Open Game

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Open Game

Moves

1. e4 e5

ECO

C20-C99

Parent

King's Pawn Game

Synonym(s)

Double King Pawn game

Chessgames.com opening explorer

An Open Game (or Double King Pawn game) is a chess opening which begins with the White moves

1. e4 e5

White has moved the King's pawn forward two places and Black mirrors this reply, the result is called an Open Game. Other responses to 1.e4 are termed Semi-Open Games, or Single King's Pawn Games.

1 Analysis
2 Defenses
3 Variations
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Analysis

White starts by playing 1.e4. This is the most popular opening move and it has many strengths — it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the queen and a bishop). The oldest openings in chess follow 1.e4. Bobby Fischer rated 1.e4 as "best by test". On the downside, 1.e4 places a pawn on an undefended square and weakens the squares d4 and f4; the Hungarian master Gyula Breyer melodramatically declared that "After 1.e4 White's game is in its last throes". If Black mirrors White's move and replies with 1...e5, the result is an open game (Hooper & Whyld 1992), (Watson 2006:87-90).

[edit] Defenses

The most popular second move for White is 2.Nf3 attacking Black's king pawn, preparing for a kingside castling, and anticipating the advance of the queen pawn to d4. Black's most common reply is 2...Nc6, which usually leads to the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5), Italian Game (3.Bc4), or Scotch Game (3.d4). If Black instead maintains symmetry and counterattacks White's center with 2...Nf6 then the Petrov's Defense results.

The most popular alternatives to 2.Nf3 are 2.Nc3 (the Vienna Game), 2.Bc4 (the Bishop's Opening) and 2.f4 (the King's Gambit). All of these three openings have some similarities with each other, in particular the Bishop's Opening frequently transposes to variations of the Vienna Game. The King's Gambit was extremely popular in the 19th century. White sacrifices a pawn for quick development and to pull a black pawn out of the center. The Vienna Game also frequently features attacks on the Black center by means of a f2-f4 pawn advance.

In the Center Game,(2.d4), White immediately opens the center but if the pawn is to be recovered after 2...exd4, White must contend with a slightly premature queen development after 3.Qxd4. An alternative is to sacrifice one or two pawns, for example in the Danish Gambit (3.c3). The early queen developments of the Parham Attack (2.Qh5) and the Napoleon Opening (2.Qf3) look amateurish. Indeed they are generally only played by novices, but the Parham Attack has been played in a few grandmaster tournament games. The Portuguese Opening (2.Bb5), Alapin's Opening (2.Ne2), Konstantinopolsky Opening (3.g3), and Inverted Hungarian Opening (3.Be2) are rare, offbeat tries for White.

Of the defenses in this section, only the Damiano Defense (2...f6) is truly bad, although the Elephant Gambit (2...d5) and the Latvian Gambit (2...f5) are very risky for Black. The Philidor Defense (2...d6) is not popular in modern chess because it allows White an easy space advantage while Black remains solid but cramped and passive.