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Foreword - Ever since the first game of chess was recorded—about five hundred years ago or more—no less than twenty thousand chess books, written in different languages, have appeared in print. Consequently, every phase of the game has been con­sidered

01. Opening Play - The game of chess is divided into three parts—the opening, the middle game and the endgame. The divisions are purely arbitrary, merely for the purpose of facilitating study. No di­viding line separates the parts; the transition from the opening to the middle game and from the middle game to the endgame is indicated by the action and the number of men remaining on the board.

02. Exceptions - As was explained in the previous chapter, the first strategic principle points up the necessity for bringing maximum power to bear on the central squares in the shortest time. Likewise, it points out the fallacy of deviating from principle. Yet, while to toe the line with rigid obedience may be good discipline, it is wooden, unimaginative chess.

03. Giuoco Piano - TheGiuoco Piano is the first recorded opening. It is men­tioned in the Göttingen Manuscript (1490) and by all the early authors. It dates from the time when Italy was the ruling power in chess.

Belying its name, which means quiet game, the Giuoco Piano currently is spirited and forceful. It grants White lati­tude for imagination, leading to exciting combinations, and it is full of pitfalls for the unwary. Its distinguishing feature is the development of White's King Bishop to QB4 on his third move. This characteristic move portends attack.

04. Ruy Lopez - JL he Ruy Lopez was named after a Spanish clergyman, Ruy Lopez of Safra, in Estramadura. About the middle of the sixteenth century, he edited a systematic work of one hundred and fifty pages, which presented the results of research into the openings.

05. Open Defense - In the main variation of the Ruy Lopez, White maintains the initiative clearly throughout the opening and well into the middle game. Although Black can achieve equality with best play, the onus of perfection rests on him. It is indeed unappe­tizing for a player to be confronted with a line which, at best and after taxing him to the utmost, grants mere equality. There is, nonetheless, no known method for Black to seize the initia­tive—bestowed upon White—without incurring certain risks.

06. Steinitz System - In the main variation of the Ruy Lopez, White attempts to seize immediate control of the center, before undertaking ac­tion on the wing. Another line with equally good prospects for White begins in a more passive manner. White makes no effort to gain the center. Instead, he develops peacefully and soundly. The pacific development, however, is only a front for White's real intentions. All the while, White bides his time and appraises the opportunity to seize the center or to institute an attack against the opposing King.

07. Classical Variation - The prerogative of the first move, if properly exploited, grants White a lasting initiative. It does not, however, deter­mine the course of the game. Black has at least an equal say in this matter.

For good and sufficient reasons, Black often directs the course of play. In doing so, he avoids lines unfamiliar to him­self and arbitrarily compels his opponent to follow, rather than lead.

08. Winawer Variation - Currently in vogue is the variation of the French Defense known as the Winawer. It is an early foray of Black's King Bishop to the Queen-side of the board 3 . . . B-N5. Its popu­larity stems mainly from its use by world champion Botvinnik, whose constant and successful trials of it have attracted in­numerable devotees

09. Tarrasch Variation - There is another way of treating the French Defense. It is to play N-Q2 on White's third move. This method may well be labeled Tarrasch's line, after its leading exponent of several decades ago. Even today, however, the line is in vogue.

While the Classical and Winawer Variations lead to aca­demic pluses for White, they are beset with practical problems.

10. Sicilian Defense - The Sicilian Defense, 1 P-K4, P-QB4-a half hold on the center—is the most aggressive of all the comparatively sound defenses at Black's command. From its very beginning, an unbalanced Pawn formation arises, which gives opportunity to both contestants to explore advantages in different direc­tions. The result is unabated action.

11. Queen's Gambit - A he unostentatious move I P-Q4 is nowadays considered the most effective way of beginning a game of chess. This is evinced by a preponderance of Queen Pawn games in modern master tournaments.

Odd, indeed, is the apparent reappraisal of this debut. It was first mentioned in the Göttingen Manuscript of 1490. And not until the Vienna Tournament of 1873—nearly four hundred years later—did it receive any legitimate recognition.

12. Réti Opening - During the past few decades, brand new ideas have de­veloped in opening play. The fight for control of the center —the paramount issue in modern openings—has been given a new twist. A new school of thought has been born. Whereas, in the modern school, the skirmish waxes openly and merrily for domination of the mid-section of the playing field from the very first move, in the new school—the hypermodern school—the contest for center control takes the form of long distance, sniping, wing attacks on the opposing center.

13. English Opening - The English Opening—once known as the Queen's Bishop's Pawn Game-is so called after Staunton who adopted it in the match between England and France, 1843.

With 1 P-QB4, the English Opening is a Sicilian Defense in reverse, with White having a move in hand. If the Sicilian is tenable for Black, it should definitely be good for White, with a tempo to spare. At least, that is the underlying theory of the opening.

14. Alekhine's Defense - A he last word in hypermodernism is Alekhine's Defense. In this weird ripost to 1 P-K4, Black brings out his Knight to KB3 on the very first move, where it can be mauled and pummeled and driven clear across the board to what appears to be in­nocuous desuetude. Yet Black's play is not buffoonery; it is pur­poseful. It is a designed attempt to lure an onrush of enemy Pawns and set them up as fixed targets. In doing so, Black completely cedes the center. This is, however, the essence of hypermodernism.

15. Center Counter - The Center Counter—1 P-K4, P-Q4—is an attempt by Black to wrest away White's endowed initiative on the very first move. This is in direct conflict with theory.

Axiomatic—and almost comical—is the proposition in the chess opening that, when White plays 1 P-Q4, he sets his sights for P-K4, and, when he plays 1 P-K4, then P-Q4 is his militant goal. The moves P-K4 and P-Q4 (or vice versa) cannot be suc­cessfully enforced in consecutive order, when both players im­mediately fight for control of the center

THE END