f4 Nxb5 7.Nxb5 d6) Nxb5 7.Nxb5 Qxe4+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Nd5 10.c4 a6! White most often plays 5.Ba4, when Black usually continues in gambit fashion with 5...Bc5!? 6.Nxe5 0-0 7.Nd3 Bb6 8.e5 Ne8 followed by ...d6. Another line, which discourages many ambitious Black players from playing the Rubinstein, is 5.Nxd4 exd4 6.e5 dxc3 7.exf6 Qxf6 (7...cxd2+? 8.Bxd2 Qxf6 9.0-0 is dangerous for Black) 8.dxc3 Qe5+. This often leads to a quick draw after 9.Qe2 Qxe2+.
In recent years, Black has tried 4...Bd6!? with varying results.[2] That move takes the sting out of 5.Bxc6, which is met with 5...dxc6 with a good game. If White plays quietly , Black will regroup with ...0-0, ...Re8, ...Bf8, and ...d6.
4.d4
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Scotch Four Knights Game: 4.d4
If White plays 4.d4, the Scotch Four Knights Game arises. This leads to a more open position , which can also be reached from the Scotch Game, e.g. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3. This variation was played in the fifth game of the 1996 Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov match.
One reason White may choose the Four Knights (3.Nc3) move order over the Scotch (3.d4), besides fearing that after 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Black may choose 4...Bc5 or 4...Qh4, is that White may want to play the Belgrade Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5!?). It is not possible to reach the Belgrade from the Scotch; however, the Belgrade is a distant second in popularity to 5.Nxd4.
4.Bc4
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Italian Four Knights Game/Prussian Four Knights Game: 4.Bc4
A further possibility is 4.Bc4, the Italian Four Knights Game, or Prussian Four Knights Game, popular in the 1880s, though this line is regarded as inferior according to Pinski, and an outright mistake by IM Larry D. Evans.[3] Black can preserve the symmetry by 4...Bc5, leading to the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo. A better move order for White that leads to this position is via the Giuoco Piano by 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6. The line is a favourite among younger players due to its simple and easy development, but was also used successfully by Nigel Short against Antoaneta Stefanova.[4]
The problem with playing for this position via the Four Knights Game is that after 4.Bc4, the pseudo-sacrifice of a knight with 4...Nxe4!, the centre fork trick. Then 5.Bxf7+?, though superficially attractive, relinquishes the bishop pair and central control to Black. After 5...Kxf7 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Neg5+ Kg8, Black is already threatening 8...e4, and after 8.d3 h6 9.Nh3 Bg4, Black has a very powerful position, with an unopposed light-squared bishop, a strong duo of pawns in the centre, and a safe king, while White needs to work out how to get the displaced knight on h3 into play; often it will need to be played back to g1.
Rather than 5.Bxf7+?, a better chance for White to play for equality is 5.Nxe4, even though 5...d5 regains the piece with a good game, e.g., 6.Bd3 (6.Bxd5? Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qd8 Estrin; 6.Bb5?! dxe4 7.Nxe5 Qg5! Collijn's Lärobok; 6.d4 dxc4 7.d5 Ne7 8.Nc3 c6 Cordel–Schupli, 1905) 6...dxe4 (the recently discovered 6...Nb4 is also playable) 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.Qxd4 0-0 11.Be3 (11.0-0?? Bxh2+ wins) Qe7 (Tartakower–Atkins, London 1922[5]) and now the natural 12.0-0 Be5 would be awkward for White.[6] In the above line, more ambitious is 8...exd4 9.Nxd4 0-0!?, as in a match game between Siegbert Tarrasch and Emanuel Lasker in 1916, which led to a Black win in 23 moves.[7]
Igor Glek has favoured 4.g3, preparing development of the bishop to g2. According to Pinski, Black's main responses are 4...Bc5 and 4...d5, both of which are reckoned to equalize for Black. A Halloween Gambit style 4...Nxe4 has also been tried at the grandmaster level as in two games between Ilya Smirin and Bartłomiej Macieja.[8]
4.Be2
Though rarely seen, this move is playable. For example, if Black plays 4...Bb4, White has the responses 5.Nd5, 5.0-0, and 5.d3, which retain equality with accurate play.
A dubious gambit is 4.Nxe5?!, the so-called Halloween Gambit. After 4...Nxe5 5.d4, White tries to seize the centre with his pawns and drive the black knights back to their home squares. Grandmaster Larry Kaufman says that this line is refuted by 5...Nc6 6.d5 Bb4! 7.dxc6 Nxe4 8.Qd4 Qe7, which he attributes to Jan Pinski.[9] According to Max Euwe's opening series volume 11, Black has a decisive advantage after 5...Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 d5 8.Bxd5 c6.[10]
In chess, a smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because it is completely surrounded by its own pieces.
The Giuoco Piano, also called the Italian Game, is a chess opening beginning with the moves:
The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves:
Petrov's Defence or the Petrov Defence is a chess opening characterised by the following moves:
The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Dunst Opening is a chess opening in which White opens with the move:
The Danish Gambit, known as the Nordisches Gambit in German and the Noords Gambiet in Dutch, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Halloween Gambit is an aggressive chess opening gambit in which White sacrifices a knight early on for a single pawn. The opening is an offshoot of the normally staid Four Knights Game and is defined by the moves:
The Semi-Slav Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit chess opening defined by the position reached after the moves:
The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the incumbent World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik had been granted a match after not winning the World Chess Championship 2007 tournament.
The World Chess Championship 1886 was the first official World Chess Championship match contested by Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. The match took place in the United States, the first five games being played in New York City, the next four being played in St. Louis and the final eleven in New Orleans. The winner was the first player to achieve ten wins. Wilhelm Steinitz won the match 10–5, winning his tenth game in the twentieth game of the match.
The World Chess Championship 1889 was the second official World Chess Championship, and was between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin. It took place in Havana, Cuba. Steinitz successfully defended his world title, by being the first of the two players to reach 10½. He won the match 10½-6½.
A Steinitz Variation is any of several chess openings introduced and practiced, or adopted and advocated by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first officially recognized World Chess Champion.
The 1978 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines from July 18 to October 18, 1978. Karpov won, thereby retaining the title.
The 1981 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Merano, Italy from October 1 to November 19, 1981. Karpov won with six wins against two, with 10 draws. The two players had already played against each other in the World Chess Championship match 1978 in the Philippines, when Karpov also won.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
