English Defence
The English Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moves | 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECO | A40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | P. N. Wallis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Queen's Pawn Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Description
White often gains a broad pawn centre with 3.e4, which Black puts pressure on with moves like ...Bb7, ...Bb4, and sometimes even ...Qh4 and/or ...f5. It was developed by the Leicester player P. N. Wallis, and was taken up by several leading English players in the 1970s, such as Tony Miles, Jon Speelman and Raymond Keene.[1] It flouts several traditional opening principles, as Black often develops bishops before knights and brings out the queen early.[1] It is a somewhat unusual opening, but has been seen in high-level grandmaster play, usually as a surprise weapon, for example when Viktor Korchnoi used it to defeat Lev Polugaevsky in their world championship semifinals match at Évian 1977 (see below).
Example games
- Lev Polugaevsky vs. Viktor Korchnoi, Évian 1977
1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.e4 Bb7 4.Qc2 Qh4 5.Nd2 Bb4 6.Bd3 f5 7.Nf3 Bxd2+ 8.Kf1 Qh5 9.Bxd2 Nf6 10.exf5 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Nc6 12.Bc3 0-0 13.Re1 Qh3+ 14.Ke2 Rae8 15.Kd1 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Be2 Nxf3 18.Qd3 Rxe2 19.Rxe2 Qg2 20.Rhe1 Nxe1 21.Kxe1 Qxh2 22.Re7 Qg1+ 23.Ke2 Qg4+ 24.Ke1 h5 25.Qg3 Qxg3 26.fxg3 Rf7 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Re8+ Kg7 29.Kf2 Kh6 30.b4 Kg5 31.Ra8 Kxf5 32.Rxa7 d6 33.a4 Ke6 34.a5 bxa5 35.Rxa5 f5 36.c5 Rh7 37.cxd6 cxd6 38.b5 h4 39.gxh4 Rxh4 40.Ra8 Rb4 41.Rb8 Kd5 42.Kf3 Rb3+ 43.Kf4 Kc5 44.Rc8+ Kxb5 45.Kxf5 Re3 46.Kf4 Re1 47.Rd8 Kc5 48.Rc8+ Kd4 49.Kf3 d5 50.Kf2 Re5 51.Ra8 Kc3 52.Ra3+ Kb4 53.Ra1 d4 54.Rc1 d3 55.Rc8 d2 56.Rb8+ Kc3 57.Rc8+ Kd3 58.Rd8+ Kc2 59.Rc8+ Kd1 60.Rc7 Rf5+ 61.Kg2 Ke2 62.Re7+ Kd3 63.Rd7+ Ke3 64.Re7+ Kd4 65.Rd7+ Rd5 0–1[2] - Susan Polgar vs. Jon Speelman, Netherlands 1993
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Nc3 b6 4.e4 Bb7 5.d5 Qe7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.f3 exd5 8.cxd5 c6 9.dxc6 Nxc6 10.Nh3 d5 11.exd5 0-0-0 12.Bg5 Rhe8 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nf4 Qe5 15.Qd2 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Nb4 17.Kf2 Nxd5 18.Nd3 Nxc3 0–1[3] - Lucian Filip vs. Igor Kovalenko, Iasi 2014
1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxf3 6.exf3 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 d5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.Nc3 Qxf3 10.Rg1 Qh5 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Qc2 Ne7 13.Qa4 0-0 14.Qxa6 Qxh2 15.Rg2 Qh6 16.Qa3 Nf5 17.g4 Nh4 18.Rg3 c6 19.g5 Qg6 20.Bd3 Nf5 21.Nd6 Qh5 22.Bxf5 Qh1+ 23.Ke2 Qxa1 24.Bc2 Qc1 25.Qd3 g6 26.Ne4 Rad8 27.Rh3 Kg7 28.Rxh7+ 1–0[4]
References
- Lawton, Geoff (2003). Tony Miles:It's Only Me. Batsford. p. 281. ISBN 0-7134-8809-3.
- "Lev Polugaevsky vs. Viktor Korchnoi, Candidates Semifinal (1977), Évian-les-Bains". Chessgames.com.
- "Zsuzsa Polgar vs. Jonathan Speelman, Nederland 57/53 (1993)". Chessgames.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-25. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
- http://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=3894764
Bibliography
- Monokroussos, Dennis. "English Defence: be the victor, not the victim!". Chessbase.com. Retrieved 2006-11-17.
- Plaskett, James. Foxy Openings Volume 22: English Defence (DVD).