CHESS OPENINGS

Learn the Fundamental Chess Openings for

Winning Strategies
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 Table of Contents
Introduction
King's Gambit
C33 King's Gambit Accepted
C33 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit
C36 King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense
C31 King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Counter-gambit
Ruy Lopez
C65 Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense
C64 Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation
C68 Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation
C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack
C63 Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense
Sicilian Defense
B36 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon
B22 Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation
B70 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation
B90 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation
B80 Sicilian Defence: Scheveningen Variation
King's Indian Defense
A07 King's Indian Attack
E73 King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation
E62 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation
E76 King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack
E91 King's Indian Defense: Classical Variation
E80 King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation
Nimzo-Indian Defense
E32 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation
E43 Nimzo-Indian Defence: Fischer Variation
E41 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Hubner Variation
E21 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation
E30 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation
E26 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Samisch Variation
Halloween Gambit
A57 Benko Gambit
D00 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
A83 Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit
Conclusion
 Introduction
You could argue that the final move in chess is the most important one. The
last move will decide the game. It may take hundreds of moves to get to that final
move, but all games eventually do. The moment when the king resigns or is
checkmated is the goal of chess (besides our enjoyment of the complexities of the
game). We all aim to win. We want to capture the king and are constantly
planning how to do it. We are always focused on our end-game. But what is an
end-game without a solid foundation?
You cannot hope to win in chess if you are only focused on your end-game.
A great opening is the foundation of your game. A well devised opening can
dictate how the game will go. A poor opening can leave you open to attacks. In
short, a bad opening usually leads to a poor end-game.
Every chess professional has studied chess openings. None of them sit down
at a board without knowing numerous openings and defenses against them. In an
evenly matched game, one mistake in the beginning can be all it takes to lose.
When we talk about openings, we are talking about the first move, or moves,
by the players in the game of chess. The moves by white are commonly called an
opening, while the moves by black are known as a defense (white always plays
first). I would love to list all the openings and defenses in this book, but there are
too many to count. It would be impossible to learn all of them and their
variations. However, some openings are more common than others.
I am going to discuss the openings that the top chess players most often
choose. These openings and defenses are easy to learn and understand (until you
begin to see all the variations involved). I will detail some common variations as
well.
Take the time to study some chess openings, and then choose the ones that fit
your game. Be prepared to mix it up in accordance with your opponent.
 King's Gambit
The King’s Gambit is one of the oldest chess openings. The greatest players of
all time have used this opening, and many of them have been fascinated by the
versatility of it. Fischer and Spassky were particularly interested in this opening
and the challenge it poses to black. The opening also provides a lot of possibilities
for white.
The most common first move in chess is pawn to e4. This is quite often
countered with black playing pawn to e5. With the King’s Gambit, the next
move for white is pawn to f4. This gives us the following board position:

Black now has one of two options: accept the pawn or do not accept it. To
accept the pawn would mean taking the pawn on f4 with their own pawn on e5.
If they do not accept the pawn, some other move is made. Most players accept
the gambit and take the white pawn. Black is up by a pawn, but white has
opened the center of the board to attack.
The King’s Gambit is an unpredictable opening and one which can put an
opponent in trouble early in the game if they do not know how to defend against
it properly. The theory behind the King’s Gambit is that in order for black to stay
a pawn up, the King’s side must be weakened, allowing white to build an attack
down that side.
People who like open games and dynamic possibilities and lines love this
opening. When a King’s Gambit is accepted, the remainder of the game can be
very open.
 C33 King's Gambit Accepted
The first variation of the King’s Gambit, which we are going to talk about, is
the acceptance of the pawn on f4. Black takes the pawn and gives white a
dilemma: should white take back the pawn quickly (which is easy) or delay
taking the pawn back and play for position? You will now find yourself in this
position:
 C33 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit
The Bishop’s Gambit is one of the two most popular next moves by white.
This allows black to develop their queen and put white in check, but by moving
the knight next, white counters this and begins some good development and board
position. White is also threatening the f4 square, which black should be worried
about and keeping an eye on. While the knight is the most common move after the
gambit is accepted, by moving the bishop, white invites black to move their
queen, which will play in white’s favor. Once the bishop has been developed, the
board will look like this:
 C36 King's Gambit Accepted: Modern Defense
The modern defense, or Abbazia defense, is a defense by black which is
played after white moves their knight to f3. Black moves the pawn to d5 to
threaten the pawn on e4. White will often gain the pawn back in this variation,
but it gives black a good board position and threatens the white king. Both black
and white have an opportunity for good development. White will often win back
the pawn on f4 to open this file, while black will take central superiority. The
board will look like this:
 C31 King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Counter-
gambit
In this counter-gambit, black declines the offer of the pawn in exchange for
board position. It is an aggressive counter-gambit by black where they try to
exploit the weakness on white’s kingside. There are many opportunities for
white to make a mistake with this counter-gambit. If white takes the pawn on d5,
then black can bring out the queen and take the pawn back, gaining great board
position and threatening the other pawn. If white takes the pawn on e5, then
black will put white in check with their queen, forcing white to move their king
and create a more dangerous position, or block momentarily and lose a rook in
the process. White must play carefully to not lose pieces and board position.
When the counter-gambit is played, the board will look like this:
 Ruy Lopez
Also known as the Spanish opening, the classic Ruy Lopez opening has more
variations than any other. It uses the classic opening of pawn to e4, pawn to e5 to
develop a bishop and pin down black’s knight. The Ruy Lopez opening is one of
the most common ones a player will come across.
With white starting, the play goes as follows: pawn to e4, pawn to e5, knight
to f3, knight to c6, bishop to b5 to give the following setup:

While many chess openings try to focus on attacking the square on f7, the
Ruy Lopez opening is slower in attack and more methodical. The white bishop
both develops itself and pins down the black knight. This opening is not as
exciting as many other openings, but it gives white a good starting position, and
if the defense is weak, white will usually win.
 There are not many surprises that come with the Ruy Lopez opening. It is a
common one and a good one to choose when playing an opponent with less
ability than you. It may not be the most exciting, but it is solid.
 C65 Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense
In the Berlin Defense, black brings out the second knight. This defense is
known for its solidity and is sometimes referred to as the Berlin Wall. There is
no threat of taking the white pawn, as white can recover that pawn immediately
by taking the black pawn. White will often castle at this point to shore up its
defense. Black has two main options for the next move. Black can take the
pawn, having their pawn taken in return, which leaves the game more open, or
they can move their bishop to c5, threatening the castled king. White also has the
option of moving the knight to c3, creating a four knights game. This defense for
black is often played to a draw, and the defense is a solid one.
 C64 Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation
The classical defense to the Ruy Lopez opening is known as the Cordel
defense, named after its inventor, Oskar Cordel. Moving the bishop out to c5 is
more active than e7, giving black more attacking options. Here is how the game
board will look:
 C68 Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation
In the exchange variation, white captures black’s knight. Black now has the
choice of which pawn to use to capture white’s bishop. Black ends up with a
bishop pair, which can be an attacking force to be used in the middle and end-
game, but at the expense of a weaker pawn structure. White strives to use the
better pawn structure to win through the end-game.
One reason white would go for the exchange is to force black into a more
attack-minded game. Black must play more offence after the exchange, and that
can be a psychological factor in the game. This is especially important if black is
only looking for a draw. It is much harder for black to play for a draw after the
exchange-the game will usually be won by one side. If black decides to play
more passively, it can end badly for them.
After the exchange on the Ruy Lopez opening, the board will look like this:
 C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack
When discussing the Marshall counter-attack, you can put quick draws and
excitement in the same sentence. Not many people are excited by the prospect of a
quick draw, but this counter-attack is full of traps and explosive moves. There was
a time when this attack was favored by grand masters who were looking to
quickly attain a draw against an opponent, but more recently the combination of
moves has fallen out of favor. This makes it a great attack to surprise your
opponent, both if you are playing for a draw or playing to win.
By practicing with this attack, you are flexing your creative chess muscles. It
also leaves white open to mistakes. The unpredictability makes it a great attack
against novice players, as there are some moves for white which look obvious but
play into the hands of black. Here is how the board will look once the attack is in
place:
 C63 Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense
This defense is not considered playable by many, but it can be used as a
surprise weapon by top-level players. Black can form a divesting kingside attack
at the expense of a couple of pawns. Some players feel the sacrifice is too much,
but if played right, this attack can finish white off quickly. If the paws are
sacrificed, the play becomes more open. If the pawns are not sacrificed, quieter
play can resume. The board will look like this:
 Sicilian Defense
The Sicilian defense is used by black to combat the most common opening by
white: pawn to e4. Many of the top players will use this defense when white
opens with the classic first move. It has become such a popular defense that many
top chess players will not open with pawn to e4 and will instead open with pawn
to d4. When the opening move is played by both players, the board looks like this:

As this opening is played out, usually the pawn on c5 is exchanged, and this
opens the column on c for black to develop their rook or queen. In most traditional
white opens, white is looking to attack on the king’s side. With this defense, white
must now worry about black attacking on the queen’s side. When you add this to
the defense that black is starting to concoct, you can see why this is a potentially
winning defense for black.
 Players who find their opponents often opening with pawn to e4 would do
well to study the Sicilian defense and its variations.
 B36 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon
The Accelerated Dragon defense is also known as the accelerated Fianchetto
defense and is a continuation of the Sicilian defense. There is an early play by
black of a pawn to g6. Black also avoids playing the pawn on d7 to d6 to protect
the pawn, and instead keeps that pawn in place so they can play it to d5 later in
the game. The Accelerate Dragon defense is a more positional style to play for
black when you compare it to the other variations on the Sicilian defense.
The main line for black after this defense is to develop the other knight and to
bring the kingside bishop into the space vacated by the pawn. Black will then
castle and have a tight defense of the king, ready to withstand white’s attack.
 B22 Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation
The Alapin Variation is a response by white to combat the Sicilian defense
used by black. The key move is a pawn move to e3. It was the Russian master
Semyon Alapin who first played with this defense, and at the time it was not
considered a great defense to the Sicilian defense. It was always thought that
black could gain equality in the play easily, but over time it has become one of
the most solid responses to the Sicilian defense.
Many world champions have played with this response to the Sicilian
defense, and in 1996, the computer Deep Blue, played this response to
Kasparov’s Sicilian opening.
 B70 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
This variation of the Sicilian defense was invented by German master Louis
Paulson in the 1880s. The name of the variation was not coined until Russian chess
master Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky (who was also an amateur astronomer) found a
resemblance between the board position and the constellation Draco (the dragon).
One of the reasons to play this variation is for black to fianchetto the bishop
on f8. When a bishop is fianchettoed, it is moved to the square directly in front
of a back-row knight, after a pawn has vacated the spot for it. By having a
bishop in this position, the bishop can control the diagonal from one corner of
the board to the other. This also helps to control the middle of the board. By
doing this, the king has a spot to go into when castled and is protected by the
bishop in front.
The most common response from white is to bring their own bishop up to h6
to change bishops and then launch a kingside pawn storm, bringing multiple
pawns up to attack at the same time and opening and exposing the black king. At
the same time, black is attacking the white king. This is one of the most
attacking openings for both players, and it is often a game where the first to
launch their attack will win.
The play usually follows the following format: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6. The board position will end up as follows:
 B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation
In this variation of the Sicilian defense by black, the pawn on a7 is moved
forward one space to block the white knight eventually being moved to b5. The
Kan variation was named after the player Ilya Kan.
 B90 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation
The Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defense is one of the most popular
variations for black. The combination of the pawn being moved to a6 and the
other pawn at d6 stops white from bringing the knight forward into a dangerous
position and prepares for the e7 pawn to be moved to e5 to gain space and
position in the center of the board. The pawn on a6 also prevents white from
gaining a check by playing their bishop to b5. The fact that white cannot also
move their knight to b5 means that black can create a good queenside attack with
a b5 pawn push.
 B80 Sicilian Defence: Scheveningen Variation
This variation of the Sicilian defense is characterized by a small grouping of
pawns. There are a few combinations of moves which can lead to this position,
but the most common is: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6.
The board position will look like the picture below. The pawn position for black
creates a solid and compact barrier which is hard to break through. They also
threaten the squares numbered d5 and e5, and either pawn can be moved up one
more space to add an extra attack. The opening allows black to quickly develop
attacking pieces while remaining defensive and hard to break through.
This is a good defense for someone who is playing black and wants a
defensive position which they can use to build a good attic against white.
 King's Indian Defense
This is another opening for black. This defense is solid and passive. It allows
white to control the center of the board at the beginning of the game, plays it
safe and builds a solid foundation. It builds a guard around the king and gives
the option of a counterattack when the time is right.
The play for white in this defense will vary, but as black is not pushing
forward much with their pieces, white will try to control the center of the board
with their pawns, and the opening could go like this: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
Bg7 4. e4 d6 to give the following board position:

You can now see that when black castles, the king will be well protected. The
defense sacrifices board position early in the game and allows white to control
the center, but black will try to take that control later in the game when white
becomes overextended.
 A07 King's Indian Attack
The King’s Indian Attack is not a set opening. Rather, it is a system of attack
from white which can arise from any number of combinations of moves. The
most common starting moves are (all white moves): e4, d3, Nd2, Ngf3, g3, Bg2,
and 0-0 (castle). Many first moves can start the combination, but if you are going
for a King’s Indian attack, they all end in the same position.
The King’s Indian Attack from white is a mirror image of black’s King’s
Indian Defense, but because white moved first, there is a different tempo and feel
to the position. The position for white is a closed one. The king is protected
behind many pieces, but those pieces are poised for an attack on black. The
opening is more calculated than some of the gambits we have explored. White
does not try to develop pieces for a quick attack, but develops pieces which can
attack and waits for the opportunity.
The symmetry of the system when compared to black’s position can lead to
pawns being thrust forward in the middle of the board and becoming trapped, and
sacrifices being made. One thing you should be concerned about is black’s attack.
White has a good position, but when the attack starts, there are going to be holes
left. The opening is not an ambitious one. It is a solid opening, and because of
this, you will find many amateurs practicing it to move through the game slowly
and methodically. It is also an easy system to memorize and have in your arsenal
should you need to use it.
When played, the result of the sequence will look like this:
 E73 King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation
The Averbakh variation of the King’s Indian defense is named after Yuri
Averbakh. The main thinking behind this defense is that by bringing the bishop to
g5, white stops black from immediately playing pawn to e5, a move which would
strengthen black’s position. Black can respond with pawn to h6, which will cause
the white bishop to move away, and consequently give black the option to make
the pawn move to e6, but it is usually not a position which black wants to take.
White now has a lot of ways to develop pieces, especially the queen and the
knight, but often the next move will be to move the pawn to c5 and open the
diagonal line for the bishop. This set of moves helps white take a favorable
position on the board.
 E62 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation
When a bishop controls all the diagonal squares from one corner of the board
to the other, it is called a fianchetto. With black’s opening, the black bishop is in a
fianchetto position. It can control the diagonal from h8 to a1. White’s response is
to do the same, almost mirroring black’s position and controlling the diagonal
from h1 to a8. This development of the bishop makes it an attractive response for
chess grandmasters.
One of the main points of the King’s Indian defense for black is to attack on
white’s kingside, but with the fianchetto from white, the solid defense mirrors
the one black has, and black must alter their plan of attack.
 E76 King's Indian Defense: Four Pawns Attack
The title of this attack is self-explanatory. White has developed four central
pawns to take control of the center of the board and use them in an attack. This
attack was often used in response to black’s defense in the 1920s. It is an
aggressive position for white to take up. It takes control of the center of the board
at the expense of piece development. If Black can open up the position, then white
can lose the game quickly by becoming overextended. However, if white can
develop pieces and keep the center, they will have a strong position later in the
game.
 E91 King's Indian Defense: Classical Variation
In the Classical Variation, white has developed both knights and has a good
center on the board with the three forward pawns. From here, there are certain
things white can do to strengthen their position. The Main Line is for white to
castle and then move the pawn on d4 to d5. When this happens, white will often
bring more pawns forward to strengthen the attack, such as bringing the pawn on
b2 to b4, before focusing on a queenside attack. Meanwhile black will focus on a
kingside attack, usually with pawns on the kingside being advanced down the
board.
In the Petrosian System, white will often pin the kingside knight with a
bishop, stopping the f7 pawn from being able to move down the board as easily.
Black can threaten the bishop with the h7 pawn, but this position is not beneficial
to black.
Moving the white bishop to e3 transforms the position into the Gligoric
System. This allows white to maintain the tension and position of the center
board. White can also play to change queens and keep a slight advantage in
positional play.
 E80 King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation
Friedrich Samisch developed this variation in the 1920s. Below, you can see
the end position after the Samisch Gambit has been completed. The Samisch
Variation follows the moves: 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 and continues into the
gambit with 0-0 6. Be3 e5. Initially, the pawn sacrifice is not played, but as time
progresses, the sacrifice becomes more popular to ensure a better position on the
board. The following moves take us through the gambit: 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8
Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Nc6. The gambit can be declined, but if it is not, then black has
sacrificed a pawn to gain a temporary advantage in position.
 Nimzo-Indian Defense
The Nimzo defense by black looks to double up the pawns on the c file by
exchanging a bishop for a knight. Black does not develop pawns early with this
defense, and instead develops bishops to threaten white. Most top chess players
have used this defense at some time in their career.
The most common sequence of moves to get here is: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.
Nc3 Bb4 to give us this board position:

As you can see, black is threatening to capture white’s knight on c3 and force
white to double up on pawns on the c file. White is trying to control the center of
the board with pawns, but this would limit white’s options. White will often try
to avoid the Nimzo defense, which forces white to have a pawn stuck behind
another of their own pawns.
 E32 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation
The Classical variation, also known as the Capablanca Variation, was popular
in the early days of the Nimzo-Indian defense. White hopes to acquire two
bishops while not ruining the pawn structure which has been built. Black’s
intention is to try to double white up with pawns on the same line. The drawback
for white with this variation is that their queen will be moved around a lot in the
first few opening moves and the development on the kingside will be delayed. It
can be an advantage for white to acquire a pair of bishops, but it can also be
beneficial for black to stifle the progress of white.
As you can see from the board below, white is protecting its knight with the
queen. If the queen is taken, then white will take back the queen and not have to
double up pawns.
 E43 Nimzo-Indian Defence: Fischer Variation
In the Fischer Variation, the next moves are 5. Ne2 Ba6. The point in this
variation is for light-squared bishops to be exchanged after d5 is played. Black
can then play on the light squares without the bishop troubling them.
 E41 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Hubner Variation
The next moves in the defense are 4. e3 c5, 5Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3
d6. This ends up in the Hubner Variation of the Nimzo-Indian defense. Usually,
with the Nimzo-Indian defense, black waits for the pawn to move to a3 before
taking the knight with the bishop, but in this variation, black takes the knight
without being provoked. The bishop is then taken by the pawn on b2, doubling up
the pawns.
The idea for black is now to move the pawn forward on e6 to e5. If white did
not have a knight on f3, then white would be moving to use the pawns on the
kingside forward, but white needs to move the knight from f3 before they can do
that, allowing black to set up a blockade before white can advance the kingside
pawns.
 E21 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation
The move of the knight to f3 begins the Kasparov Variation. It was used to
great effect by Garry Kasparov in 1985 against Anatoly Karpov during their
World Championship match. Kasparov used the move to gain three wins and three
draws. It is now favored by many chess grandmasters.
White develops the second knight naturally and then waits to see what black
will do next. There are many ways now in which the Kasparov variation can
transpose into other Nimzo-Indian variations.
 E30 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Leningrad Variation
In the Leningrad Variation, the bishop is developed to pin the black knight on
f6. It was used extensively by players from Leningrad, such as Boris Spassky.
Black can play many moves after this, but the advantage for white is the dark-
squared bishop is now outside of the pawn blockade, and the extra advantage is
that the pin on the knight is annoying for black. An option for black is to take
drastic moves to remove the pin on the knight, stop a kingside pawn blitz by
white, and in the process, weaken their own kingside.
 E26 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Samisch Variation
In the Samisch variation, white moves the ‘a’ pawn forward to threaten the
bishop. This leads black to take the knight and force white to double up the
pawns on ‘c’. The advantage for white is that they gain one bishop on the way to
gaining a bishop pair. Black will often advance a pawn forward to c5 and an
extra pawn to ‘c’. This gives white a bad formation of pawns in exchange for
gaining pieces. White will often not take the pawn and will instead try to gain a
good position in the center of the board with their pawns.
 Halloween Gambit
The Halloween gambit is an interesting move that can derail your opponent if
they are not expecting it and are unaware of how to counter it. The basis of the
Halloween gambit is the four knights game, where the four knights are
developed along with the pawns on the e-file. White takes an aggressive
approach and sacrifices a knight for a pawn. The thinking behind it is that white
will drive their pawns forward, driving back black’s knights and gaining central
board position. The sacrifice of the knight gives a better position and white will
hopefully go on to win the game.
From black’s point of view, they should be able to use the extra piece
advantage to win the game if they are not driven back too far and too quickly.
The temporary lack of board position should be more than made up for with the
compensation of the extra pieces. If black knows how, they should have no
problem dealing with white’s attack. However, this is called the Halloween
Gambit for a reason.
Often black is not expecting the sacrifice (why would you?) and the forward
positions of the knight and advancing pawns comes as a surprise and frightens
black. For an inexperienced player, they will not know how to take position back
and will feel overconfident in having the better pieces. In competitive play, this
gambit may not give you any advantage, but it can be fun to experiment with if
you want to add to your openings.
After the knights are developed and the pawns are developed in the king-file,
white takes the black pawn and black has some choices to make. The board will
look like this:
 A57 Benko Gambit
In the Benko Gambit, black has fast development at the heart of the opening.
White may get to move first, but the Benko Gambit can bring long-term value to
black’s position. The main theory behind it is that black loses a pawn early but
compensates by having a superior position early in the game through to the mid-
game, and eventually wins that pawn back. In this gambit, white is behind in
development early in the game and must catch black up. This can lead to mistakes
from white, which black can take advantage of with superior position early in the
game.
White will now have a hard time developing the f1 bishop. If white tries to
develop the bishop, there are some classic follow up moves which can force
white to castle artificially. This limits the development of white even more.
Black forces openness on the queen’s side and control of the a-h8 diagonal.
Usually a gambit is limited in advantage to the beginning of the game, but this is
one of the few gambits that can last until the end. If the game continues with an
exchange of queens, this is also to black’s advantage, as it removes any sting
from a kingside attack on black.
The pawn can, of course, be declined, and play can move in a different
direction. However, if you are playing a new opponent, they may be tempted to
take a piece which is not initially taken back, without realizing that they are
falling behind as a result. The Benko gambit has the following moves: d4 : Nf6,
c4 : c5, d5 : b5. The board will look like this:
 D00 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
With this gambit, white gains a move and a clear path down the middle of the
board in exchange for sacrificing a pawn if black accepts the gambit. The
positive for white is that they can gain quick development of their pieces. After
white first moves the pawn to d4, there are a limited number of gambits open to
them. With this gambit, white can muster a quick attack at the loss of a single
pawn.
The gambit is an aggressive opening by white. In most matches played with
this gambit, white wins more than black does, but there is still some debate as to
whether it is worthwhile. Many professional players will never play this gambit,
arguing that the sacrifice is not worth the development and that black will carry
the piece lead through to the end of the game. Amateur players argue that the
development is a lot more important and the piece is soon won back by a
devastating attack.
This gambit is seen as one which is great for developing your play, but once
you have mastered it, there are many better ones to use. If you are learning the
game, you should throw this opening into the mix every so often to practice with
it. The opening starts as follows: d4 : d5, e4 : dxe5, Nc3. White will most often
follow up with f3 on the fourth move. You can see from the position below that
white has a knight developed and plenty of space to develop their bishops. There
are many possibilities for white to develop and attack quickly, while black has
fewer developed pieces and will have to develop a few pieces before an attack
can be made. The opening position is as follows:
 A83 Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit
White starts with d4. The queen pawn is moved forward. This is a regular
chess opening, but the move by black- not so much. Black moves to f5,
developing the pawn in front of the bishop. This is known as the Dutch Defense.
White then moves to e4 to offer the gambit. There has been a lot of discussion
about the validity of this move, which gives us the Staunton Gambit.
Initially black has a choice. If they take the pawn, they are a piece up, and it
is easy to protect the piece lead for now. White wants the pawn to be taken in the
hope that they can launch an attack on the less protected king side. There was a
time when this was perceived as a devastating gambit for white to play, and
would usually result in a win for white. More recent theory shows that if black
plays well, there is only a 50% chance of white winning. Some would even
argue that it is advantageous to take the pawn and remain a piece up, carrying
that piece into the end-game.
After d4 : f5, e4, the board will look like this:
 Conclusion
Chess openings are a vital part of your game. If you do not get the opening
right, then you can be on the back foot for the remainder of the game. A great
opening can confound your opponent and give you an advantage into the middle
of the game and beyond. If two evenly matched players play, one with a solid
opening and the other without, the opening will decide the end of the game.
A great opening will help you to develop your pieces early in the game, take
control of the center of the board and protect your king while threatening the
king of your opponent. A chess opening is about balance. The balance between
attack and defense can set you up for the remainder of the game. At an advanced
level, an opening is about white gaining advantage and black gaining
equalization.
I wish that I could have written about every possible opening in this book,
but openings are so varied and numerous that it would be impossible. The
openings in this book are some of the most common and balanced ones out
there. As you progress in your game, they will become your friends and allies.
You will also run into them as your opponent plays. If you know how to play a
good opening and play against one, you can improve your chess game and
become a formidable opponent.
To become a better chess player, you need to improve your whole game, but
every game begins with an opening. Mastering your chess open is the first step
to becoming a great player. Try some of the openings. Come back and read some
more. Try the others too. Find the ones that work best for you. Experiment and
mix your openings each game. Leave your opponent wondering what you are
going to do each time and have enough mastery of your openings to follow them
through or adapt them.
Go out there and become a better chess player.
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