List of chess openings named after places

Below is a list of chess openings named after places. The Oxford Companion to Chess lists 1,327 named chess openings and variants.[1] Many of them are named for geographic places.

A
  • Aachen Gambit of the Nimzowitsch Defense 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Nb4
  • Abbazia Defense of the King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5[2]
  • American Gambit of the Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nd2
  • Adelaide Counter-Gambit of the King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5
  • Amsterdam Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Qd2
  • Arkhangelsk Defense (or Archangel Defense) of the Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7
  • Argentine Gambit of the Baltic Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5 3.cxd5 Bxb1 4.Qa4+ c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6
  • Argentine Variation of the Cambridge Springs Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 0-0 8.Bh4
  • Armenian Variation of the French Defence 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5
  • Australian Gambit of the King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.h4
  • Austrian Attack in the Pirc Defense 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4
  • Austrian Defense of the Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5

B

C

D
  • Danish Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3
  • Danube Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 c6
  • Dresden Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4
  • Duisburg Gambit of the QGD 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4
  • Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5
  • Dutch Variation of the Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3

E

F

G
  • Genoa Opening (known as Grob's Attack): 1. g4
  • Gent Gambit of the Amar Opening (Paris) 1. Nh3 d5 2. g3 e5 3. f4 Bxh3 4. Bxh3 exf4 5. O-O fxg3 6. hxg3
  • German Defense of the Polish Sokolsky Opening 1. b4 d5 2. Bb2 Qd6 3. a3 e5 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Nf6 6. c4! dxc4 7. e3 Be7 8. Bxc4 O-O 9. Nc3
  • Glasgow Kiss Variation of the Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Nc6
  • Gothenburg Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 g5
  • Greek Defense (or Owen's Defense) 1.e4 b6
  • Guatemala Defence of Owen's Defence 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Ba6

H

I

J
  • Jalalabad Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 c5, or 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e5

K

L
  • Leipzig Gambit (or Müller-Schulze Gambit) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5?!
  • Lemberg Gambit (Lvov Gambit) 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.e4 or 1.Nf3 d5 2.e4
  • Latvian Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5
  • Leningrad Variation of the Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 2.g3 g6
  • Lisbon Gambit 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Nc6
  • Lithuanian Variation of the Mikėnas Defense 1.d4 Nc6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 Nce7
  • Lodz Variation of the Tarrasch Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3
  • London System, a set of related chess openings characterized by 1.d4 followed by an early Bf4, e.g. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4; 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4; and 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4

M
  • Maltese Falcon Attack (or Gibbins-Wiedehagen Gambit) 1.d4 Nf6 2.g4 Nxg4 3.f3 Nf6 4.e4
  • Manhattan Gambit of the Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3 Nf6 3.g4
  • Manhattan Variation of the QGD (also called the Westphalia Defense) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 or 5.e3 Bb4
  • Mannheim Variation of the QGA 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qa4+
  • Mar del Plata Variation of the King's Indian Defence 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 0–0 6. Be2 e5 7. 0–0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7
  • Margate Variation of the Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Bb5
  • Marienbad Variation of the Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Bb2
  • Massachusetts Defense of the Caro-Kann Defence 1.e4 c6 2.d4 f5
  • Mediterranean Defense 1.e4 e6 2.d4 Nf6
  • Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4
  • Mexican Defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6
  • Miami Variation of the Italian Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 Bxd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Be3
  • Montevideo Defense 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Nb8
  • Modern Archangel Defense of the Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5
  • Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6
  • Moscow Variation of the Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+

N

O
  • Oxford Gambit of the Four Knights Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 Bb4 5.d5 Nd4
  • Oxford Variation of the Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3

P

R

S

T
  • Tashkent Attack of the King's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Nh5 5.g4
  • Tübingen Gambit of the Dunst Opening 1.Nc3 Nf6 2.g4

U

V
  • Valencia Opening (or Mieses Opening) 1.d3 e5 2.Nd2
  • Venice Attack of the Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.Bb5+ or 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Bb5+
  • Venice Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5 5.cxd5 Qb6
  • Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3
  • Vienna Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4
  • Vinohrady Variation of the Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g4 named after a district in Prague[6]
  • Volga Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 (named for the Volga River, the national river of Russia)
  • Voronezh Variation of the Alekhine's Defence 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 0-0 9.b3

W
  • Warsaw Variation of the Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nc3 c6
  • Westphalia Defense in the Queen's Gambit Declined: An alternative name for the Manhattan Variation, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 or 5.e3 c5
  • Wiesbaden Variation of the Slav Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6
  • Wilkes-Barre Variation of the Two Knights Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5!?

Y

Z

A number of less well-accepted ethnic chess opening names (including such gems as the "Anglo-Polish Dutch," 1.c4 f5 2.b4) can be found in this list of chess opening names.

See also

Notes
  1. Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 461–480, ISBN 0-19-280049-3
  2. Abbazia Defense from chess.com. The name 'Abbazia' comes from the Abbazia 1912 tournament in which the variation was played six times. Abbazia is now the city of Opatija in Croatia.
  3. Hannes Langrock, The Modern Morra Gambit: A Dynamic Weapon Against the Sicilian, Russell Enterprises, 2006, pp. 219-20. ISBN 1-888690-32-1.
  4. Siegbert Tarrasch, The Game of Chess, David McKay, 1938, p. 341.
  5. Hannes Langrock, The Modern Morra Gambit: A Dynamic Weapon Against the Sicilian, Russell Enterprises, 2006, p. 201. ISBN 1-888690-32-1.
  6. Kavalek, Lubomir (2006-08-07). "Lubomir Kavalek: The Vinohrady Variation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  7. Eric Schiller Unorthodox Chess Openings, Cardoza Publishing, New York 2002
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