Part III · Openings Chapter 21 of 40
Open games
Open games are the openings that begin 1. e4 e5. They are the oldest and most studied openings in chess: the Italian and the Spanish, the Scotch, the gambits. We look at their main ideas rather than long variations, and at the mistakes that turn up in them most often.
What to know first: 20 · Opening principles and typical mistakes
What you will learn
- understand the main ideas of the Italian, the Spanish and the Scotch
- know why a gambit gives up a pawn and how to answer it
- recognise the typical traps of the open games and avoid falling into them
A game on lichess.org, 2014. An Italian Game, move twelve. The white bishop on c4 has been looking at the f7 pawn since the first moves, and the queen on b3 stands behind it on the same diagonal. The knight on d5 blocks that diagonal. White to move.
White to move, a game on lichess.org, 2014. Mate in two.
Nf6+: the knight leaves the diagonal with check. Only the pawn can take it, …gxf6: the king cannot move, all the squares next to it are taken by its own pieces and the f7 pawn. Bxf7#: the bishop is protected by the queen on b3, along the diagonal the knight has cleared. Full game.
The f7 pawn is a constant target in the open games. Only the king defends it, and the white bishop on c4 has been eyeing it since move three. White has the same weakness on f2. Many traps in these openings are connected with these two squares one way or another.
What the open games are
After 1. e4 e5 there are two pawns in the centre, one for each side, and neither is defended yet. Hence the name: lines in these positions open quickly, and pieces join the fight early. White almost always continues 2. Nf3, developing the knight with an attack on e5, and Black replies 2… Nc6, developing the knight with a defence. This is a direct application of the principles from the previous chapter: each move both develops a piece and does a job in the centre.
In the open games Black often copies White's moves: knight against knight, bishop against bishop. This works for a while, but White is always a move ahead, and at some point copying becomes a mistake. You will see an example at the end of the chapter, in Petrov's Defence: there Black copies White's capture and walks into a discovered check.
From here White has three main paths. A bishop on c4 is the Italian Game. A bishop on b5 is the Spanish. A pawn on d4 is the Scotch. And if White is ready to give up a pawn for quick development, gambits appear.
There are rarer tries as well. The Vienna Game, 2. Nc3, defends the e4 pawn and prepares f4. The Bishop's Opening, 2. Bc4, brings the bishop straight to the diagonal towards f7. They are less common, but their ideas are the same: quick development, the fight for the centre and pressure on the weak squares f7 and f2.
After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 the white knight attacks the e5 pawn. Why is 2… Nc6 considered the most natural reply?
2… Nc6 does two jobs in one move: the e5 pawn is defended and a minor piece is developed. 2… d6 also defends the pawn but shuts in the f8 bishop. 2… f6 weakens the diagonal to the king and takes the best square away from the g8 knight.
The Italian Game
The Italian Game, 3. Bc4, is the oldest of the open games. Gioachino Greco analysed it as early as the 17th century, and it is played at the top level today. The bishop goes to an active diagonal and looks at f7 at once. Black most often replies symmetrically, 3… Bc5, and their bishop looks at f2.
4. c3 prepares d4: the c3 pawn will support a second central pawn. Along the way it takes the d4 square away from the c6 knight.d4 and play 5. d3. The e4 pawn is defended, the c1 bishop can come out, White castles and slowly prepares play. In Italian this is called the Giuoco Pianissimo, the "quietest game".The quiet lines of the Italian have no quick tactical blows, but the weakness of f7 and f2 does not go away. The bishop on c5 is aimed at the white king, and if White is careless, it can take part in a mate.
The plan in the quiet Italian is built slowly. White castles, puts a rook on e1, and brings the b1 knight via d2 and f1 to g3, where it looks at f5 and h5. With the pawn on a4 White stops Black's queenside pawns from advancing. Black does almost the same, mirrored. The positions are closed and full of manoeuvring, and what decides them is knowing where to put the pieces.
Black to move, a game on lichess.org, 2014. The white king has gone into the corner, on h1. White no longer has a rook on f1. The black bishop on c5 and the queen on d4 stand on the same diagonal.
Qg1#: the queen lands right next to the king. It is protected by the bishop on c5 along the cleared c5–g1 diagonal, so the king cannot take it. There is nothing to block with, and g2 and h2 are occupied by White's own pawns. Full game.
Black also has a sharper answer to 3. Bc4: 3… Nf6, the Two Knights Defence. The knight attacks the e4 pawn, and White can go straight for f7, 4. Ng5. Now f7 is attacked by both the knight and the bishop, and only the king defends it. Black has one good reply.
Black to move. The Two Knights Defence after 4. Ng5. White threatens to take on f7 with the knight, hitting the queen and the rook at once. How do you defend?
…d5: the pawn blocks the c4 bishop's diagonal, and now f7 is attacked only by the knight, which the king alone can handle. If White takes, 5. exd5, the main reply is 5… Na5: the knight attacks the bishop and gains a tempo. Other moves, such as 4… Qe7, give up the f7 pawn: the engine rates them about a pawn and a half in White's favour.
If after 4… d5 5. exd5 Black takes with the knight, 5… Nxd5, White has the famous sacrifice 6. Nxf7: the king takes the knight and walks out into the centre under the queen's checks. This line is called the Fried Liver Attack. The engine considers that Black can defend, but in a real game with a clock, defending a king on e6 is hard, and many players prefer not to give White the chance.
The Spanish Game
The Spanish Game, 3. Bb5, also called the Ruy Lopez, is named after the Spanish priest Ruy López, who described it in a book in 1561. The bishop attacks the c6 knight, the defender of the e5 pawn. There is no threat to take the pawn yet, but the pressure on the centre lasts a long time. The Spanish is considered one of the deepest openings: people find new ideas in it for years.
3… a6.6… b5. The bishop goes to b3 and lands on the diagonal towards f7.d4 with c3, and h3 keeps the black bishop off g4. Both sides have developed and castled. A long fight for the centre begins.You may have noticed that White never took the c6 knight. Why not take it at once, 4. Bxc6 dxc6, and then the e5 pawn? This trade is played, and it is called the Exchange Variation. But it does not win the e5 pawn.
3… a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6. The knight takes the e5 pawn, but Black answers 5… Qd4: the queen attacks both the knight on e5 and the pawn on e4. White loses one of the two, and the pawn comes back. The engine calls the capture an inaccuracy: White has traded the bishop for the knight and did not keep the pawn.The bishop on b5 or a4 is valuable because it keeps the c6 knight under constant pressure. If Black moves the c8 bishop, which covers d7, and weakens the diagonal to the a8 rook, a blow on c6 can win material.
White to move, a game on lichess.org, 2014. A Spanish Game, move seven. Black has played a6 and b6, and their bishop has gone to g4.
Bxc6+: the bishop takes the knight with check. The c8 bishop has gone, d7 is empty, and the diagonal to the king is open. The b7 pawn has moved to b6, so the bishop on c6 also looks down the diagonal at the a8 rook. Black blocks, …Bd7, and Bxa8: White has taken a knight and a rook for a single bishop. Full game.
Black's most reliable answer to the Spanish at the top level is 3… Nf6, the Berlin Defence. Early in the 21st century it became so popular in world championship matches that it was nicknamed the "Berlin Wall". For an improving player it is hard: the queens often come off early, and the game goes into an endgame.
The Spanish also has its own famous trap for White, Noah's Ark. The bishop on b3 stands far from the other pieces, and Black's queenside pawns can wall it in. This happens most often when White opens the centre early and takes a pawn with the queen.
Black to move. A study position: the Spanish after 3… a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. d4 b5 6. Bb3 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Qxd4. White has won the pawn back with the queen.
…c5: the pawn attacks the queen, and it has to move. Next comes …c4, walling in the b3 bishop: a4 is covered by the b5 pawn, c2 and a2 hold White's own pawns, and the c4 pawn is protected by the b5 pawn. The bishop can only give itself up for a pawn or two. The engine rates …c5 at almost two pawns in Black's favour.
Instead of 8. Qxd4 White should have played 8. c3, giving up the pawn for development, or 8. Bd5, getting the bishop out of danger first. The lesson goes beyond this trap. A bishop that has wandered far from its own pieces can end up in a cage of enemy pawns, and then it cannot be saved. Before leaving a bishop on the edge of the board, look at where it can retreat.
The Scotch Game
The Scotch Game, 3. d4, settles the question of the centre at once. White does not prepare d4 with long manoeuvres as in the Italian and the Spanish, but plays it on move three. Black takes, and White wins the pawn back with the knight.
3… exd4. Defending the e5 pawn with 3… d6 is possible, but then Black is cramped.The Scotch has fewer subtleties than the Spanish, and its positions are clearer. It was played back in the 19th century, and at the end of the 20th century Garry Kasparov brought it back. For an improving player it is a convenient choice: the ideas are clear, and White gets free play from the first moves.
In the Scotch Black usually answers 4… Bc5, attacking the d4 knight, or 4… Nf6, attacking the e4 pawn. In the second case White often trades knights, 5. Nxc6 bxc6, and pushes the pawn, 6. e5, driving away the f6 knight. This is called the Mieses Variation. The e5 pawn takes squares away from Black, but Black gets the open b-file for a rook and the chance to undermine the e5 pawn with …d6.
Gambits
A gambit is an opening in which a player gives up a pawn for quick development and attack. In the previous chapter you saw that three tempi are worth about a pawn. A gambit is a deal: a pawn for time. If the attack arrives in time, the pawn pays for itself. If the opponent calmly develops and returns the pawn at a convenient moment, the gambiteer is simply a pawn down.
The most famous gambit of the open games is the King's Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. f4. White gives up the f-pawn to open the f-file and take over the centre. It was the main opening of the 19th century, but you already saw in the previous chapter how dangerous an open diagonal to the king is. In 1961 the young Bobby Fischer published an article in which he tried to refute the King's Gambit, yet he himself occasionally played it with White and won. At the top level the gambit is rare today, but in quick club and online games it turns up all the time. The Danish Gambit, 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3, gives up even two pawns for two bishops aimed at f7 and g7.
The Evans Gambit grows straight out of the Italian Game. It was invented in the 1820s by a sea captain, William Evans.
4. b4. It attacks the bishop on c5.5. c3 attacks the bishop again, gaining a tempo, and prepares d4.Black does not have to accept the Evans Gambit. 4… Bb6 declines the pawn, and the bishop stays on a good diagonal. If the pawn is taken, Black usually aims to develop quickly and give it back when the chance comes. Clinging to the extra pawn with the king left in the centre is exactly what White is counting on.
You have been offered a gambit and taken the pawn. The opponent is developing quickly and preparing an attack. What is usually the most sensible way to continue?
The same principles work against a gambit as always. An extra pawn is good, but not at the cost of falling behind in development. Often the best answer is to return the pawn at a convenient moment and get a free position with a safe king.
Other defences
Black does not have to answer 2… Nc6. The Philidor Defence, 2… d6, is named after François-André Philidor, the strongest player of the 18th century and a well-known composer. It holds the e5 pawn securely, but shuts in the f8 bishop and gives White more space. Petrov's Defence, 2… Nf6, counterattacks the e4 pawn at once. It is a solid opening, but it has a well-known trap. After 3. Nxe5 Black must not take on e4 straight away: 3… Nxe4 4. Qe2. The queen attacks the e4 knight and lands on the e-file, where the black king stands behind the white knight on e5. If the knight retreats, 4… Nf6, a blow follows.
White to move. A study position: Petrov's Defence after 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 Nf6. The white queen and the black king stand on the same file, with only the white knight on e5 between them.
Nc6+: the knight leaves the e-file and uncovers a check from the queen on e2. At the same time it attacks the queen on d8. Black has to deal with the check, for example …Qe7, and the knight takes the queen. This is the discovered check from chapter 14.
The right way in Petrov's Defence is to drive the knight away first, 3… d6, and only then take on e4. This trap shows well how the open games work: lines are open from the first moves, and a single inaccuracy turns into tactics at once.
What to choose
If you are just starting to play 1. e4, the Italian Game is a sensible place to begin. Its ideas are clear: the bishop looks at f7, the pawn goes to c3, then d4 or d3, castling. The opponent's mistakes in it are punished by simple tactics. The Spanish is deeper, but needs more knowledge and patience. The Scotch is a good choice if you like clear positions with an open centre.
With Black, against 1. e4 the move 1… e5 is an honest and reliable answer. You will meet all the openings of this chapter, and in each of them the same rules will help: develop, watch f7, and do not take pawns if you have to pay for them with time. At this level there is no need to learn long variations by heart. It is far more useful to know why each of the first five or six moves is made and to understand where exactly the opponent can go wrong.
The best way to learn an opening is to play it and go over your games. After each game, find the moment where you left familiar ground and see what the engine suggests on the analysis page. After a few dozen games the first moves will become familiar, and the ideas of this chapter will start suggesting moves on their own.
What's next
Not everyone answers 1. e4 with 1… e5. The most popular reply in master games is 1… c5, the Sicilian Defence, where Black creates an unbalanced position from the first move. It has its own ideas and its own traps, and much of this chapter no longer works there: Black has no pawn on e5, and the usual plans against it do not apply. The next chapter is about it.