The Trompowsky Attack (or Trompowsky Opening, also known as the Opočenský Opening, the Ruth Opening, and the Zot) is a

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 Defens ...

that begins with the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. Bg5 White prepares to

exchange Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

the bishop for Black's knight, inflicting

doubled pawns In chess, doubled pawns are two pawn (chess), pawns of the same color residing on the same Chess terminology#File, file. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides. In the diagram, the w ...

upon Black in the process. This is not a lethal threat; Black can choose to fall in with White's plan. The Trompowsky is a popular alternative to the more common lines after 1.d4 Nf6 beginning 2.c4 or 2.Nf3. By playing 2.Bg5, White sidesteps immense bodies of opening theory of various

Indian Defence In the game of chess, Indian Defence or Indian Game is a broad term for a group of openings characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 They are all to varying degrees hypermodern defences, where Black invites White to establish an imposing presenc ...

s like the

Queen's Indian The Queen's Indian Defense (QID) is a chess opening defined by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nf3 b6 The opening is a solid defense to the Queen's Pawn Game. 3...b6 increases Black's control over the central light squares e4 and d5 by ...

King's Indian The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It is defined by the following moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is cons ...

Nimzo-Indian The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Bb4 Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the Nimzo-India ...

, as well as the

Grünfeld Defence The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 :3. Nc3 d5 Black offers White the possibility of 4.cxd5, which may be followed by 4...Nxd5 and 5.e4, giving White an imposing central pawn duo. If Whi ...

. The opening is named after the one-time Brazilian champion

Octávio Trompowsky Octávio Figueira Trompowsky de Almeida (30 November 1897 – 26 March 1984) was a Brazilian chess player, who was born and died in Rio de Janeiro. Trompowsky won the 1939 Brazilian Championship, but is best known as the player for whom the Trom ...

(1897–1984) who played it in the 1930s and 1940s.Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 430, Trompowsky Opening Chess master

Karel Opočenský Karel Opočenský (7 February 1892 – 16 November 1975) was a Czechoslovak chess master. Chess career Opočenský was four-time Czech Champion (1927, 1928, 1938, and 1944). In 1919, he took 2nd, behind František Schubert, in Prague ( Czechoslo ...

(1892–1975) also played it in the 1930s, and the opening is also known as the Opočenský Opening.Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 281, Opočenský Opening Also,

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

William Allen Ruth developed the opening simultaneously in the 1930s, and it was well-known by locals in Pennsylvania as the Ruth Opening. The Trompowsky has also been called the Zot.

Julian Hodgson Julian Michael "Jules" Hodgson (born 25 July 1963 in London) is a British chess player, grandmaster, and former British chess champion. Biography He first came to the notice of the chess world for his achievements as a junior, whilst at Ha ...

and

Antoaneta Stefanova Antoaneta Stefanova ( bg, Антоанета Стефанова; born 19 April 1979) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and Women's World Champion from 2004 to 2006. She has represented Bulgaria in the Chess Olympiad in 2000 and the Women's Chess ...

are among several grandmasters who often employ the Trompowsky. World Champion

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

has occasionally employed the Trompowsky, notably in the first game of the

2016 World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship 2016 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Sergey Karjakin to determine the World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. Carlsen had been world champion since World ...

against

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken b ...

Main lines

Black has a number of ways to meet the Trompowsky, some of which avoid doubled pawns, while others allow them. The most common Black responses are discussed here. * 2...Ne4 is the most common reply. Black violates an opening principle ("Don't move the same piece twice in the opening"), but attacks White's bishop, forcing it to either move again or be defended. ** 3.h4 (Raptor Variation) defends the bishop, and Black should avoid 3...Nxg5 since that will open up a for the white rook. Instead, Black can start making a grab for the and kick the white bishop away with a timely ...h6 advance. ** Usually, White retreats with 3.Bf4 or 3.Bh4. In this case, Black will try to maintain the knight on e4, or at least gain a concession before retreating it. (For instance, if White chases the knight away with f3, the pawn takes away the best square from White's own knight.) ** 3.Nf3? is rarely seen except among amateurs; after 3...Nxg5 4.Nxg5 e5 Black regains the lost by the

discovered attack In chess, a discovered attack is a direct attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess t ...

on the knight; White's centre is liquidated and White has no compensation for the . * 2...e6 also avoids doubled pawns since the queen can recapture if White plays Bxf6. The move 2...e6 also opens a diagonal for the black to develop. On the other hand, the knight is now pinned, and this can be annoying. * 2...d5 makes a grab for the centre, allowing White to inflict doubled pawns. If White does so, Black will try to show that the pair of bishops is valuable, and that White has wasted time by moving a bishop twice in order to trade it off. Black usually recaptures ''away'' from the centre with 3...exf6, preserving a defensible

pawn structure In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large ...

and opening diagonals for the queen and ; however, 3...gxf6 (played by

against

in the opening game of the

) is also common. Alternatively, White can

transpose In linear algebra, the transpose of a matrix is an operator which flips a matrix over its diagonal; that is, it switches the row and column indices of the matrix by producing another matrix, often denoted by (among other notations). The tr ...

into the

Richter–Veresov Attack The Richter–Veresov Attack (or Veresov Opening) is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. Nc3 Nf6 :3. Bg5 It is also often reached by transposition, for example 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 (the most common move order), 1.d ...

with 3.Nc3 or the Tartakower Variation of the

Torre Attack The Torre Attack is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. Nf3 e6 :3. Bg5 ('' ECO'' code A46) or the Tartakower Variation in the Queen's Pawn Game (''ECO'' code D03): :2... d5 :3. Bg5 or the Torre Attack in the East ...

with 3.Nf3. * 2...c5 also makes a grab for the centre, planning to trade off the c-pawn for White's d-pawn. Again, White can inflict doubled pawns, and again Black will try to make use of the bishop pair. * 2...g6 enables Black to

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" ...

the dark-squared bishop. If White immediately captures the knight (3.Bxf6), Black must recapture ''away'' from the centre with 3...exf6. * 2...c6 is an offbeat line in which Black intends ...Qb6, forcing White to defend or sacrifice the b-pawn. White can play the thematic 3.Bxf6 or 3.Nf3, but must avoid 3.e3 Qa5+, when White resigned (in light of 4...Qxg5) in Djordjević–

Kovačević Kovačević ( South Slavic, Cyrillic: Ковачевић), Kovačevič ( Slovene and Slovak; feminine (Slovak): Kovačevičová) or Kovačovič ( Slovak; feminine: Kovačovičová), is a Slavic surname meaning "lackmith's son". The surname is d ...

, Bela Crkva 1984—"the shortest ever loss by a master" (

Graham Burgess Graham K. Burgess (born 24 February 1968 in Liverpool, England) is an English FIDE Master of chess and a noted writer and trainer. He became a FIDE Master at the age of twenty. He attended Birkdale High School in Southport, Merseyside. In 198 ...

, ''The Quickest Chess Victories of All Time'', p. 33).

1.d4 d5 2.Bg5

White can also play 2.Bg5 after 1.d4 d5. This is known as the Pseudo-Trompowsky,

Hodgson Attack The Hodgson Attack (also called the Pseudo-Trompowsky, Levitsky Attack after Stepan Levitsky, Queen's Bishop Attack, and Bishop Attack,) is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. Bg5 Strategically, the bishop on g5 exerts a ...

, Levitsky Attack, Queen's Bishop Attack, and Bishop Attack, and is covered in ''ECO'' code D00. Play transposes to the Trompowsky if Black plays 2...Nf6.

Main lines

1.d4 d5 2.Bg5

See also

Notes

References

Further reading