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Owen's Defence
Owen's Defence (also known as the Queen's Fianchetto Defence or Greek Defence) is an uncommon chess opening defined by the moves: :1. e4 b6 By playing 1...b6, Black prepares to fianchetto the where it will participate in the battle for the . The downside of this plan is that White can occupy the centre with pawns and gain a . Moreover, 1...b6 does not prepare castling as 1...g6 does, and it is harder for Black to augment their pressure against the centre with ...f5, which weakens the kingside, than it is to play the corresponding move ...c5 after 1...g6.Christian Bauer, ''Play 1...b6'', Everyman Chess, 2005, p. 5. . Owen's Defence accordingly has a dubious reputation. The move ...b6 has been played on the first or second move by grandmasters Jonathan Speelman, Pavel Blatny, Tony Miles, Edvīns Ķeņģis, and Normunds Miezis, and International Masters Bricard and Filipovic. Instead of fianchettoing, Black can also play their bishop to the a6–f1 diagonal, the Guatemala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Owen (chess Player)
John Owen (8 April 1827 – 24 November 1901) was an English vicar and amateur chess master. He ranked among the world's top ten chess players for certain periods of the 1860s. He was a major figure in English chess from the mid 1850s to the 1890s. Owen was born in Marchington, and obtained his early schooling at Repton School, Derbyshire. In 1850 he graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, and received his M.A. from Cambridge three years later. He was ordained by the Church of England in 1851, and served as Vicar of Hooton, Cheshire from 1862 to his retirement in 1900.chessgames.com, the John Owen player file In 1858 he won a chess game against the young American master Paul Morphy, the world's best player, who was then touring Europe. This led to a match between the two. Despite being given odds of pawn and the move (meaning he started the game with an extra pawn and always moved first), Owen lost the match 6–1, never winning a game. His performance in the very strong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Miles
Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham, and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham.Tony Miles ''The Guardian'', 14 November 2001 ''The Daily Telegraph'', 14 November 2001 He was married and divorced twice, and had no children. Miles's first wife was Jana Hartston, who had previously been married to |
Michael Adams (chess Player)
Michael Adams (born 17 November 1971) is an English chess grandmaster and is a seven-time British Chess Champion. His highest ranking is world No. 4, achieved several times from October 2000 to October 2002. His peak Elo rating is 2761, the highest achieved by an English chess player. He has achieved good results in World Chess Championship tournaments. Several times a World Championship Candidate, he reached the semifinals in 1997, 1999 and 2000. He reached the final at the 2004 FIDE Championship, narrowly losing out to Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the tie-break games. Early career Adams was born on 17 November 1971 in Truro, Cornwall, UK. By 1980, his chess talent had been recognised by the British Chess Federation, and he received high-level coaching from former European Junior Champion Shaun Taulbut and coaching from local chess champion Michael Prettejohn. In 1981, aged nine, Adams entered the Cornwall (County) Under-9 Championship and won it. He won the Under-13, Under-1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First-move Advantage In Chess
In chess, there is a general consensus among players and theorists that the player who makes the first move (White) has an inherent advantage. Since 1851, compiled statistics support this view; White consistently slightly more often than Black, usually scoring between 52 and 56 percent. White's is about the same for tournament games between humans and games between computers; however, White's advantage is less significant in blitz games and games between lower-level players. Chess players and theoreticians have long debated whether, given perfect play by both sides, the game should end in a win for White or a draw. Since approximately 1889, when World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz addressed this issue, the consensus has been that a perfectly played game would end in a draw (futile game). A few notable players have argued, however, that White's advantage may be sufficient to a win: Weaver Adams and Vsevolod Rauzer claimed that White is winning after the first move 1.e4, whil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Theory
The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the chess opening, opening, Chess middlegame, middlegame, and Chess endgame, endgame. There is a large body of theory regarding how the game should be played in each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame. Those who write about chess theory, who are often also eminent players, are referred to as "theorists" or "theoreticians". "Opening theory" commonly refers to consensus, broadly represented by current literature on the openings. "Endgame theory" consists of statements regarding specific positions, or positions of a similar type, though there are few universally applicable principles. "Middlegame theory" often refers to maxims or principles applicable to the middlegame. The modern trend, however, is to assign paramount importance to analysis of the specific position at hand rather than to general principles. The development of theory in all of these areas has been assisted by the vast literature on the game. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess" because he had a brilliant chess career but retired from the game while still young. Commentators agree that he was far ahead of his time as a chess player, though there is disagreement on how his play ranks compared to modern players. Morphy was born in New Orleans to a wealthy and distinguished family. He learned to play chess by simply watching games between his father and uncle. His family soon recognized the boy's talent for the game and encouraged him to play at family gatherings, and by the age of nine he was considered to be one of the best players in the city. At just twelve years of age, Morphy defeated visiting Hungarian master Johann Löwenthal in a three-game match. After receiving his law ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fianchetto
In chess, the fianchetto ( or ; "little flank") is a pattern of wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent b- or g-, the having been moved one or two squares forward. The fianchetto is a staple of many " hypermodern" openings, whose philosophy is to delay direct occupation of the with the plan of undermining and destroying the opponent's central outpost. It also regularly occurs in Indian defences. The fianchetto is less common in Open Games (1.e4 e5), but the is sometimes fianchettoed by Black in the Ruy Lopez or by White in an uncommon variation of the Vienna Game. One of the major benefits of the fianchetto is that it often allows the fianchettoed bishop to become more active. A fianchettoed position, however, also presents some opportunities for the opponent: if the fianchettoed bishop can be , the squares the bishop was formerly protecting will become weak (see ') and can form the basis of an attack (particularly if the fianchetto was performe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape – the Staunton pattern promulgated by Nathaniel Cooke – that is still the style required for competitions. He was the principal organiser of the first international chess tournament in 1851, which made England the world's leading chess centre and caused Adolf Anderssen to be recognised as the world's strongest player. From 1840 onwards he became a leading chess commentator, and won matches against top players of the 1840s. In 1847 he entered a parallel career as a Shakespearean scholar. Ill health and his two writing careers led him to give up competitive chess after 1851. In 1858 attempts were made to organise a match between Staunton and Paul Mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Oxford Companion To Chess
''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' is a reference book on the game of chess written by David Vincent Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. The book is written in an encyclopedia format. The book belongs to the Oxford Companions series. Details The first edition of the book was published in 1984 by Oxford University Press. The second edition (1992) has over 2,500 entries, including rules, terms, strategies, tactics, over 500 brief biographies of famous players, and entries on more than 700 named openings and opening variations. In the back of the book is a comprehensive index of opening variations and sub-variations, listing 1,327 named variations. The book also discusses chess from other countries (such as shogi), chess variants (such as three dimensional chess), and some forms of fairy chess. Editions * First published in 1984 by Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Whyld
Kenneth Whyld (6 March 1926 – 11 July 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', a single-volume chess reference work in English. Whyld was a strong amateur chess player, taking part in the British Chess Championship in 1956 and winning the county championship of Nottinghamshire. He subsequently made his living in information technology while writing books on chess and researching its history. As well as ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', Whyld was the author of other reference works such as ''Chess: The Records'' (1986), an adjunct to the ''Guinness Book of Records'' and the comprehensive ''The Collected Games of Emanuel Lasker'' (1998). He also researched more esoteric subjects, resulting in works such as ''Alekhine Nazi Articles'' (2002) on articles in favour of the Nazi Party supposedly written by world chess champion Alexander Alekhine, and the bibliographies ''Fake Automata i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hooper (chess Player)
David Vincent Hooper (31 August 1915 – 3 May 1998), born in Reigate, was a British chess player and writer. As an amateur, he tied for fifth place in the 1949 British Championship at Felixstowe. He was the British correspondence chess champion in 1944 and the London Chess Champion in 1948. He played in the Chess Olympiad at Helsinki in 1952. Hooper was an expert in the chess endgame and in chess history of the nineteenth century. He is best known for his chess writing, including ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' (1992 with Ken Whyld Kenneth Whyld (6 March 1926 – 11 July 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', a single-volume chess reference work in English. Whyld was a str ...), ''Steinitz'' (Hamburg 1968, in German), and ''A Pocket Guide to Chess Endgames'' (London 1950) Books by Hooper * * * * * * * References * * External links * ObituaryRemembering David ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
