Black Knights' Tango
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The Black Knights' Tango (also known as the Mexican Defense, Two Knights' Tango or Kevitz–Trajkovic Defense) is a
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 ...
beginning with the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 Nc6 This position can also be reached by transposition, for example 1.c4 Nf6, 1.d4 Nc6, or 1.c4 Nc6.


History

The opening originated in the 1920s, when it was played by both the Mexican grandmaster Carlos Torre (hence the name "Mexican Defense") and the American
master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
Alexander Kevitz (the "Kevitz" in "Kevitz–Trajkovic Defense"). Torre used it to defeat then-U.S. Chess Champion Frank James Marshall in only seven moves. It was later played by the Yugoslav master Mihailo Trajkovic and the Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Lutikov. After decades of obscurity, the opening was revitalized by the
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 ...
Georgi Orlov, who published a booklet and a book about it in 1992 and 1998, respectively. Orlov rechristened the opening the "Black Knights' Tango". Since 1992, the opening has been employed by a number of strong grandmasters, including Victor Bologan, Joel Benjamin,
Larry Christiansen Larry Mark Christiansen (born June 27, 1956) is an American chess player of Danish ancestry. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1977. Christiansen was the U.S. champion in 1980, 1983, and 2002. He competed in the FIDE World Champ ...
, and
Alex Yermolinsky Alex Yermolinsky (; born April 11, 1958) is an American chess player. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1992, he is a two-time U.S. champion. Career Yermolinsky tied for first with Vladislav Vorotnikov in the Leningrad City Chess ...
. Yermolinsky has even ventured it against
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
.


Basic ideas

Although fairly uncommon, the "Tango" has a sounder positional basis than most other offbeat openings: Black quickly, has a flexible
pawn structure In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawn (chess), pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus ...
, and is prepared to strike back in the center with 3...e5, or with ...e6 and ...d5. The opening has some distinct variations but it is highly transpositional, and may transpose to the King's Indian Defense,
Nimzo-Indian Defense The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4, d4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6, Nf6 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4, c4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4/2 ...
, Bogo-Indian Defense,
Chigorin Defense The Chigorin Defense is a chess opening named for 19th-century Russian master Mikhail Chigorin. An uncommonly played defense to the Queen's Gambit, it begins with the following moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 Nc6 The Chigorin Defense violates seve ...
, Ragozin System,
Catalan Opening The Catalan Opening is a chess opening where White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3, although various other openings can transpose into the Catalan. The ''Encyclopaedia of ...
, and
English Opening The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move: : 1. c4 A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, one of the four most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins ...
.


Possible continuations


3.Nf3

The most common move, preventing 3...e5.Palliser, p. 82. Black usually responds with 3...e6, although 3...d6, intending a kind of
Old Indian Defense The Old Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 d6 This opening is distinguished from the King's Indian Defense in that Black develops their on e7 rather than by fianchetto on g7. Mikhail Chigorin pion ...
, is also possible. After 3...e6, White can play 4.Nc3 Bb4 (transposing to the Nimzo-Indian Defense); 4.a3, when Black can either play 4...d5 (reaching a kind of Queen's Gambit Declined or Ragozin System), or 4...d6 preparing 5...e5 or even 5...g6 ("championed by Bologan", according to Palliser), reaching a sort of King's Indian Defense; or 4.g3, when Black can transpose to the Catalan Opening with 4...d5, recommended by PalliserPalliser, p. 159. or 4...Bb4+, preferred by Orlov, which transposes to a Nimzo-Indian after 5.Nc3, or to a Bogo-Indian Defense after 5.Bd2 or 5.Nbd2.


3.Nc3

This is White's second-most popular move. After the thematic 3...e5, one possibility for White is 4.Nf3, transposing to an English Opening.Palliser, p. 76. Palliser recommends 4...e4 in response, while Orlov prefers 4...exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4. Instead, the main line is 4.d5 Ne7. Now the game may continue in "Tango" fashion, for example with 5.Nf3 Ng6, or transpose to the King's Indian Defense with, for example, 5.Nf3 d6 6.e4 (6.Bg5!?) g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.0-0 0-0, reaching the main line of the King's Indian by transposition. Another interesting but relatively unexplored idea is 3...e6, allowing White to play 4.e4 (other moves such as 4.d5, 4.Bg5, 4.a3, 4.f3, and 4.Nf3 are also possible), whereupon Black follows up with 4...d5. From that position, the main possibilities are 5.e5 (the main line), 5.exd5, 5.cxd5, and 5.Bg5. These possibilities can also be reached via transposition from the Mikenas–Carls Variation of the English Opening (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4), although if Black wishes to play this way, the optimal move order is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nc6.


3.d5

This ambitious move is but rarely seen. Black normally responds with 3...Ne5. Then after 4.e4 (inviting 4...Nxe4 5.Qd4 winning a knight), Black struck back in the center with 4...Ng6 5.f4 e5 in the seminal game Sämisch–Torre, Moscow 1925. Orlov considers both Torre's fourth and fifth moves inferior, however.Orlov 1998, p. 8. He and Palliser both recommend 4...e6 instead, after which play can become extremely . For example, Elburg–Simmelink, correspondence 1999 continued 5.f4 Ng6 6.Bd3 exd5 7.e5 Ne4 8.cxd5 Qh4+ 9.g3 Bb4+! 10.Bd2 (Better is 10.Nc3 Nxc3! 11.bxc3 Bxc3+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Qe7 14.Nf3 d6 15.Bb5+! Kf8 16.Qc3 with some practical chances for the sacrificed
pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pa ...
.) 10...Nxg3 11.Nf3 (''first diagram'') Nxf4! 12.Bf1! (12.Nxh4?? Nxd3!; 12.Bxb4? Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 Qxb4+ is hopeless for White.) 12...Bxd2+ 13.Nbxd2 (''second diagram''; 13.Qxd2? Nxf1+ 14.Nxh4 Nxd2 is winning for Black.) Qh3! 14.Rg1 (White cannot take either of Black's two hanging pieces: 14.Bxh3 Nd3#; 14.hxg3 Qxg3#. Nor is 14.Ng5 Qg2! any better.) 14...Nxf1 left Black with two extra pawns.Palliser, p. 70.


References

Bibliography * Georgi Orlov, ''Black Knights' Tango'', International Chess Enterprises, 1992. . * Georgi Orlov, ''The Black Knights' Tango: Outwit Your Opponents from Move 2!'', Batsford, 1998. . *
Richard Palliser Richard David Palliser (born 18 September 1981) is an English chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. ...
, ''Tango! A Dynamic Answer to 1 d4'', Everyman Chess, 2005. .


External links


Betwixt the Tango and the Budapest
(arguing that 3. Nf3 does not prevent 3 ..e5) {{chess Chess openings 1925 in chess