Baltic Defense
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Baltic Defense
The Baltic Defense (also known as the Grau Defense, or the Sahovic Defense) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 Bf5!? The Baltic is an unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD). In most defenses to the QGD, Black has difficulties developing his . This opening takes a radical approach to the problem by bringing out the queen bishop immediately. The Baltic has not found widespread acceptance among chess masters, but some world-class players have used it including grandmasters Paul Keres and Alexei Shirov. The '' ECO'' code for the Baltic Defense is D06. White responses White has several replies to this opening, including 3.Nf3, 3.cxd5, 3.Qb3, and 3.Nc3. Play might continue: 3.Nf3 e6 * 4.Qb3 Nc6 * 4.e3 Nf6 5.Qb3 Nc6 * 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qb3 Nc6 * 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Qb3 Nc6 3.cxd5 :3...Bxb1 4.Qa4+ Qd7 5.Qxd7+ Nxd7 6.Rxb1 Ngf6 7.Nf3 3.Qb3 :3...e5 4.Qxb7 Nd7 5.Nf3 Rb8 6.Qxd5 Bb4+ 7.Nfd2 (7.Bd2 Ne7 Webb–Sinclair, England 1971) Ne7 8.Qf3 exd4 a ...
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Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five occasions. As Estonia was repeatedly invaded and occupied during World War II, Keres was forced by the circumstances to represent the former Soviet Union (1940–41, 1944–75) and Nazi Germany (1941–44) in international tournaments. Keres won the AVRO 1938 chess tournament, which led to negotiations for a title match against the reigning World Champion Alexander Alekhine, but the match never took place due to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Keres was runner-up in the Candidates Tournament on four consecutive occasions in 1953–1962. Due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres one of the greatest players in history, and the strongest player never to become world champion. " Super grandmaster" is a ...
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Queen's Gambit
The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 It is one of the oldest openings and is still commonly played today. It is traditionally described as a ''gambit'' because White appears to sacrifice the c-pawn; however, this could be considered a misnomer as Black cannot retain the pawn without incurring a disadvantage. History The Queen's Gambit is one of the oldest known openings in chess. It was mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript of 1490 and was later analyzed by Gioachino Greco in the 17th century. In the 18th century, it was recommended by Philipp Stamma and is sometimes known as the Aleppo Gambit in his honor. During the early period of modern chess, queen pawn openings were not in fashion, and the Queen's Gambit did not become commonplace until the 1873 tournament in Vienna. As Wilhelm Steinitz and Siegbert Tarrasch developed chess theory and increased the appreciation of , the Queen's Gambit grew more popular, reaching its ...
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Chess Opening
A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defense". ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named openings and variants, and there are many others with varying degrees of common usage. Opening moves that are considered standard are referred to as "book moves", or simply "book". When a game begins to deviate from known opening theory, the players are said to be "out of book". In some openings, "book" lines have been worked out for over 30 moves, as in the classical King's Indian Defense and in the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian Defense. Professional chess players spend years studying openings, and continue doing so throughout their careers, as opening theory continues to evolve. Players at the club level also study openings but the importance of the opening phase is smaller t ...
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Chess Opening Theory/1
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games, such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) and shogi (Japanese chess). The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga, in seventh-century India. The rules of chess as we know them today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no use of dice or cards. It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two ...
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Queen's Gambit Declined
The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambit Declined" is mentioned, it is usually assumed to be referring to the Orthodox Line; see " Other lines" below. The Orthodox Line can be reached by a number of different , such as 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5; 1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5; 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4; 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4; and so on. General concepts Playing 2...e6 releases Black's dark-squared bishop, while obstructing his light-squared bishop. By declining White's temporary pawn sacrifice, Black erects a solid position; the pawns on d5 and e6 give Black a foothold in the . The Queen's Gambit Declined has the reputation of being one of Black's most reliable defenses to 1.d4. In this situation, White will try to exploit the passivity of Black's light-squared bishop, and Black will try to rel ...
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Grandmaster (chess)
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it has been revoked for cheating. The title of Grandmaster, along with the lesser FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and FIDE Master (FM), is open to all players regardless of gender. The great majority of grandmasters are men, but 40 women have been awarded the GM title as of 2022, out of a total of about 2000 grandmasters. Since about the year 2000, most of the top 10 women have held the GM title. There is also a Woman Grandmaster title with lower requirements awarded only to women. There are also Grandmaster titles for composers and solvers of chess problems, awarded by the World Federation for Chess Composition (see List of grandmasters for chess composition). The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) awards the tit ...
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Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championship match with Garry Kasparov; it never took place due to a lack of sponsorship. Career Shirov became the World Youth Chess Championship, world under-16 champion in 1988 and was the runner-up at the World Junior Chess Championship, World Junior Championship in 1990 (second on tiebreaks to Ilya Gurevich). In the same year, he achieved the title of International Grandmaster, Grandmaster. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: Biel Chess Festival, Biel 1991, Madrid 1997 (shared first place with Veselin Topalov), Ter Apel 1997, Monte Carlo 1998, Mérida, Spain, Mérida 2000, Paul Keres Memorial Tournament, Paul Keres Memorial Rapid Tournament in Tallinn (2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013), Canadian Open Chess ...
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Encyclopaedia Of Chess Openings
The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant). It is currently undergoing its fifth edition. ''ECO'' may also refer to the opening classification system used by the encyclopedia. Overview Both ''ECO'' and ''Chess Informant'' are published by the Belgrade-based company Šahovski Informator. The moves are taken from thousands of master games and from published analysis in ''Informant'' and compiled by the editors, most of whom are grandmasters, who select the lines which they consider most relevant or critical. The chief editor since the first edition has been Aleksandar Matanović. The openings are provided in an ''ECO'' table that concisely presents the opening lines considered most critical by the editors. ''ECO'' covers the openings in more detail than rival single volume publications such as ...
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Keres Defence
The Keres Defence (also known as the Kangaroo Defence or Franco-Indian Defence) is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 e6 :2. c4 Bb4+ The opening is named for Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres. History This opening was known since the 1840s and was played by Henry Thomas Buckle in his fourth match game with Johann Löwenthal, London 1851. The standard reply today, 3.Bd2, was recommended by Howard Staunton. Discussion White can respond 3.Nc3, 3.Nd2, or 3.Bd2. The game often transposes to a Nimzo-Indian Defence, a Dutch Defence, a Queen's Gambit Declined, an English Defence, or a Bogo-Indian Defence. 3.Nc3 is likely to transpose into one of those openings: 3...Nf6 (Nimzo-Indian), 3...f5 (Dutch; Korn gives 3...Bxc3+ 4.bxc3 f5!, played by Buckle) 3...d5 (an unusual form of QGD), or 3...b6 (English). Black has the same options after 3.Nd2, except that 3...Nf6 4.Nf3 is a Bogo-Indian. After 3.Bd2, Black can continue with 3...Bxd2+ into a line of the Bogo-Indian, and ...
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List Of Chess Openings
This is a list of chess openings, organized by the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () code. In 1966, Chess Informant categorized the chess openings into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken down into one hundred subcategories ("00" through "99"). The openings were published in five volumes of ''ECO'', with volumes labeled "A" through "E". This is a list of chess openings by the ''ECO'' classification. A – Flank openings * White first moves other than 1.e4, 1.d4 (A00–A39) * 1.d4 without 1...d5, 1...Nf6 or 1...f5: Atypical replies to 1.d4 (A40–A44) * 1.d4 Nf6 without 2.c4: Atypical replies to 1...Nf6 (A45–A49) * 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 without 2...e6 or 2...g6: Atypical Indian systems (A50–A79) * 1.d4 f5: Dutch Defence (A80–A99) A00–A39 White first moves other than 1.e4, 1.d4: *A00 Irregular Openings :* Anderssen's Opening: 1.a3 ::* Anderssen's Opening, Polish Gambit: 1...a5 2.b4 :::* Bugayev Attack 2...e5 ::* Anderssen's Opening, Creepy Crawl ...
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List Of Chess Openings Named After Places
Below is a list of chess openings named after places. ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named chess openings and variants. Many of them are named for geographic places. A *Aachen Gambit of the Nimzowitsch Defense 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Nb4 *Abbazia Defense of the King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 *American Gambit of the Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nd2 *Adelaide Counter-Gambit of the King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5 *Amsterdam Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Qd2 *Arkhangelsk Defense (or Archangel Defense) of the Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 *Argentine Gambit of the Baltic Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5 3.cxd5 Bxb1 4.Qa4+ c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 *Argentine Variation of the Cambridge Springs Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 0-0 9.Bh4 *Armenian Variation of the French Defence 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.N ...
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Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1962 and was a frequent contender for the World Championship, although he never achieved that title. He was one of the strongest players in the world from the early 1960s until the late 1980s, as well as a distinguished author and opening theorist whose contributions in this field remain important to the present day. Career Lev Polugaevsky was born in Mogilev, in the Soviet Union (now Mahilyow, Belarus), and, after being evacuated during the Second World War, grew up in Kuybyshev (modern Samara). He began playing chess around the age of 10. In 1948, he attracted the attention of Candidate Master Alexy Ivashin, who became his first teacher. International Master Lev Aronin, who lived in Moscow but had family in Kuybyshev, eventually becam ...
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