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| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.Bb5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | C20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Open Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Portuguese Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Portuguese is an uncommon opening. In contrast to the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5), by delaying Nf3, White leaves the f-pawn free to move and retains the possibility of playing f2–f4. The trade-off is that White's lack of pressure on e5 leaves Black with a freer hand.
| This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. |
If Black replies 2...Nf6, White can try a gambit with 3.d4. Another Black reply is 2...Nc6, possibly anticipating White will transpose into the Ruy Lopez with 3.Nf3, but a more popular try is to kick White's bishop with 2...c6. The game might continue 3.Ba4 Nf6 and now White can play 4.Nc3 or 4.Qe2.
Graham Burgess remarks that it looks like a Ruy Lopez where White has forgotten to play 2.Nf3. However, the Portuguese is not as bad or nonsensical as it first appears, and Black should proceed carefully.
A chess opening or simply an 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 have standard names such as the "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.
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
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:
Rodrigo "Ruy" López de Segura was a Spanish chess player, author, and Catholic priest whose 1561 treatise Libro de la invención liberal y Arte del juego del Axedrez was one of the first books about modern chess in Europe. He made great contributions to chess opening theory, including in the King's Gambit and the Ruy López opening that bears his name. López was also the strongest player in Spain for about 20 years.
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 Three Knights Game is a chess opening which most commonly begins with the moves:
The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Four Knights Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The King's Knight Opening is a chess opening consisting of the moves:
Alapin's Opening is an unusual chess opening that starts with the moves:
The Noah's Ark Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez. The name is actually used to describe a family of traps in the Ruy Lopez in which a white bishop is trapped on the b3-square by black pawns.
The Mortimer Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez named after James Mortimer. The Mortimer Trap is a true trap in the sense that Black deliberately plays an inferior move to tempt White into making a mistake.
An Open Game is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:
The Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
 | The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: Portuguese Opening |
