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Open game

In chess, an Open Game is one which begins with the white player moving the king's pawn two squares forward and the black player replying with the same move. (In chess notation, 1. e4 e5.) In contrast, Semi-open Games are those in which the black player does not respond with 1. ... e5, but a move such as 1. ... e6 or the Sicilian Defense, 1. ... c5.

White starts by playing 1.e4 (moving his King's pawn two spaces). 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 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.

The most popular second move for White is 2.Nf3 attacking Black's king pawn, preparing for a kingside castle, 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, Giuoco Piano, Two Knights Defense, or Scotch Game. 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. The early queen developments of the Parham Attack and the Napoleon Opening 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, Alapin's Opening, Konstantinopolsky Opening, and Inverted Hungarian Opening are rare, offbeat tries for White.

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

Well-known examples of open games include:

• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Ruy Lopez
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Ponziani Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Scotch Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Italian Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 Giuoco Piano
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Evans Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 Two Knights Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 Hungarian Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 Four Knights Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 something besides 3...Nf6 Three Knights Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Konstantinopolsky Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Petrov's Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 Philidor Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 Latvian Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 Elephant Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qf6 Greco Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 Damiano Defense
• 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bishop's Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Vienna Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.f4 King's Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Center Game
• 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Danish Gambit
• 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Parham Attack
• 1.e4 e5 2.Bb5 Portuguese Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.c3 Lopez Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Be2 Inverted Hungarian Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Alapin's Opening
• 1.e4 e5 2.Qf3?! Napoleon Opening

• Chess Opening