Introduction
d4 / c5 cxd4
d4 / e5 exd4
d4 / d5 Nc6
d4 / Others
e4 / d5 dxe4
e4 / e5 f6
e4 / e5 d5
e4 / Others
Other first moves
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The theory of the early game revolves around getting the queen off the board in as few moves as possible and with the least valuable piece possible. Almost always, the queen is captured by a promoting pawn, a bishop, or the opposing queen. The middle series (5-6) are usually concerned with the removal of the rooks. The knockout series (7-8) usually consist of promotions or series that reduce the other side to only minor pieces and pawns.
The primary idea of d4 is to take the opponent's queen with the c1 bishop. If black moves his e-pawn, white hopes to gain the advantage by NOT moving his own e-pawn, thereby making black take 3 moves to capture white's queen (as opposed to only 2 moves-Bg5xd8-spent by white.)
The main idea of e4 is to threaten mate on the 3 and reduce black's options. White hopes to lure black into d5, after which he can play Qg4-c8-d8, with a material pull. In addition, white can sometimes respond to symmetrical series with d4 Bg5 Bxd8.
Both e4 and d4 are very strong moves. Both moves may very well win for white. In either case, black has very few options. Every other move likely loses for white. The response 2. e5 e4 is extremely strong against moves that neglect the center.
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This unlikely-looking series is currently considered the main line against d4. The idea is that series that capture the queen lead to a black advantage, i.e.
(a)
3. Bf4 Bc7 Bxd8 ?
4. Kxd8 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+
(b)
3. Bg5 Bxe7 Bxd8 ??
4. d3 dxc2 cxb1Q Bb4#
If black can take a bishop and a queen and end his series with a promoting pawn check, he is probably winning.
The further idea of 2. c5 cxd4 is that black makes no weaknesses for white to attack. He has not moved his e-pawn, so there is no easy route to taking the queen. His idea is to take the d1-queen with his least valuable piece: a pawn.
White's best response is the powerful thrust e4-e5, which gains space in the center and stifles black's c8 bishop. The problem, however, is that black threatens to play 4. e6 Qg5 Qxc1 Qxd1+, which always provides him with at least a draw. In addition, the series 4. e6 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+ can be very powerful.
(c)
3. Na3 e4 e5 ?
4. e6 Qg5 Qxc1 Qxd1+ !
Black refutes white's idea with this series. White hopes to swarm black on his 5, but the swarm try fails.
5. Rxd1 Bb5 Ke2 f4 f5
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6. a6 axb5 d5 Kd7 Rxa3 Re3+
Black is winning rather easily.
In addition, white may directly thwart Qg5-c1-d1 by moving his f-pawn, although the extra time required to then take the queen (Bg5xd8 is no longer possible) appears to allow black a draw.
(d)
3. f4 e4 e5 !?
4. e6 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+
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A critical position. White must take the enemy queen. The most aggressive way to do this is f5 Bg5 Bxd8, which leaves the problem of the spare move. Nf3 has been the most popular choice.
5. Kxd1 f5 Bg5 Bxd8 Nf3
6. Kxd8 Kc7 d6 dxe5 Nc6 exf5
Black's options are restricted by numerous mating threats. The e5 and f5 pawns are quite powerful. Perhaps black has an improvement on the 6, or white on the 7. The current theoretical assessment of this position, and of 3. f4 e4 e5, is a draw.
7. Kd2 b4 b5 bxc6 cxb7 bxa8Q Qxc8+
8. Kxc8 Kc7 e4 exf3 fxg2 gxh1Q Ne7 Qxh2+ !
We are following Cassano-Sicker, WIPCC 1998, which ended in a draw.
(e)
3. Bb5 e4 e5 ?
An idea of Liong Sauw Ming's, which seems sufficient to draw against 4. e6 Qg5 Qxc1 Qxd1+. However,
4. e6 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+
as played in Ming-Tilkin, WIPCC 1998, looks winning for black.
(f)
3. Bd2 e4 e5 (Hyatt) !
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My take on the position. Although I haven't done a lot of work on it, the series looks extremely strong. I have been unable to find a satisfactory defense for black.
4. e6 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+
It is worth noting that 4. d5 Bg4 Bxd1 e6 is refuted by the game continuation, whereas 4. d6 dxe5 Bg4 Kd7 is refuted by 5. f3 fxg4 Ba5 Bxd8 Bb5+.
5. Kxd1 Ba5 Bxd8 Be7 Bxf8
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As compared to the f4 line, instead of playing f4-f5 and Nf3, white has played Bd2 and Be7xf8. What really hurts black is the horrible position the king is in if he plays Kxf8. It turns out that f1/f8 is a very unsafe square for the king to end up on; this is relevant in other lines, as we shall see later. This line is critical to the assessment of progressive chess theory.
There are other numerous ideas involving capturing the d4-pawn. In particular, 3. c3 cxd4 Nc3 (Prentos) and 3. Bd2 Nf3 Nxd4 (Galvin) are interesting. Some of these may even win for white; who knows? Regardless, until an antidote to 3. Bd2 e4 e5 is found, 2. c5 cxd4 appears to be in trouble.
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In this line, black hopes to combat white's opening with fast development. He allows his own queen to be taken in a mere 2 moves, relying on a swarm effort to save him. However, the defense (alas) appears insufficient to draw.
3. Bg5 Bxd8 f4 !
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White accepts the challenge. The strong spare move f4 defends against 4. Kxd8 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+, which could be met by 5. Kxd1 f5 f6 fxg7 gxf8Q#. Black has tried two main ideas here:
(a)
4. Kxd8 Nc6 Nf6 Bb4+
A beautiful swarm attempt, which appears to fall just short of equality. 5. c3 cxb4 Qd3 Qxh7 Qxh8+ allows 6. Ke7 d5 Bg4 Rxh8 Rxh2 Rxh1 !, while 5. c3 cxb4 Qc2 Qxc6 Qxf6+ allows 6. gxf6 a5 axb4 Rxa2 Rxa1 c5 ! Both of these series appear to win for black. However, the critical test is the game continuation, which eats less material but catches up in development.
5. Qd2 Qxb4 Qxd4 e4 Qxf6+ !
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Black is in dire need of something here. In the past, he has tried the following series:
6. gxf6 Ke7 d5 dxe4 Nd4 Nxc2+
The idea of this series is to retain a rook on the 8. White would like to play Kd2 Bd3-c2-e4-b7-a8 and some spare move, but all spare moves allow massive promotions or rook munches (except Nh3!?, which probably wins for white also). However, white has a continuation that saves him a rook on the 9:
7. Kd2 Ba6 Bxb7 Bxa8 Bxe4 Bxc2 Bd1 (Hyatt) !
Although this series has never seen play, it refutes black's idea outright. Black is in need of an improvement on the 6 in this line, else he is doomed.
(b)
4. f5 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+
Black tries simply to play materially and take the queen, but white punishes him for not removing the d8 bishop.
5. Kxd1 Be7 Bxf8 Bxg7 Bxh8
6. a5 a4 a3 axb2 bxa1Q Qxh8
An interesting try of Norbert Geissler's, which was refuted by Russell Linnemann in Linnemann-Geissler, WIPCC 1998.
7. g4 g5 g6 g7 gxh8Q Kc2 Nc3 !
Black must spend too many moves to capture the h8 queen. A powerful promoting disruption.
It seems that 2. e5 exd4 is also insufficient to draw.
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This is the quintessential "white material win" series. White simply takes the queen on the 3, a rook on the 5, and knocks black out on the 7. The only interesting tries are those in which black attempts a disrupting swarm on the 4. White has occasionally tried 3. b4 b5 bxc6, but there seems little point in playing this (it appears to be a draw) when 3. Bf4 Bxc7 Bxd8 seems to win so easily. 3. Bg5 Bxe7 Bxd8 is also probably sufficient to win.
3. Bf4 Bxc7 Bxd8
(a)
4. Kxd8 e5 Nh6 Bb4+
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This swarm try has been the most commonly played. However, there is a strong material grab (not yet played) which reduces black to helplessness:
5. Qd2 Qxb4 Qxb7 Qxc6 Na3 (Linnemann) !
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Black's position is already resignable; he is simply down too much material and must lose too much time taking the queen on c6.
Comparing this swarm try to the one after 2. e5 exd4, it becomes clear that there is no swarm try here which is as good as that one (where knights were on c6 and f6 and the pawn had been captured on d4). If even the 2. e5 exd4 swarm is insufficient, it is doubtful there is a satisfactory swarm try after 2. d5 Nc6. Nonetheless, numerous ideas have been tried. White seems to be able to refute them all, though; five moves with a developed queen is simply too many for black to deal with.
(b)
4. Kxd8 Bf5 Bxc2 Bxd1
White has an overwhelming plus score against this line.
5. Kxd1 e4 Ba6 Bxb7 Bxa8
White follows up with a knockout on his 7.
Moving knights in the opening is usually weak. They simply become targets for the enemy pieces and pawns. The only good thing about Nc6/Nf6 is that it helps with active development tries (i.e. clearing the back rank to get a rook active). But, as we have seen throughout this guide, most attempts to win on development fail.
d4 / Others
Many other attempts have been made to thwart the
powerful d4, but none of them appear to be successful.
A brief word about each of them:
(a)
2. d5 Nf6
3. e4 e5 Bb5+
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This series is simply crushing. Black is swamped by white's space and loses too much time to the check. Black has no tries (series with Ne4 and Kd7 allow the strong maneuver Nc3xe4-c5+).
(b)
2. d5 e5
3. Bg5 Bxd8 h4
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Again, a simple win for white. He takes black's queen in 2 moves but does not allow black to take his own queen so easily. The spare move h4 is extremely powerful.
(c)
2. d5 a5/h5/c6
These series are worth trying. However, white appears still to have time to play 3. BxQ, 5. BxR, and 7. knockout. 2. d5 a5 is possibly the most promising option, as a promotion on a1 is more disruptive than a promotion on h1 (the piece on a1 proves harder to capture, usually). All these ideas appear to be refuted in the same fashion as 2. d5 Nc6, but perhaps there is something hidden lurking in one of these variations...
(d)
2. d6 Nf6
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This series prevents the capture of black's queen; however, it does little to further his development. Shutting in the bishops does not work very well in progressive chess.
3. Nc3 Bg5 Bxf6
White may have an even better series, but this simple 3 appears sufficient to win materially.
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I believe this to be the correct series against 1. e4 and quite possibly the only series that draws. The point of the series is, as with 1. d4 2. c5 cxd4, to combat traditional material grabs with a promotion. Let us first consider the normal queen maneuver by white and see why, in this case, it appears to be insufficient:
(a)
3. Qg4 Qxc8 Qxd8 ?!
4. Kxd8 e3 e2 exf1Q+ !
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Just as in the line after 1. d4 2. c5 cxd4 3. Bd2 e4 e5 4. e6 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+ 5. Kxd1 Ba5 Bxd8 Be7 Bxf8, we find the king on the miserable square KB1. White must spend time avoiding mating threats. Because of this lost time, he cannot eat any significant amount of material (and also because black took his only developed piece, his f1 bishop). Black, on the other hand, is poised for a 2-piece material grab on his 6.
5. Kxf1 d4 d5 Nf3 Ke2
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White has tried other lines (involving a4, h4, f4, d4, etc.), but these are rather weak in appearance. Effectively, black has switched colors and will win materially on the 6 and 8. The above 5 is the most popular series in Battista; however, during WIPCC98 preparations, I found a powerful series which wins easily.
6. g5 g4 Bh6 Bxc1 Nf6 gxf3+ (Hyatt) !!
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White has no mate and is completely lost. He has only 3 pieces left and will be knocked out on the 8.
(b)
3. d3 dxe4 Qxd8+
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This leads to what Prentos and I both agreed were rather dull drawn positions. However, it appears to be white's only try for an advantage. In many positions, he wins by an extremely narrow margin. In the diagrammed position, black has quite a few problems to solve. White is threatening to overwhelm him with a swarm (with a setup like Bg5, Bb5, Nc3, O-O-O, etc.)
First, there is the material grab:
(b1)
4. Kxd8 Bh3 Bxg2 Bxh1 ?!
5. e5 Bg2 Bxh1 Bxb7 Bxa8 !?
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This is a difficult position to assess, but I believe white is winning. If black tries a material race, white will simply knock him out on the 7. However, there are interesting disrupting tries, such as 6. Kd7 c5 c4 c3 cxb2 bxc1Q+. In these types of positions, white may be able to exploit the fact black's kingside is totally undeveloped and play a series like 7. Ke2 Nd2 Rxc1 Rb1 Rxb8 Ngf3 Rb7+. White may also have an improvement on the 5. At any rate, this line looks a bit suspicious for black unless some new ideas are discovered.
(b2)
4. Kxd8 c6 e5 h5
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This rather strange-looking series is what I consider to be the main line. e5 is necessary to develop the bishop. c6 is a defensive move that provides an escape for the king while blunting the effect of a Bb5 swarm (this may seem overly cautious, but the truth is that moving a pawn is far better than developing a piece to a square it can be taken more easily). h5 threatens to promote a pawn, and has the advantage over a5 that it does not weaken the square b6. a5, however, provides for a more disruptive promotion and may be a serious alternative. Essentially, this entire series consists of "spare moves", as black catches up in development and readies for a material grab on the 6. The main reason he can take time out to do this is that all 4 bishops are still on the board, not usually the case in many other positions.
White tried 5. Bh6 Bxg7 Bxe5 Bxh8 Kd2 in Hyatt-Prentos, Correspondence Game 1999, but this series only appears sufficient to draw. This game provides a model example of the drawish nature of this line, where white seems to have a minimal edge that is barely neutralized.
White has many ideas (Bh6 Bg7 Bh8 without taking the e-pawn, but then where to place the king becomes a problem; Ba6 Bb7 Ba8 is another possibility). Perhaps the best series has yet to be discovered. However, I strongly suspect black is holding each of these positions. According to current theory, 2. d5 dxe4 appears to be the best drawing line against 1. e4.
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This line is an interesting attempt by black to "switch colors" and play white. Black does not allow either of white's two primary ideas: 3. d4 Bg5 Bxd8 and 3. Qg4 Qxc8 Qxd8+. Indeed, practically every series seems to lose for white. The most popular series in Battista for 2. e5 f6 are probably losing. Black has a wide array of ideas, and if even one of them works, he is probably winning.
The most powerful idea is, after a white 3 that involves d4, 4. exd4 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+. This idea seems to refute many series, including such tries as 3. d4 Nc3 Bb5 and 3. d4 g4 Nh3. Despite a healthy score for white, 3. d4 Nc3 Bb5 simply leaves the white pieces looking silly after 4. exd4 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+. White must take the queen on the 5, after which black will be able to eat 3 pieces on his 6.
In addition, black threatens to take white's queen in 2 moves, whereas white would have to spend 3 to take black's queen. The idea of 4. d5 Bg4 Bxd1 is extremely powerful. Yet another idea is, after d4, to play 4. f5 Qg5 Qxc1 Qxd1+. In addition to this queen trade, there are many other winning queen trades that pick up a piece, i.e. 3. Be2-h5+ ideas allowing 4. Ke7 Qe8xh5xd1+ or 3. Nf3 ideas allowing 4. Qe7-a3-xf3-xd1+. In addition, there are numerous tries where black simply takes white's queen with a winning position, i.e. 3. f4 f5 Nf3 4. Nh6 Nxf5 Ne3 Nxd1. Finally, it is also worth nothing that white's options are restricted by black's mate threat of f5 Qh4 Bc5 Qxf2#
We therefore conclude that the correct series must stop each of these black ideas. White would like to play d4; however, he must then have an answer to 4. exd4 d3 dxc2 cxd1Q+ and 4. f5 Qg5 Qxc1 Qxd1+. By pushing the pawn on to d5, white both gains space and stops the first of these threats. However, white's last move must now stop mate. 3. d4 d5 f3 prevents the mate but leaves white vulnerable to the Qg5-c1-d1 maneuver. The most active final move is the incredible d6! This move has many functions. It not only prevents mate by restricting the movement of the f8 bishop, but it also prevents the c8 bishop from taking the enemy queen (at least via g4). In addition, the idea of f5 Qg5 Qc1 Qd1 leaves black vulnerable to a devastating promotion. Indeed, black only has one idea at all after 3. d4 d5 d6, namely the rather anemic 4. Qe7 Qxd6 Qxd1+, with some spare move thrown in. Therefore, despite the fact it has not been played much, I offer this 3 as quite possibly the only series that does not lose against 2. e5 f6 and, indeed, appears to win!
3. d4 d5 d6 !
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We now consider how black may make use of his spare move. The most effective tries appear to be h5 and Nc6, but neither seems sufficient to hold the draw. However, practical tests are needed to verify this hypothesis.
(a)
4. h5 Qe7 Qxd6 Qxd1+
5. Kxd1 Bh6 Bxg7 Bxh8 Kd2
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Black's king is simply in a horrible position. The dark-squared bishop on h8 creates numerous mating threats. In addition, white is ready to win the game in normal material fashion. Black has no satisfactory response.
6. h4 h3 hxg2 gxf1Q Kf7 Qxf2+
An attempt at a promoting disruption, but white can refute this idea:
7. Ne2 Rf1 Rxf2 Rg2 Rxg8 Bxf6 Rxf8+ (Hyatt)
Black appears to be lost in this position.
(b)
4. Nc6 Qe7 Qxd6 Qxd1+
Now, if white plays Kd2, black is prepared to play the strong disrupting check Kf7 Na5-c4+, i.e. 5. Kxd1 Bh6 Bxg7 Bxh8 Kd2 6. Ba3 Bxb2 Bxa1 Kf7 Na5 Nc4+. However, white does not have to allow this, and he may make better use of his own spare move.
5. Kxd1 Bh6 Bxg7 Bxh8 c3 (Hyatt) !
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Much better than playing Kd2. Black doesn't seem to have any ideas with the c6 knight now, and white will simply play Ba6-b7-a8 on his next series.
More practical tests for 3. d4 d5 d6 are needed; however, I strongly suspect it is the best line against 2. e5 f6. Whether or not it wins remains to be seen...
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This series saw a lot of play in WIPCC 1998. The primary reason is that the deceptively appealing 3. d4 Bg5 Bxd8 seems to LOSE for white after 4. Kxd8 Bg4 Bxd1 Bxc2. Despite the somewhat "symmetrical" nature of this position, the extra move for black to get his bishop out of take proves to be an enormous advantage for him. Some lines from games:
Unfortunately, all the series involving d5 (exception d5 dxe4) seem to lose to the idea 3. Qg4 Qxc8 Qxd8+.
3. Qg4 Qxc8 Qxd8+
Numerous ideas have been tried, but some variation of 5. Ba6 Bxb7 Bxa8 (misc. moves to get king safe) always seems to refute them. We focus in particular on the Bombek variation, which was a good effort.
4. Kxd8 dxe4 Bb4 Ne7 (Bombek)
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The series is surprisingly resilient; many attempts were originally made to refute it involving taking either the b4 bishop or the e7 knight (or both). Ideas like 5. b3 Ba3 Bxb4 Ke2 Bxe7+ fail to 6. Ke7 a5 a4 axb3 Rxa2 Rxa1 etc. Either promoting the a-pawn or charging to a1 with a rook are the key ideas in these variations. Amazingly, however, no one has ever tried the critical 5.
5. Ba6 Bxb7 Bxe4 Bxa8 Ke2 (Hyatt)
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