chess opening
The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established Chess_theory#Opening_theory, theory. The other phases are the chess middlegame, middlegame and the chess endgame, endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''op ...
defined by the opening move:
:1. a3
Anderssen's Opening is named after unofficial
World Chess Champion
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (6 July 1818 – 13 March 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. ...
, who played it three times in his 1858 match against Paul Morphy. Although Anderssen was defeated decisively in the match, the games he opened with the
novelty
Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...
scored 1½/3 (one win, one loss, one draw).
Anderssen's Opening is not commonly played, and is an irregular opening. The move is classified under the A00 code in the ''
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (''ECO'') is a reference work describing the state of Chess theory#Opening theory, opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugos ...
''. Anderssen's Opening is also the very first opening enumerated in the ''Oxford Companion to Chess index of 1327 openings, due to a systematic ordering which begins at White's left-hand and proceeds to White's right-hand .
Themes
Anderssen's Opening does little in the way of development or control of the center, and is rather more of a waiting move. However some players may enjoy the psychological value of such a move, or believe it will help them against an opponent with superior knowledge of opening theory. Usually used by chess players as a form of a joke, or to simply challenge themselves by playing such a move.
Among the more common Black responses to Anderssen's Opening are:
* 1...d5, which makes a straightforward claim on the center,
* 1...g6, which prepares to
fianchetto
In chess, the fianchetto ( or spelling pronunciation ; "little flank") is a pattern of wherein a bishop is developed to the second of the adjacent b- or g-, the having been moved one or two squares forward.
The fianchetto is a staple of man ...
the king's
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
to g7,
* 1...e5, also playable, although White can then play 2.c4 (as occurred in the Morphy-Anderssen match), transposing to a Reversed Sicilian structure where a pawn on a3 may be useful. Another approach is 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3, transposing to Mengarini's Opening.
Morphy vs. Anderssen, 1858
During his tour of Tour of Europe and in the Christmastime (December 20-28) of 1858, the American master Paul Morphy engaged Adolf Anderssen in a match held at the Hôtel de Breteuil, Paris. The terms were that the first player to win seven games would be the winner of the match—draws would not count towards a win. The players took turns controlling the white pieces and the black pieces in each game, with Morphy playing as White in the first game. Although Anderssen won the first game in a laborious effort requiring 72 moves and about 7 hours of play, Morphy established dominance by winning three subsequent, shorter games.
Anderssen then employed the opening which came to bear his name in three consecutive games where he controlled the white pieces—the sixth, the eighth, and the tenth. As the match progressed his performance with the opening improved, losing the sixth, drawing the eighth, and finally securing a win in the tenth game. However this proved insufficient to prevent Morphy's win—game and match—in the eleventh. Chess writer Philip W. Sergeant documented the match in a compilation of Morphy's games.
All three games opened identically through their seventh moves. In each the players transposed to a Reversed Sicilian structure, exchanging pawns. White developed his knights, and Black activated his before
castling
Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king (chess), king two squares toward a rook (chess), rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king ...
kingside.
Game 6
''December 24.'' Although the players maintained equal exchange of material throughout most of the game, Sergeant noted certain late moves of White's queen and rook as , which allowed Black to bring his material and positional advantage to bear. Using all of his , Black checked with an immediate mating threat, at which point White resigned. In the final position, Black was up a rook.
Game 8
''December 25.'' The eighth game proceeded identically with the sixth a bit further than all three in common, through White's eleventh move. On his eighteenth move White played an ''
en passant
In chess, ''en passant'' (, "in passing") describes the capture by a Pawn (chess), pawn of an enemy pawn on the same and an adjacent that has just made an initial two-square advance. This is a special case in the rules of chess. The capturi ...
'' capture; according to Sergeant, Black made the capture necessary for White in order that White should avoid the problem of two black pawns against one white pawn along the queenside flank. During the middlegame, the players exchanged queens. Again equality of material was maintained throughout the middlegame, albeit that pairwise exchanges of pawns and bishops were delayed by several moves.
During the endgame, slight material inequality and the given position resulted in a draw, as White managed to halt the advance of two —and the black king which might have aided their advance. The final moves involved the white knight and the black king repeating the board position twice, threatening draw by
threefold repetition
In chess, the threefold repetition rule states that a player may claim a draw if the same position occurs three times during the game. The rule is also known as repetition of position and, in the USCF rules, as triple occurrence of position.Artic ...
. In the final position White had a knight for Black's two passed pawns.
Game 10
''December 27.'' In the tenth game Anderssen finally converted 1. a3 to a second and final win, although the game required the most moves of any played during the match. Again, material equality was maintained during the middlegame, except that White retained a bishop for Black's knight throughout the phase. This allowed White to use his bishop pair advantageously. In the endgame White won three pawns and a knight in exchange for a rook, forcing Black to defend against White's three passed pawns, which proved unmanageable, forcing Morphy's resignation. In the final position White had a bishop and two passed pawns for Black's rook.
Later use
According to Sergeant, Anderssen later essayed the unusual opening in 1877 and 1878, using it to win games against Louis Paulsen, George Henry Mackenzie, and
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...
. 1. a3 was also used occasionally by other players of the period: Steinitz vs. Blackburne, Vienna 1873, Blackburne (unsuccessfully) vs. Lee, London 1904, and (also unsuccessfully) Mieses vs.
Cohn Cohn is a Jewish surname (related to the last name Cohen). Notable people and characters with the surname include:
* Al Cohn (1925–1988), American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer
* Alan D. Cohn, American government official
* Alfred A. ...
,
Ostend
Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...
1907.
A modern proponent of the move is Croatian
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
Zvonko Krečak. In March 2010
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
played the opening in the
blindfold
A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a poorly tied or trick blindfo ...
List of chess openings
This is a list of chess openings, organised by the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (''ECO'') code classification system. The chess openings are categorised into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken up into one hundred ...
*
List of chess openings named after people
''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named openings and variants. Chess players' names are the most common sources of opening names. The name given to an opening is not always that of the first player to adopt it; often an opening is name ...