The kings Gambit moves are
1. e4 e5
2. f4
White offers a pawn to divert the Black e-pawn and wants to build a stronger center with d2-d4. Theory has shown that in order for Black to maintain the one pawn advantage, moves must be made that seriously weaken the position of the black pieces.

King's Gambit is one of the oldest documented openings as it was examined by the 17th century Italian chess player Giulio Polerio and most popular openings for over 300 years. François-André Danican Philidor (1726-95), the greatest player and theorist of his day, wrote that the King's Gambit should end in a draw with best play by both sides, stating that "a gambit equally well attacked and defended is never a decisive game, either on one side or the other."

Variations

1. King’s Gambit DeclinedAlthough considered best for the Black to accept the gambit, still it can refuse the offered f-pawn or offer a counter gambit.

Other Variation:
1.1 Falkbeer Countergambit
1.2 Nimzowitch Countergambit
1.3 Classical Defence

2. King’s Gambit Accepted.White has two continuations after Black accepts with 2…exf4: 3.Nf3, called the King’s King Gambit, which develops the Knight and the Bishop’s Gambit 3.Bc4, where White’s development will rapidly increase after 3…Qh4+!? 4.Kf1 followed by 5. Nf3, driving the queen away and gaining the tempo.

Other Variations:
2.1 Classical Variation
2.2 Becker Defense
2.3 Bonsch-Osmolovsky Defense
2.4 Cunningham Defense
2.5 Schallopp Defense
2.6 Modern Defense
2.7 Fischer Defense

This Openings has been used by World Champion Bobby Fisher, Boris Spassky and players like Joseph Gallagher, Nigel Short, Alexei Fedorov, Alexander Morozevich and more.

The moves for this Opening are:

In this opening, the White’s “Italian bishop” at c4 prevents Black from advancing in the center with..d5 and attacks the vulnerable f7 square. To attack the Black King white plans to dominate the center with d2-d4 while Black aims to free his game by exchanging pieces and playing the pawn break…d5 or to hold his center pawn at e5.

This Opening is also called “Italian Game” or “quite game” and is one of the oldest recorded opening. Played first in the 16th century by Portuguese Damiano and the Italian Greco played it at the beginning of 17th century. Modern refinements in defensive play have led most masters to openings like Ruy Lopez which offers the White greater chances for long term initiative.

Variations:
1. Main Line:
This is the main continuation of the White’s forth move with 4. C3,  in preparing for a central advance, d2-d4. Meanwhile Black can hold a central strong point at e5 with 4…Qe7 o he can counterattack with 4…Nf6.
2. Giuoco Pianissimo: 
In Italian this is called, “very quiet game”. When the white plays its forth move with 4.d3, which aims at preventing early release of tension though exchanges and enters a positional maneuvering game by avoiding an immediate central confrontation.

The other variations are Evans Gambit (4. b4), where white offers a pawn to speed up the development and Italian Gambit (4 .d4) where White opens up the center.

This opening begins with:

Variations:
1. The fourth move is “4. Ng5”: Considered by many players as this move to be White’s best chance of an advantage as this attack on f7 practically wins a pawn by force and has been played by world Champions Steinitz, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, and Anand.

2. The fourth move is “4. Nc3”: This is usually played with intend to gambit the e-pawn i.e., 4. Nc3 Nxe4 5. 0-0. This gambit is however not seen in tournament play and only offer White good practical chances especially in Blitz chess. Moreover since Black can take the pawn anyway and use fork trick to regain the piece thus attempt to defend the pawn does not work well.

3. The fourth move is “4. d3”: The move transposes to Giuoco Pianissimo if Black responds 4...Bc5. To enter into a more promising positional game, White tries to avoid the tactical battles that are common in other lines of this opening while Black can baffle White’s attempt to tactical play with move 4….d5!?.

4. The fourth move is “4. d4”: With moves 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 White can choose to develop rapidly while Black can equalize by eliminating White's last center pawn with 5...Nxe4, after this White regains the material with 6.Re1 d5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 but Black has a comfortable position after 8...Qa5 or 8...Qh5. White can choose to avoid these lines by playing 5.e5.

Players including Chigorin and Keres, and World Champions Tal and Boris Spassky has adopted as Black used The Two Knights Opening.

This opening has moves as:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5

This is the most popular and vast opening and is also called Spanish Opening or Spanish Game. This opening is named after 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. Written in 1561, the 150-page book on chess “Libro del Ajedrez” deals with systematic study of this and other openings. Carl Jaenisch, a Russian theoretician, "rediscovered" its potential in the mid-1800`s and this opening is till date most commonly used in the high level games.

In this opening White’s main objective is to destroy of Black's pawn structure at an early stage. It also allows it to trade double the pawn which takes the White bishop, with this it draws off either the d or b pawns from their positions. When the b pawn is drawn off, the option of castling is prevented along with c and a file pawns are left to exposure and if d pawn if drawn off, Black’s attack on center is handicapped. Thus these two options are very unfavorable to Black’s game. White seldom exchange light-squared bishop for queen’s knight on c6 expect in Exchange Variation.

Variations:
This opening is most comprehensively developed of the entire double king pawn openings. Here at every move there may be logical alternatives. Morphy Defense is termed when Black responds with (3...a6), after Paul Morphy and is played most often.

1) Black Defense other than 3…a6: Berlin and Schliemann Defenses are most common and popular variation followed by Classical Defense.

a) Steinitz Defense: This variation is denoted by 3…d6 also called Old Steinitz Defense. The opening is named after the first World Chess Champion William Steinitz. Players like Emanuel Lasker, José Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov also used this variation as solid defensive game.

b) Schliemann Defense: Here the Black’s response is 3…f5!? And originated in 1847 by Carl Jaenisch is also called Jaenisch Gambit and later named after German lawyer Adolf Karl Wilhelm Schliemann (1817–1872). In this variation Black, by sacrificing a pawn or two, attempts to open the f-file for attack. Players like Rudolf Spielmann, Frank Marshall and Alexander Shabalov all played it with black and currently Teimour Radjabov plays it occasionally at the top level with some success. Considered by many as dubious however at Top level players use it as surprise weapon.

c) Berlin Defense: Black plays the third move with 3…Nf6. This variation is called “Berlin Wall” due to its reputation of solidity and drawishness. Emanuel Lasker among others played this defense a fair bit in the late 19th and early 20th century. However due to its passive nature the variation became rare only to be revived by Vladimir Kramnik. In 2000 Kramnik used this variation against Gary Kasparov in their World Championship match, which saw this variation re-emerge with top players like Alexei Shirov, Veselin Topalov, and Kasparov himself trying it.

2) Morphy Defense 3…a6: Alternatives to Closed Defense: This variation is popularized by Paul Morphy and named after him. This variation is played very often as 3…a6 asks questions to the white bishop. There are two options that White may approach 4.Bxc6 or 4.Ba4. After white’s retreats to 4.Ba4, Black gets the opportunity to break the pin on his queen knight by playing ...b5. Here White has to be careful not to fall into Noah’s Ark Trap in which Black traps White's king bishop on the b3-square with a ...a6, ...b5, and ...c4 pawn advance on the queenside. Although not approved by Steinitz, in 1889 he wrote "on principle this ought to be disadvantageous as it drives the bishop where it wants to go". However today 3...a6 is played in over 75 percent of all games beginning with the Ruy Lopez. The well known alternative to closed defense is:

a) Steinitz Defense Deferred: The moves in this variation are 4.Ba4 d6. This is also called Modern Steinitz Defense or the Neo-Steinitz Defense. Here when Black interpolates 3...a6 4.Ba4 before playing 4...d6. It gets more option than the Steinitz Defense with the possibility of breaking the pin with timely …b5. White can practically force Black to give up the center with …exd4 in Steinitz Defense however in Steinitz Deferred Defense, allows Black to hold the center if desired.

b) Open Defense: The moves in this variation are 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4, Black makes best use of the time created in White’s pursue to regain the pawn to gain an strong hold in the middle. Play usually continues 6.d4 b5. The Riga Variation, 6...exd4, is considered inferior; the main line runs 7.Re1 d5 8.Nxd4 Bd6! 9.Nxc6 Bxh2+! 10.Kh1! (10.Kxh2 Qh4+ 11.Kg1 Qxf2+ draws by perpetual check.) Qh4 11.Rxe4+! dxe4 12.Qd8+! Qxd8 13.Nxd8+ Kxd8 14.Kxh2 Be6 (14...f5?? 15.Bg5#!) and now the endgame is considered to favor White after 15.Be3 or Nd2 (but not 15.Nc3 c5!, playing to trap the bishop). After 6...b5, 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 usually follows and material balance is restored.

In the 1978 Karpov-Korchnoi World Chess Championship match, following 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 Be7, Karpov introduced the surprising 11.Ng5!? If Black takes the knight with 11...Qxg5 White regains the material with 12.Qf3. The variation played a very crucial and decisive role in a later World Championship match, Kasparov–Anand 1995, when Anand was unable to successfully defend as Black.

3) Closed Defense 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7: With this variation White usually retreats his bishop with 4.Ba4 and the general continuation is 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Be7. Now Black has the opportunity to threaten and win a pawn with 6…b5 followed by 7…Nxe4. Now White responds with defending the e-pawn with 6.Re1 which in turn threatens Black with the loss of a pawn after 7.Bxc6 and 8.Nxe5. The most common step by Black to prevent this threat is by driving away the white bishop with 6...b5 7.Bb3, however it is also possible to defend the pawn with 6...d6.

4) Closed Defense, main line: 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0: The main line continues with 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0. White here can play 9.d3 or 9.d4 however the most common move is 9.h3 which prevents awkward pin…Bg4 and prepares d4. White aims to play d4 followed by Nbd2-f1-g3, which strongly supports e4 with the bishops on open diagonals with both knights threatening Black’s kingside. Black on the other hand tries to prevent this knight’s manoeuver by expanding on the queenside, putting pressure on e4 or taking action in the center.

a) Chigorin Variation: This variation was refined and named after Mikhail Chigorin around the turn of the 20th century. This is also considered as one of the main Black defense to Ruy lopez for more than 50 years. With 9...Na5 Black chases the white bishop from the a2-g8 diagonal and frees the c-pawn for queenside expansion. After 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 the classical Black follow up is 11...Qc7, reinforcing e5 and placing the queen on the c-file which may later become open after ...cxd4. An alternative move is 11...Nd7, which was used by Keres in the 1960s. Due to the time taking move of Black trying to bring his offside knight on a5 back into the game this variation lost popularity.

b) Breyer Variation: This variation took its name from Gyula Breyer in an unpublished manuscript in the 1920s. With 9...Nb8 Black frees the c-pawn and intends to route the knight to d7 where it supports e5. Black has the options to follow up with ...Bb7 and ...c7-c5. White can attack either kingside or queenside and can fortify the center with 10.d3. The common continuation is 10.d4. Breyer Variation came to the forefront in the 1960s with Spassky pioneering this opening. Spassky's back to back wins over Tal in 1965 enhanced its reputation.

c) Zaitsev Variation: This variation is advocated by Igor Zaitsev, who was one of Karpov's trainers for many years. This variation is also called Flohr-Zaitsev Variation. With 9...Bb7 Black prepares to put more pressure on e4 after 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 when play can become very sharp and tactical. The main disadvantage with this variation is that White can force Black to choose a different defense or allow a draw by repetition of position with 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3. Forcing an early draw with White is considered very un-sporting and many Karpov’s opponent have taken advantage of this opportunity. This variation remains one of the most important variations of Ruy Lopez.

d) Karpov Variation: In the 1990 World Chess Championship Match, Karpov tried 9...Nd7 several times. However Kasparov achieved prominent advantage in the 18th game and it is well known that this variation is solid but slightly passive. Confusingly 9...Nd7 is also called the Chigorin Variation so there are two variations of the Ruy Lopez with that name, but 9...Na5 is the move more commonly associated with Chigorin.

Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise was the first author to mention what is now called the Scotch Game. In 1824, a correspondence match between Edinburgh and London gave its name to this opening. It was popular in the 19th century, and receives five columns of analysis in Freeborough and Ranken's opening manual Chess Openings Ancient and Modern. By 1900 the Scotch had lost favor among top players because it was thought to release the central tension too early and allow Black to equalize without difficulty.

Grandmasters Kasparov and Timman , more recently used Scoth Game as a surprise weapon to avoid the well-analyzed Ruy Lopez thus it gained some popularity.

Variation:
1) Main line: After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4, in the main line after 4.Nxd4, Black has three major options: a) 4….Bc5, b)4….Nf6, c)4….Qh4!?

2) Scotch Gambit: This gambit starts with with 4.Bc4. Playing with 4….Nf6, Black can transpose into Two Knights Defense alternatively continue the Scotch with 4...Bc5 5.c3 and now 5...Nf6 will transpose into a safe variation of the Giuoco Piano. White will gain a lead in development if Black can instead accept the gambit with 5...dxc3.

3) Goring Gambit: Relative to Danish Gambit that starts with 4. C3. Referred to as the Capablanca Variation in view of the strength of Black's concept in the game Marshall-Capablanca, Lake Hopatcong 1926, where Black can equalise by transposing to the Danish declined with 4...d5. However if Black accepts the Gambit 4...dxc3, White can then transpose into the Danish by offering a second pawn with 5.Bc4 cxb2 6.Bxb2.

The Vienna Game has openings:

The original idea behind 2.Nc3 was to play a kind of delayed King's Gambit with an eventual f4, but in modern play White often plays more quietly, for example by fianchettoing his king bishop with g3 and Bg2. Black most often continues with 2...Nf6, but 2...Nc6 is also quite playable, as is the unusual 2...Bc5 3.Nf3 d6!

Variation
1) The Black second move is 2…Nf6, which leaves white with three major options: 3.f4, 3.Bc4 and 3.g3 a) 3.f4 is called the Vienna Gambit b) 3. Bc4leads to a position which can also be reached from the Bishop's Opening c) 3.g3 is a quiet continuation in which White fianchettos his king's bishop,d) 3.a3: sometimes called Mengarini's Opening. It is not a serious try for advantage, but is essentially a useful waiting move that gives White an improved version of Black's position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6.

2) The Black second move with 2…Nc6: This variation has been developed into a) The Hamppe-Muzio Gambit (or Vienna Hamppe-Muzio Gambit) with moves: 1.e4 e5, 2.Nc3 Nc6,3.f4 exf4, 4.Nf3 g5, 5.Bc4 g4,6.0-0 gxf3, 7.Qxf3 As with its close relative, the sharp Muzio Gambit, white gives up a piece in the hope of establishing a powerful attack against the black kingside. It is named after Austrian theoretician Carl Hamppe b) Steinitz Gambit: The Steinitz Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.d4, was a favorite of Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion. White allows Black to misplace White's king with 4...Qh4+ 5.Ke2, hoping to prove that White's pawn center and the exposed position of Black's queen are more significant factors.

3) The Black second move with 2…Bc5: This is an offbeat but playable alternative, as played by former world champion Capablanca against Ilya Kan at Moscow 1936. Now 3.f4 d6 leads to the King's Gambit Declined.

The moves for this opening are:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Nc3

Here the black chooses to break the symmetry approach an in order to avoid the Four Knights Games , that results from 3…Nf6. After tries such as 3...d6 or 3...Be7, White can play 4.d4 leaving Black with a cramped position resembling Philidor's Defense. If Black plays 3...Bc5 instead, White can use a fork to eliminate Black's king pawn 3...Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Bd6 6.dxe5 Bxe5. Games have shown that this line favors the White, so Black usually plays 3...Bb4 or 3...g6. The game will then typically continue 3...Bb4 4.Nd5 or 3...g6 4.d4 exd4.

There is also the Winawer Defense or Gothic Defense: 3... f5!?. 4. Bb5 transposes into the Schliemann variation of the Ruy Lopez.

This Opening is characteristic moves:

This is popular among beginners, who follow this opening principal of developing Knights before Bishops with common sequence however the Knights may be developed in any order. The Four Knights usually leads to quiet positional play but there are a few fairly sharp variations.

Variation:
White’s most common move is 4. Bb5, called the Spanish Variation, which leads to three options for Black. 4…Nd4 is the Symmetrical Variation. In this variation it is possible for both sides to win however it often results in a quick draw. Black can play more aggressively by 4...Nd4, the Rubinstein Variation. Thirdly 4…Bd6, in recent years has been a success as move takes the sting out of 5.Bxc6, which is met with 5...dxc6 with a good game.

With White playing 4.d4, the Scotch Four Knights Game arises. This leads to a more open position reachable through Scotch Game, e.g. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 (the Scotch Game) exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3. In 1996, the fifth game between Deep Blue vs. Gary Kasparov, this variation was played and was the only game between the two where Black won. The quiet waiting move 4.a3 (called the Gunsberg Variation) is a specialty of Polish Grandmaster Pawel Blehm. White gets no advantage after 4...d5 (a Scotch Four Knights Game Reversed). A dubious but dangerous gambit is the so-called Halloween Gambit, 4.Nxe5?! After 4...Nxe5 5.d4, White tries to seize the center with his pawns and drives the Black knights back to their home squares.

The moves for this opening are:

This opening is named after François-André Danican Philidor, a famous 18th century player who advocated it as an alternative to common 2…Nc6. The famous instructive game played “Opera Box Game” in 1858 between American Chess Master Paul Murphy and amateurs, Duke Karl of Brunswick, a German Noble and French aristocrat Count Isouard. This game used Philidor opening and continued with 3.d4 Bg4, in an early deviation from the modern standard line. Today it is known for being a solid, but rather passive, opening for Black. It is rarely seen in top level play.

Variation:
There are two major variations for this opening, a) with 3.d4, White immediately challenges Black in the center. This enables Black with several options and b) Hanham Variation: This option enables Black to maintain the central tension and adopt a setup with ...Nbd7, ...Be7 and ...c6. and this was favored by Nimzowitsch.

This opening begins with the moves:

This opening has been discussed in literature as far as 1497. Today it is known as “Ponziani’s opening” after the name of Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani, whose main contribution to the opening was his introduction, in 1769, of the countergambit 3...f5!? It was however advocated by Howard Staunton who played from 1843 to 1851.

This opening is rarely played today except as a surprise weapon, because Black has the pleasant choice between equalizing easily and attempting to obtain an advantage with sharper play and is considered inferior to Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5) and Italian Game (3.Bc4). The Black usually responds leading to a quiet play with 3...Nf6 or a sharp play with 3...f5!? This is considered unreliable however this opening was successfully played in the grandmaster game Hikaru Nakamura-Julio Becerra-Rivero, U.S. Championship 2007.

Variations:
1a) Caro Variation: 3...d5 4.Qa4 Bd7
b) Steinitz Variation: 3...d5 4.Qa4 f6
c) Leonhardt Variation: 3...d5 4.Qa4 Nf6
2) Ponziani Countergambit: 3...f5
3) Jaenisch Variation: 3...Nf6
4) Kmoch Variation: 3...Nge7

This opening begins with the moves:

This opening is an old opening abandoned by the 1900 as there was no advantage demonstrated for White. Apart from the early players like Mieses, Tartakower and Spielmann and later revived by Shabalov in 1980’s this opening was used rarely.

While White succeeds in eliminating Black’s e-pawn and opening the d-file, this allows the Black to move the queen early and develop with a tempo with 3...Nc6. In White's favor, after 4.Qe3, the most commonly played retreat; the position of the white queen hinders Black's ability to play ...d5. Back ranking clears the pieces quickly and facilitates queenside castling and may allow the White to quickly develop an attack. The White queen later can be moved to g3 to pressurize Black’s g7 square.

Variation:
The most common sequential move in this Center game is 3.Qxd4 Nc6. Now White has a choice of retreat squares for the queen. Although 4.Qa4 corresponds to a fairly commonly played variation of the Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5), it is rarely played because tournament experience has not been favorable for White in this line. The best move for the queen is 4.Qe3, known as Paulsen's Attack.

In the later years grandmasters like Adams, Judit Polgar, Shirov and Morozevich also contributed to the theory of the Center Game by forcing revaluation of lines long thought to favor Black.

The moves of this opening are:

This opening is an aggressive and often leads to wild and tricky position. Uncommon in top level of gaming however this is popular among correspondence chess players. Originally called the Greco Counter Gambit, recognizing the Italian player Gioachino Greco (1600-1634), however the new name “Latvian Gambit”, named to tribute the Latvian players, especially Karlis Betins was made official by the FIDE Congress in 1937.

Variations:
The most important response for White is:
a) 3. Nxe5
b) 3.Bc4
c) 3.Nc3
d) 3.exf5
e) 3.d4

This opening begins with the move:

This is one of the oldest openings to be analyzed and it was studied by Lucena and Ruy Lopez. This play allows the White to attack Black’s f7square and thus prevents Black from advancing his d-pawn to d5. When White leaves his f-pawn unblocked and allows the possibility to play f2-f4, this gives the opportunity for the Bishop’s Opening. Having similar characteristics this opening can transpose to King’s Gambit and Vienna game. White should remain alert for any chance to transpose into a favorable variation of the King's Gambit, but with careful play Black can avoid this danger.

Variations:
After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4, the black choice of second move can be dived into three categories. 1) Berlin Defense (2…Nf6): The most popular move and this move forces the White to decide on defending his e-pawn. After the White’s 3.d3 Black must be careful not to drift into an inferior variation of the King's Gambit Declined 2) Classical Defense (2...Bc5): This move is a Black's symmetrical response, 2...Bc5. White can then transpose into the Vienna Game (3.Nc3) or the Giuoco Piano (3.Nf3), or remain in the Bishop's Opening with the Wing Gambit (3.b4) or the Philidor Variation (3.c3)

Although the Bishop’s Opening is uncommon today, it has been used as a surprise by players such as Kasparov, Nuun and Leko, who played it in 2007 World Championship against Kramnik.

This opening begins with the moves:

This defense is a line in the Italian Game and chosen as a more defensive response to aggressive 3. Bc4. The opening takes its name from a correspondence game between Paris and Pest, Hungary played from 1842-1845 and often played by more defensive-positional style grandmaster like Reshevsky, Hort, and former World Champions Petrosian and Smyslov.

With the move 3...Be7, Black avoids the complexities of the Giuoco Piano (3...Bc5), Evans Gambit (3...Bc5 4.b4), and Two Knights Defense (3...Nf6). However, White has an advantage in space and freer development, so Black must be prepared to defend a cramped position.

This opening’s moves are:

The Queen’s Pawn Counter Gambit is also called the Elephant Gambit or England Counterattack. Here the Black tries to wrest the initiative from White by ignoring the attack on his e-pawn. As Black has sacrificed a pawn to gain a move now tries to obtain compensation for it which results in sharp position for White and thus sometimes used as a surprise opening for Black.

Due to the inadequate compensation for the sacrificed pawn by the Black if white plays accurately this is termed as unsound opening.

This opening stats with the moves:

Alapin’s Opening is named after the opening analyst and Lithuanian player Semyon Alapin (1856–1923). This opening is mainly used by the players who want to avoid theoretical lines such as Ruy Lopez or spring a surprise White is intending to push f4 soon. However Black could equalize this opening by 2...Nf6, 2...Nc6, and 2...d5 all equalize.

Although this opening is rarely used, Ljubojevic (as black) played against it at Groningen in 1970.

This opening’s moves are:
1. e4 Nf6
This opening move is named after the Alexander Alekhine, who introduced it in the 1921 Budapest tournament in games against Endre Steiner and Fritz Sämisch. "Nothing is more indicative of the iconoclastic conceptions of the 'hypermodern school' than the bizarre defense introduced by Alekhine ... . Although opposing to all tenets of the classical school, Black allows his King's Knight to be driven about the board in the early stages of the game, in the expectation of provoking a weakness in White's centre pawns." The remark was issued in Fourth Edition of Modern Chess Opening.

Variation: 1) Four Pawns Attack: 1.e4 Nf6
2.e5 Nd5
3.d4 d6
4.c4 Nb6
5.f4

This variation illustrates the basic idea of best defense and is White’s most ambitious try. Black allows the White to erect and apparently imposing pawn center in belief that it can be destroyed later and also to make several tempo-gaining attacks on the knight. White meanwhile must look into securing his advantage in space or make the use of it before Black make a successful strike at it. Black also needs to play with vigor as passive play will be crushed by the White’s center.

2) Exchange Variation: 1.e4 Nf6
2.e5 Nd5
3.d4 d6
4.c4 Nb6
5.exd6

This variation lets the White accept a more modest spatial advantage with trading pawns. Black’s main decision is either to recapture with the solid 5...exd6 or the more ambitious 5...cxd6. The first decision will lead to fairly strategic position while the latter is played when Black has a preponderance of pawns has in the centre. The third recapture, 5...Qxd6 is also possible since the fork 6.c5 can be answered by 6...Qe6+, however this line is inferior as Black will at some point deal with this threat.

3) Modern Variation:
1.e4 Nf6
2.e5 Nd5
3.d4 d6
4.Nf3
This variation is most commonly used in Alekhine Defence. In this variation White accepts a more modest spatial advantage and hope to hang on to that advantage. The Black can respond with 4...Bg4, where it pins the White, or 4...g6, where White prepares to fianchetto a bishop to oppose White's central pawn mass. The other Black’s response are 4...dxe5which can lead to the sharp sacrificial line 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxf7!? Or4...c6 is passive but solid, creating a position which is difficult to attack. Match of the Century between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer played the above opening variation.

5) Two Knights Variation:
1. e4 Nf6
2. e5 Nd5
3. Nc3
In this variation, White accepts doubled pawn after 3...Nxc3 (3...e6 is also possible) 4.dxc3 in exchange for rapid piece development. In response 3...Nxc3 seems fine; this often leads to lines of French Defense where the double pawns do not cause much trouble.

The opening is highest-rated proponent is GM Vassily Ivanchuk and in the past, great players such as Fischer and Korchnoi included the defense in their repertoire, leading to its respectable reputation.

This opening has moves:
1.e4 c6.

Usually continued to 2.d4 d5 followed by 3.Nc3 (the Classical Variation), 3.Nd2 (the Classical Variation), 3.exd5 (the Exchange Variation), or 3.e5 (the Advance Variation). The Caro-Kann is an more solid and less dynamic semi-open game and it often leads to good endgames for Black who has a better pawn structure. Named after the English player Horatio Caro and the Austrian Marcus Kann who analyzed the opening in 1886 and is believed to be good with closed position especially against the computer opponents.

Variations:

1) Classical/Capablanca Variation: This is the most common way to handling Caro-Kann. 1.e4 c6
2.d4 d5
3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) dxe4
4.Nxe4 Bf5 Much of the Caro-Kann's reputation as a solid defence stems from this variation being so hard to crack. Here Black makes very few compromises in his pawn structure,

2) Smyslov/Karpov Variation: This is another solid opening variation. 1.e4 c6
2.d4 d5
3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) dxe4
4.Nxe4 Nd7

This variation is referred to Smyslov Variation after the seventh world champion Vasily Smyslov who played this variation in numerous games also Karpov Variation after twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov, who used this opening with some success. Playing 4...Nd7,eases the development by early exchange of a pair of Knights without compromising the structural integrity of his position. The famous last game of the Deep Blue-Garry Kasparov rematch where Kasparov committed a known blunder and lost was played in this very line.

With the Black use of 5...gxf6!? is termed as The Bronstein-Larsen Variation. Bent Larsen used this variation with some success during the 1970’s. When the Black plays 5...exf6 is called The Korchnoi Variation which Viktor Korchnoi has played many times including the World Championship Match as this provides Black rapid development.

This is named after Vasily Panov and the world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. This typically leads to isolated queen’s pawn while White develops rapid progress and control on e5 and more king side attacking chances to compensate for long-term structural weakness of the isolated d4 pawn.

This defense in named after a correspondence match played between the cities of London and Paris in 1834. Géza Maróczy was perhaps the first world-class player to make it his primary weapon against 1.e4, in the early 20th century. The French Defense has a reputation for resilience and solid opening. Black often gains counterattacking options on the queenside while White generally concentrates on the Kingside. However in the early game Black is somewhat cramped.

Variation:

The opening move is generally followed by 2.d4 d5. Here Black challenges the pawn on e4 and White expands his claim on the center. White has options like:

1) Exchange Variation “3.exd5 exd5”: This is the most popular response to this defense in the 19th century. Garry Kasparov experimented with it in the early 1990s but later switched to 3.Nc3. Due to symmetrical pawn structure it generally gives immediate equality to Black also once the queen’s bishop is liberated Black’s game is made much easier. Bobby Fisher was very poor at this opening and many players choose to play this option to make the position simple and clearcut.

2) Advance Variation “3.e5”: This is believed to be White's best choice and enriched its theory with many interesting ideas as per Aron Nimzowitsch. Most of the 20th century this exchange was decline only to be revived in the 1980s by GM and prominent opening theoretician Evgeny Sveshnikov, who continues to be a leading expert in this line. GM Alexander Grischuk has championed it successfully also.

3) Tarrasch Variation “3.Nd2”: This variation is named after Siegbert Tarrasch. This move was made popular by Anatoly Karpov during late 1970s and early 1980s. This move does not block the path of White's c pawn, which means he can play c3 at some stage to support the d4 pawn and 3...Bb4 can be met with 4.c3 when Black has wasted a move. The line of 3...c5 4.exd5 exd5 play has been a staple of many old Karpov-Korchnoi battles.

4) Main line “3.Nc3”: This line is played over 40% of all games with French, This 3. Nc3 has three main options for the Black,

a) 3...dxe4 (the Rubinstein Variation): This is named after Akiba Rubinstein and has White has a more free development and space in the centre, which Black hopes to neutralize by playing ...c7-c5 at some point.

b) 3...Bb4 (the Winawer Variation): This variation named after Szymon Winawer and popularized by Aron Nimzowitsch and Mikhail Botvinnik.

c) 3...Nf6 (the Classical Variation): This is the major variation in French and has long been a favorite of Evgeny Bareev and Alexander Morozevich.

This opening has been used by many top players like Mikhail Botvinnik, Viktor Korchnoi, Aron Nimzowitsch, Tigran Petrosian. More recently, its leading practitioners include Evgeny Bareev, Alexander Khalifman, Alexander Morozevich, Teimour Radjabov, Nigel Short, Gata Kamsky, and Yury Shulman.

This opening begins with:

1. e4 c5

Sicilian Defense was first analyzed by Giulio Polerio in his 1594 manuscript on chess. This opening fell out of favor in late 19th century and players like Paul Morphy, Wilhelm Steinitz an death of Staunton and Anderssen contributed to the decline of this defense. Only in the years after 1940’s did it see reviving this opening with top players playing this opening and through the efforts of world champions Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, the Sicilian Defense became recognized as the defense that offered Black the most winning chances against 1.e4.

Black by advancing c-pawn two squares; it asserts the control over the d4-square and begins the fight for the centre of the board. 1...c5 breaks the symmetry of the position, which strongly influences both players' future actions. White, having pushed a kingside pawn, tends to hold the initiative on that side of the board. Meanwhile, Black's advance of a queenside pawn has given him a spatial advantage there and provides a basis for future operations on that flank. Often Black's pawn on c5 is traded for White's pawn on d4 in the early stages of the game granting Black central pawn majority and opening the c-file for Black which can place a rook or queen on that file to aid his queenside counterplay.

Variation:

1) Open Sicilian 2.Nf3 and 3.d4: Continuing from the first move White plays 2.Nf3, when there are three main options for Black: 2...d6, 2...Nc6, and 2...e6. Lines where White then plays 3.d4 are collectively known as the Open Sicilian, and result in extremely complex positions.

This variation is Black’s most popular system in Sicilian Defense. By playing 5...a6 was to prepare ...e5 on the next move to gain space in the centre. Thus Black deprives White of the check on b5, so that ...e5 might be possible next move. In general, 5...a6 also prevents White's knights from using the b5-square, and helps Black create queenside play by preparing the ...b5 pawn push. This plan of 5...a6 followed by ...e5 represents Black's traditional approach in the Najdorf Variation.

b) Classical Variation: 1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 Nc6
Here Black simply brings his knight out to its most natural square, and defers deciding how to develop his king's bishop.

c) 2...Nc6 is a natural developing move, and also prepares ...Nf6. After 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4, Black's usual move is 4...Nf6, when White generally replies 5.Nc3. Black can play 5...d6, transposing to the Classical Variation; 5...e5, the Sveshnikov Variation; or 5...e6, transposing to the Four Knights Variation. Apart from 4...Nf6, Black's most important moves are 4...e6 (transposing to the Taimanov Variation), 4...g6 (the Accelerated Dragon) and 4...e5 (the Kalashnikov Variation). Rarer choices include 4...Qc7, which may later transpose to the Taimanov Variation), and 4...Qb6, the Grivas Variation. Top players who have used this variation include Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Teimour Radjabov, Boris Gelfand, Michael Adams and Alexander Khalifman, among many others.

d) Black's move 2...e6 gives priority to developing the dark-squared bishop. After 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4, Black has three main moves: 4...Nc6 (the Taimanov Variation), 4...a6 (the Kan Variation) and 4...Nf6. After 4...Nf6 5.Nc3, Black can transpose to the Scheveningen Variation with 5...d6, or play 5...Nc6, the Four Knights Variation. Also note that after 4...Nf6 White cannot play 5. e5? because of 5...Qa5+ followed by Qxe5.

Today, most leading grandmasters include the Sicilian in their opening repertoire. Some of the current top-level players who regularly use it include Viswanathan Anand, Boris Gelfand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov, Peter Svidler and Veselin Topalov.

The Opening is based on the following moves:

This opening is sometimes also referred to Russian Game as popularized in the mid-19th century by Russian player Alexander Petrov. Trading occurs often in this opening and Black gains a Knight after gaining a tempo. In addition Black’s counterattack in the center also avoids the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano and the Scotch Game. This opening offers attacking opportunities for both sides.

Variations:

Grandmasters Karpov, Yusupov, Marshall, Kramnik, and Pillsbury have frequently played the Petrov as Black.

The moves for this opening are:
1.e4 d6
2.d4 Nf6
3.Nc3 g6

This Pirc Defense is also known as the Ufimtsev Defense or Yugoslav Defense and is named after Slovenian Grandmaster Vasja Pirc. This is a relatively new opening and was considered inferior until 1960s, largely to the effort of Canadian Grandmaster Duncan Suttles, among others saw few takers. Here the black responds with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish an impressive-looking centre with pawns on d4 and e4. Correct play is sometimes counterintuitive and is tricky to play. Black, in hypermodern fashion, does not immediately stake out the centre with pawns, but rather works to undermine White's pawn centre with pieces. First appearance in a World Championship match occurred in 1972, when it was played by Bobby Fischer against Boris Spassky at Reykjavik, the game wound up drawn.

Variations:
Black can use an alternative system known as the Pribyl System or Czech Defence, which begins with 3...c6 also Black can play ...Qa5 and ...e5 to challenge White's centre, or expand on the queenside with ...b5. A common deviation by Black is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5. This has been tried by many GMs over the years. Another variation is called Austrian Attack, which begins with 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4. In placing pawns on d4, e4 and f4, White may establish a large centre and plans to push in the centre and possibly attack on the kingside; Black often counters with ...c5 to break the pawn centre up. This can be the most tactical system in the Pirc. Jan Timman has played both sides of this variation with success The Classical (Two Knights) System begins 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 and has a strong pawn centre and Black castles quickly and builds a compact structure, easy to defend. White must organize an attack without trading too many pieces. Efim Geller, Anatoly Karpov and Evgeni Vasiukov have chosen this system with White. Zurab Azmaiparashvili has an impressive score on the Black side.

The notable games for this opening were Azmaiparashvili who defeated world champion Anatoly Karpov. Gary Kasparov, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer also used this opening to victory in many games.

This Opening has moves:

The Modern Defense is also called Robatsch Defense, named after Karl Robatsch. White occupies the center with pawns on d4 and e4 and Black’s hope is to attack and undermine White’s “ideal” position without directly intending to occupy the center himself. The opening moves are typically followed by 2.d4 Bg7. This defense in closely related to Pirc Defense however here Black delays developing his knight to f6.

Variations:

The flexibility and toughness of the Modern Defence has provoked some very aggressive responses by White, including the attack crudely named the Monkey's Bum (a typical sequence being 1.e4 g6 2.Bc4 Bg7 3.Qf3). The other variations are reached after 1.e4 g6, The Hippopotamus Defense, Norwegian Defence, also known as the North Sea Defence, which begins 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.e5 Nh5. Main Lines of the Modern Defence are 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 c6 5.Nf3 Bg4 and 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Be3 e5 6.d5 Ne7. 7.g4 will be answered by f5 8.gxf5 gxf5 9.Qh5+ Ng6 10.exf5 Qh4 11.Qxh4 Nxh4 12.Nb5 Kd8.

This opening is characteristics by:

The Center Counter Defense also known as Scandinavian Defense is one of the oldest recorded opening which was first recorded in 1475 in a game played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia. It is also one of the oldest asymmetric defenses to 1.e4. Bent Larsen played it from time to time, and defeated World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it at Montreal 1979, spurring a rise in popularity.

Variations:
Here White normally continues 2.exd5 when Black has two major continuations: 2...Qxd5 and 2...Nf6. After playing 2...Qxd5, the most commonly played move is 3.Nc3 because it attacks the queen with gain of tempo against 3.Nc3. The popular response to this is the Bronstein Variation or Pytel Variation which was used by Grandmasters Sergei Tiviakov and Bojan Kurajica, just to name a couple, is the more dynamic 3...Qd6. The other main branch of the Scandinavian Defense is 2...Nf6, sometimes known as the Marshall Gambit after U.S. Chess Champion Frank Marshall, who played the line. The main aim is to delay the capture of d5 pawn for another move, avoiding the loss of time that Black incurs in the ...Qxd5 lines after 3.Nc3.

In 1995, the Center Counter Defense made a rare appearance in a World Chess Championship match, in the 14th game at New York. Viswanathan Anand as Black obtained an excellent position using the opening against Garry Kasparov, although Kasparov won the game.

This opening opens with the move:

This opening was named after Aron Nimzowitsch. This is an unusual opening in which Black moves 1...Nc6 in reply to White's 1.e4. In this opening Black invites White at an early stage to occupy the centre of the with pawns to block or otherwise restrain White's central pawns and, if allowed to do so by inaccurate play by White, eventually undermine the White pawn center by well-timed pawn advances of his own or by attacking the White pieces defending the centre.

Variations:
Aron Nimzowitsch, the originator of the opening, usually preferred 2.d4 d5. Now White can choose among (1) 3.e5, which Black usually meets with 3...Bf5, followed by playing ...e6 and later attacking White's central pawn chain with moves such as ...f6 and ...c5 The late British Grandmaster Tony Miles used 2.d4 e5 as a solid line. White can transpose to t he Scotch Game with 3.Nf3, or play 3.d5 Nce7 which gives White only a slight plus score in practice.

World Champion Garry Kasparov and GM Raymond Keene wrote that it "has never been fully accepted as a dependable opening. Nevertheless it is sound and offers the maverick spirit a great deal of foreign territory to explore."

This chess opening starts with

1. d4 d5 2. c4

This is one of the oldest Known chess openings, described by Lucena in 1497 and earlier in Göttingen manuscript. Queen's Gambit did not become common until the 1873 tournament in Vienna. It gained popularity with Steinitz and Tarrasch chess theory and increased the appreciation of positional play and peaked popularity when 32 out of 34 games were played in the 1934 World Chess Championship.

With 2.c4, White threatens to exchange a wing pawn (the c-pawn) for a center pawn (Black's d-pawn) and dominate the center with e2-e4. An opening trap after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 goes 3.e3 b5? (Black tries to guard his pawn but should pursue development with, e.g., 3...e5!) 4.a4 c6? 5.axb5 cxb5?? 6.Qf3! winning a piece on Black's weakened queenside. Further this opening can be categorized broadly into two based on Black’s response, Queen's Gambit Accepted and Queen's Gambit Declined.

Variations:

1) Queen's Gambit Accepted: This has opening moves:
1. d4 d5
2. c4 dxc4

Black's capture of the white c-pawn may also occur one or two moves later, leading to a transposed position. This is not a not a real gambit, since Black cannot count on keeping the extra pawn. White can force Black to give the pawn back by playing 3. Qa4+ Nc6 4. e3. This is not necessarily the best continuation for White, however; since this line will develop the queen prematurely, White usually plays more patiently. White will try to seize space in the centre and use it to launch an attack on the black position as Black's 2… dxc4 surrenders the centre early on in the game. If the White centre can be kept at bay, Black will try to weaken White's centre pawns, using that to gain an advantage in the ensuing endgame.

2) Queen's Gambit Declined: Characterized by the opening moves:
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6

This variation is also termed as Orthodox Defense. Any variation of Queen’s Gambit where Black does not take the Queen's Gambit pawn is broadly known as Queen’s Gambit Declined. By declining the temporary pawn sacrifice by means of 2...e6, Black erects a solid position; the pawns on d5 and e6 give Black a foothold in the center. This also releases Black's dark-squared bishop, but blocks the light-squared bishop. White will try to exploit the passivity of this bishop, and Black will try to release it, trade it off or prove that, while passive, the bishop has a useful defensive role. Since Black does not take the pawn, the issue of the center remains unresolved.

This Chess opening has moves:

This is a variation of Queen's Gambit Declined. The opening is named after and was advocated by German master Siegbert Tarrasch. Many masters had rejected this due to of the pawn weakness, still continued to play this opening even to the point of putting question marks on routine moves in all variations except the Tarrasch.

In this the White third move is Nc3 with this; Black makes an aggressive bid for central space. After White plays cxd5 and eventually dxc5, Black will often be left with an isolated pawn on the d-file. Such a pawn may be weak since it is undefended by other pawns, but it also grants Black a foothold in the center.

This Variation is considered sound even if Black fails to make use of its mobility and prepares with an isolated pawn in the endgame. A draw may still reached if defended accurately.

This opening begins with:

This is one of the primary defenses to the Queen’s Gambit. First analyzed in 1590 only in 1920s this opening was extensively explored. Many masters of Slavic descent helped develop the theory of this opening, including Alapin, Alekhine, Bogoljubov, and Vidmar.

To overcome the major problems in many variation of Queen’s Gambit Decline like developing the Black bishop is difficult, the pawn structure offers white the possibility of minority attack on the queen side and White often plays Bg5 to pin the black king knight on f6 against the black queen, and unpinning it is awkward for Black.

Slav Defense address these issue as Black's queen bishop is unblocked, the pawn structure remains balanced, and the move Bg5 is not yet threatening as the unmoved black pawn on e7 prevents the pin. Also, if Black later takes the gambit pawn with ...dxc4, the support provided by the pawn on c6 allows ...b5 which may threaten to keep the gambit pawn or drive away a white piece that has captured it, gaining Black a tempo for queenside expansion.

The main variations are: 1a) Slav Exchange Variation (3.cxd5 cxd5) b) Slav Declined (3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3) c) Slav Gambit (3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4) d) Alapin Variation (3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4) e) Czech Variation (3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5) f) Steiner Variation (3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bg4)

This opening is a variation of Queen’s Gambit and is defined by moves:

This opening variation does not always play in that order. The opening is a mixture of Slav Defense and Queen’s Gambit Declined with Black advancing pawns to both c6 and e6. When Black plays 4...c6 and threatens to take the white pawn on c4 and keep it with a ...b5 advance.

At the cost of f blocking the dark-squared bishop White can hold on to the pawn with 5.e3. Otherwise White often gambits a pawn with 5.Bg5, the Anti-Meran Gambit, which Black may accept with 5...dxc4 6.e4 b5, leading to sharp play, or decline with 5...h6, the Moscow Variation. If the latter variation is played White can play 6.Bxf6 Qxf6, ceding the bishop pair in exchange for a lead in development, or again offer a gambit with 6.Bh4!?.

Playing this variation Anand won twice with black in the recent Anand-Kramnik World Chess Championship 2008.

The moves for this Defense are:

The Chigorin Defense is a uncommon played defense to Queen’s Gambit and named after the 19th century Russian grandmaster Mikhail Chigorin. This opening has several problems like Black does not maintain the center pawn at d5, the c-pawn is blocked, and Black must be willing to trade a bishop for a knight. In return it gets quick development and piece pressure on the center.

Chigorin seems to be playable for Black and it is useful as a surprise weapon against the Queen's Gambit.The only modern Grandmaster who regularly plays the Chigorin Defense is Alexander Morozevich, although in the '80s, Vassily Smyslov did employ the opening against Gary Kasparov.

One of the several Irregular Defences to the Queen's Gambit. Black declines White's 2.P-QB4 gambit by 2..Kt-QB3 counter-attacking White's QP (move 2wb, left), intending to attack White in the centre by developing pieces as rapidly as possible (typically as move 7wb, right). A Kt-KB3..QB-KKt5 half-pin also occurs often. The defence also occurs by the same first two Black moves in a Queen's Pawn Game.

This defense is characterized by the moves:

In 1884, for the first time used of the term "Indian Defense" attributed to the opening's use by the Indian player Moheschunder Bannerjee against John Cochrane. Many of the important position are reached by several move orders through Transpositions. They are all varying degrees of Hypermodern, where Black invites White to establish an imposing presence in the centre with the plan of drawing it out, undermining it, and destroying it is known as hypermodern defense. This defense was not completely accepted until Soviet players showed in the late 1940s that these systems are sound for Black. Since then, Indian defenses have been the most popular Black replies to 1.d4 because they offer an unbalanced game with chances for both sides.

The Indian defense is double-edged and more ambitious than the symmetrical reply 1...d5. Here breaking symmetry on move one leads to rapid combat in the centre, where Black can obtain counterplay without necessarily equalizing first.

Variations:
The common White’s second move is 2.c4 which allows the move Nc3 while grabbing a large share of the center and prepare for moving the e-pawn to e4 without blocking the c-pawn. The Black can respond with a) 2...e6, freeing the king's bishop and leading into the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Defense, Bogo-Indian Defense, Modern Benoni, or regular lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined, b) 2... g6, preparing a fianchetto of the king's bishop and entering the King's Indian Defense or Grünfeld Defense, and c) 2... c5, the Modern Benoni, with an immediate counter-punch in the center.

The moves for this opening are:

The name is derived from Catalonia-a region in Spain and partly in France, after tournament organizers at the 1929 Barcelona tournament asked Savielly Tartakower to create a new variation in homage to the area's chess history. This is a chess opening considered to be White adopting a mixture of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening: White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. Black has two main approaches, Open Catalan which plays ...dxc4 and can either try to hold onto the pawn with ...b5 or give it back for extra time to free his game and Closed Catalan, where lack does not capture on c4; his game can be somewhat cramped for a while, but is quite solid.

This opening has recently gained popularity among Top grandmaster with the use by Vladimir Kramnik in three games in the World Chess Championship 2006. Also Garry Kasparov and Viktor Korchnoi played it in their Candidates Semifinal match in London in 1983: five games of the eleven-game match were Catalans.

In 2004, Ruben Felgaer won a tournament celebrating the 75th anniversary of Barcelona 1929 and the birth of the Catalan Opening, ahead of Grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi, Mihail Marin, Lluis Comas and Viktor Moskalenko and International Master Manel Granados.

This defense has the opening moves as:

This maneuver gets his name from the move 3…b6 increases Black’s control over the squares e4 and d5 by preparing a fianchetto of the queen’s bishop. Black tries to control the center with his pieces rather than occupying it with his pawns as like other Indian defenses.

This openings aim to slow down White’s efforts to gain full control of the center by playing e2-e4 and by playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. Thus together Black’s well respected response to 1.d4.

Variations:
To counter Queen’s Indian White usually chooses to play 4.g3, 4.Nc3, 4.a3, 4.e3 or 4.Bf4. 1) 4 g3 : This is White’s most popular line against the Queen’s Indian. It contests the long diagonal by preparing to fianchetto the light-squared bishop. 2) 4.a3, the Petrosian Variation, prepares 5.Nc3 without being harassed by ...Bb4 pinning the knight. 3) 4.Nc3 brings out the knight but allows 4...Bb4 with a transposition to the Nimzo-Indian. 4) 4.e3, preparing to develop the king's bishop and castle kingside, is a favorite of Tigran Petrosian 5) 4.Bf4 is the Miles Variation, which simply develops the bishop to a good square.

This defense arises after the move:

Here Black allows the White to control the centre with his pawns, with the view to subsequently challenging it with the moves ...e5 or ...c5. Generally regarded as unstable opening till strong Ukrainian players in particular — Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Isaac Boleslavsky, and David Bronstein — helped to make the defense much more respected and popular.

Variations:
1) Classical Variation: This variation follows up from the initial first two steps with moves 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5.

2) Sämisch Variation: The The Sämisch Variation is 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3. It is named after Friedrich Sämisch, who developed the system in the 1920s. This often leads to very sharp play with the players castling on opposite wings and attacking each other's kings. World champions Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, and Garry Kasparov have all played this variation. .

3) Averbakh Variation: This variation is denoted with 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 and is named after Yuri Averbakh. .

4) Four Pawns Attack: This variation continues with 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3. Noted as the most aggressive for White to contemplate. The Black player can find the game ending quickly if not properly prepared. By the 5th move, White has achieved a huge centre as well as threatening e4-e5. The trade off in this position is that Black has developed pieces while White has developed pawns. If Black can open the position up, White can find himself overextended with minimal development to show. .

5) Fianchetto Variation: This variation is for the moves 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0. This is named from White’s development of his light squared bishop to g2. Here, Black's normal plan of kingside attack is offset by White's extra defender and the fact that White will no longer wish to block the centre.

Former World Chess Champions Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, Mikhail Tal, and Tigran Petrosian have all played this variation to great success.

This chess defense is characterized by the moves:

Named for Ernst Grünfeld, who introduced it into international tournament play at Vienna 1922, where beat future World Champion Alexander Alekhine. However this was played by the Indian player Moheschunder Bannerjee as early as 1855 against John Cochrane. The opening relies on one of the main principles of the Hypermodern School that a large pawn centre could be a liability rather than an asset.

Variations:
Exchange Variation is the main line of the Grünfeld defined by the continuation 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4. With White’s imposing looking centre - and the main continuation 5...Nxc3 bxc3 strengthens it still further. Black generally attacks White's centre with ...c5 and ...Bg7, often followed by moves like ...cxd4, ...Bg4, and ...Nc6. White usually uses his big centre to launch an attack against Black's king, which generally ends up on g8 after Black castles king-side. Karpov played various sub-variation including four games in his 1987 world championship match against Kasparov in Seville, Spain. The move 4.Bf4 is considered a safer continuation for White. In this variation play may also continue (4. Bf4 Bg7 5.e3) O-O and is known as the Grünfeld Gambit. Systems in which White delays the development of his queen's knight to c3 are known as the Neo-Grünfeld Defence.

Garry Kasparov often used the defense, including in his World Championship matches against Anatoly Karpov in 1986, 1987 and 1990, and Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Other notable players include Vasily Smyslov, Viktor Korchnoi and Bobby Fischer. Donald Byrne and 13-year old Bobby Fischer on October 17, 1956 also started with this opening in The Game of the Century.

The moves for this opening defense are:

The weak Black pawn on d6 gave the name “Benoni”, it is a Hebrew term meaning “son of sorrow”. The origin of the word is traced to German manuscript entitled Benoni by Aaron Reinganum (1825). The Benoni Defense is a group of chess openings generally characterized by the opening moves 1.d4 c5 2.d5 although Black's ...c5 and White's answer d5, is often delayed until move 2 or 3.

There are two major categories of this defense.
1) Modern Benoni: The Modern Benoni, may come after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6. This is a risky attempt by Black to unbalance the position and gain active piece play at the cost of allowing White a pawn wedge at d5 and a central majority. White usually plays for a central break with e5, while Black tries to affect ...b5.and will fianchetto his king's bishop to g7 and castle, playing for an attack on the queenside and the semi-open e-file. White will play for a central initiative.
2) The Old Benoni arises if Black immediately answers 1.d4 with 1...c5. The Old Benoni frequently transposes to the Modern Benoni or Czech Benoni, but there are a few independent variations.
Tal popularized the Modern Benoni defense in the 1960s by winning several brilliant games with it. Bobby Fischer occasionally adopted it including a win in his 1972 world championship match against Boris Spassky. Old Benoni was played by Veselin Topalov in 2008 Corus Chess Tournament, , against Vassily Ivanchuk. The game, however, ended in a draw.

The move for this opening is:

This defense is named after Elias Stein (1748–1812), an Alsatian who settled in The Hague, recommended the defense as the best reply to 1.d4 in his 1789 book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu. Here Black's 1...f5 stakes a serious claim to the e4 square and looks towards an attack on White's kingside in the middlegame. However, this weakens Black's own kingside somewhat, and does nothing to contribute to its development. White fianchettoes his king's bishop with g3 and Bg2 and Black sometimes fianchettoes his king's bishop with ...g6 and ...Bg7 or may develop his bishop to Be7, d6 or b4. White has various more aggressive alternatives to the standard 2.g3, including 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5; 2.Bg5 and 2.e4!?, the Staunton Gambit, named after Howard Staunton, who introduced it in his match against Horwitz.

Viktor Korchnoi introduced the line into tournament practice more than a century after Staunton's death in Korchnoi-Känel, Biel 1979. Alexander Alekhine, Bent Larsen, Paul Morphy and Miguel Najdorf, have used it with success. Both world chess champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his challenger, David Bronstein, played it in their championship match in 1951.

This is denoted by the moves:

Budapest Defense is also known as Budapest Gambit. The first known game with the Budapest Gambit is Adler – Maróczy, played in Budapest in 1896. The Hungarians István Abonyi, Zsigmond Barász and Gyula Breyer further developed the opening. Abonyi played it in 1916 against the Dutch surgeon Johannes Esser in a small tournament in Budapest. The first use of the opening against a world-class player was at Berlin in 1918, when Milan Vidmar played it against Akiba Rubinstein in the first round.

Black's second move attacks White's centre and sacrificing, at least temporarily, a pawn to do so. White most often will not hang to the extra pawn since that ties his pieces to defense and often gives Black a lead in development. Instead White usually develops his pieces and hopes to gain a lead in development while Black spends time regaining his pawn. After 3.dxe5 Black must move his knight again which is the only serious try for an advantage.

Réti used it three times against lesser opponents, Tartakower used it three times in a unique tournament (Bad Kissingen 1928) but scored only ½ point against very strong opposition like Bogoljubov, Capablanca, Rubinstein. Also Spielmann also used it twice, winning against Euwe (Baden 1922) but losing to Sämisch (Copenhagen 1923).

English Opening is defined by the move:

Flank opening is the fourth most popular opening of white where it stakes claim to the d5 square and begins to fight for the center. It is considered flexible and often transposes into other openings however it has a distinct character. The opening derives its name from English World Chess Champion, Howard Staunton, who played it during his 1843 match with Saint-Amant and London 1851. In the 20th century this opening gained popularity and termed as solid opening that may be used to reach both classical and hypermodern positions.

White’s 2nd move depends on black's response. If black does not immediately try to control the center white can fianchetto his bishop with 2. g3 3. Bg2 and white starts to apply even more pressure on the d5 square and gives white the control over the light squares. Many English games will start out very slow as both sides build up pressure around the center. However English is there are many traps that exist to defend the English. As with any opening you should be aware of the traps that you might encounter.

Champions like Botvinnik, Karpov, and Kasparov all employed it during their world championship matches where as Bobby Fischer created a stir when he switched to it from the King's Pawn against Boris Spassky in 1972.

This opening begins with the move:
1.Nf3 d5
2.c4

It is named after Richard Réti, an untitled Grandmaster from Czechoslovakia who most famously used it to defeat José Raúl Capablanca, the reigning World Chess Champion, in a game in the 1924 New York tournament. This opening should not be thought as a single opening move or sequence but as an opening complex with many variations sharing common themes. This is a Hypermodern chess opening beginning with 1.Nf3 to prevent 1...e5, ith the intention of following up, against the "classically recommended" response 1...d5, with 2.c4, coupled with a kingside fianchetto to create pressure on the light squares in the center. Another idea is to either bring the d5 pawn under attack from the flanks, or entice it to advance to d4 and undermine it later.

1. Nf3 ranks third in popularity out of twenty possible opening moves. As observed it prepares for quick castling as it develops the knight to a good square and prevents Black's occupation of the center by 1...e5. White maintains flexibility by not committing to a particular central pawn structure, while waiting to see what Black will do. The disadvantages are that it blocks the f-pawn, and forgoes the option of playing Nge2, ruling out the possibility, for example, of playing the Sämisch system against the King's Indian. Traditionally 1. Nf3 d5 has been the signature calling card of the Réti. The most common reply for White is 2. c4 known as the traditional or classic method. 2. g3 has become increasing popular in recent years and is referred to as the modern method.

This starts with the opening move:
1. b3.

This opening is also known as Nimzo-Larsen Attack or Queen's Fianchetto Opening. It is named after the Danish Grandmaster Bent Larsen. The flank opening move 1.b3 prepares to fianchetto the queen's bishop where it will help control the central squares in hypermodern fashion and put pressure on Black's kingside. Often, the b2 bishop is a source of recurring exasperation for black, and it should not be traded lightly. 1.b3 ranks sixth in popularity out of the possible twenty first moves. Larsen believed it to be an advantage in that black is forced to rely on his own abilities instead of relying on memorized, well-analyzed moves of more common white openings.

Variations:
Black has several options to meet 1.b3. The most common are: 1...e5, the Modern Variation, 1...d5, the Classical Variation, 1...Nf6, the Indian Variation, 1...c5, the English Variation and 1...f5, the Dutch Variation.

Although Larsen was successful using it initially it suffered a defeat in the 1970 USSR vs. Rest of the World match in Belgrade. He also played this opening against reigning World Champion Boris Spassky, and lost in just 17 moves, a remarkably quick loss, especially when playing White.

This opening begins with:
1.f4

This opening is also called Dutch Attack. It was mentioned by Luis Ramirez de Lucena in his book “Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con ci Iuegos de Partido”, published circa 1497. In 1885, the Hereford Times named it after British master Henry Edward Bird who first played it and continued to do so for the next 40 years. 1.f4 ranks sixth in popularity out of the twenty opening moves. This move slightly weakens White's king's position. Black's most common response is 1...d5 White will then often either fianchetto his king's bishop with Nf3, g3, Bg2, and 0-0 with a reversed Leningrad Dutch; adopt a Stonewall formation with pawns on d4, e3, and f4 and attempt a kingside attack; or fianchetto his queen's bishop to increase his hold on the e5 square.

Aron Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower sometimes played 1.f4 and recently Bent Larsen, Andrew Soltis, Lars Karlsson, and Mikhail Gurevich have used the Bird's with any regularity.

The Benko opening starts with the move:
1. g3

Benko opening is also known as the Hungarian Opening, the Barczay Opening, and the Bilek Opening. It is named after Pal Benko, who used 1.g3 to defeat Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal in rounds one and three of the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao. 1.g3 ranks fifth in popularity of the twenty possible opening moves. It is usually followed by 2.Bg2, fianchettoing the bishop and will transpose to another opening such as the Catalan Opening, King's Indian Attack or some variation of the English Opening.

The most common Black’s response is 1...d5. and White can play 2.Nf3, which is usually reached by 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3. Then Black may play 2...Nf6 for King's Indian Attack or Black may play 2...c6 for King's Indian Attack. Another possible move is the symmetrical 1...g6. White can play 2.c4, which is usually reached by 1.c4 g6 2.g3 then Black may play 2...Bg7 for English or Black may play 2...Nf6 for English.