Many of the 1,327 named chess openings and variants listed by The Oxford Companion to Chess are named for geographic places.
A
B
- Baguio Variation of the Ruy Lopez -1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 Bf5
- Balkan Gambit â 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 dxe4 4.Ng5
- Baltic Defence of the Queen's Gambit Declined â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5
- Baltic Defense of the Polish Opening â 1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5
- Baltic Opening (or Dunst Opening) â 1.Nc3
- Basque Gambit of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d4 exd4 7.e5 Ne4 8.c3
- Basque Opening â 1.d4 Nf6 2.b3
- Batavo Gambit of the Bird's Opening - 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.e4 dxe4
- Battambang Opening â 1.Nc3 e5 2.a3
- Bavarian Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.c4 d5
- Bayreuth Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Bxc6
- Belgrade Gambit of the Four Knights â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5
- Benelux Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 Bb6 (named for the Benelux countries)
- Berlin Defense of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6
- Beverwijk Variation of the Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5
- Birmingham Defence (more commonly as the St. George Defence): â 1.e4 a6
- Birmingham Gambit of the Polish Opening â 1.b4 c5
- Bled Variation of the English Opening â 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3 Nf6 4.Bb2 g6
- Bohemian Attack of the CaroâÂÂKann Defence â 1.e4 c6 2.Ne2
- Brazilian Defence â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qe7
- Bremen Variation of the English Opening â 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3
- Breslau Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.Nd4 Nxe5
- Brooklyn Defence of the Alekhine's Defence â 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8
- Brussels Gambit of the Sicilian Defence â 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 f5
- Budapest Gambit â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5
- Bulgarian Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a5
C
D
- Danish Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3
- Danube Gambit â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 c6
- Dresden Opening â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4
- Duisburg Gambit of the QGD â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4
- Düsseldorf Gambit of the Van Geet Opening â 1. Nc3 c5 2. b4
- Dutch Defence â 1.d4 f5
- Dutch Variation of the Slav Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3
E
F
- Finnish Variation of the CaroâÂÂKann Defence â 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 h6
- Florentine Gambit of the King's Indian Defence â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.e5
- Folkestone Variation (or Swedish Variation) of the QGD â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 c4
- Fort Knox Variation of the French Defence â 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6
- Frankfurt Variation of the French Defence â 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Ng8 6.Be3 b6
- French Defence â 1.e4 e6
G
- Genoa Opening (known as the Grob Attack) â 1.g4
- Gent Gambit of the Amar Opening (Paris) â 1.Nh3 d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4 Bxh3 4.Bxh3 exf4 5.0-0 fxg3 6.hxg3
- German Defence of the Polish Opening (Orangutan or Sokolsky Opening) â 1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Qd6
- Glasgow Kiss Variation of the Slav Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Nc6
- Goteborg (Gothenburg) System of the Scandinavian Defence â 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 e5 5.Nf3
- Gothenburg Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation â 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
- Granada Gambit of the Italian Game, Two Knights Defense, Blackburne Variation â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 cxb5 9.Qxa8
- Graz Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 Bc5
- Graz Attack of the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack â 1.b3 d5 2.Ba3
- Greek Defence (or Owen's Defence) â 1.e4 b6
- Guatemalan Defence of the Greek Defence or Owen's Defence â 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Ba6
H
I
J
- Jalalabad Defence â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 c5 or 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e5
K
- Kahiko-Hula Gambit of the English Opening â 1.c4 e5 2.e3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3
- Karlsruhe Variation of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit â 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3 g6
- Kazakh Variation of the King's Indian â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6
- Kecskemet Variation of the Ruy Lopez âÂÂ1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.d4 Bd7 9.Nbd2 Be8
- Kemeri Variation of the King's Indian Defence â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5
- Kentucky Opening â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+? Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5
- Keoni-Hiva Gambit of the Van't Kruijs Opening â 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 (Akahi Variation), 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 (Alua Variation), 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 d5 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 (Ekolu Variation)
- Kiel Variation of the Scandinavian Defence â 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4
L
- Latvian Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5
- Leipzig Gambit (or Müller-Schulze Gambit) â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5?!
- Lemberg Gambit (Lviv Gambit) â 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.e4 or 1.Nf3 d5 2.e4
- Lemberg Countergambit â 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5
- Leningrad Variation of the Dutch Defence â 1.d4 f5 2.g3 g6
- Lisbon Gambit of the Dutch Defense â 1.d4 f5 2.g4 fxg4 3.h3
- Lisbon Gambit of the Queen's Pawn Opening, English Rat â 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Nc6
- Lithuanian Variation of the MikÃÂnas Defence â 1.d4 Nc6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 Nce7
- Lodz Variation of the Tarrasch Defence â 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 characterised 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
- Macedonian Variation of the English Opening â 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4
- Maltese Falcon Attack (or Gibbins-Wiedehagen Gambit) â 1.d4 Nf6 2.g4 Nxg4 3.f3 Nf6 4.e4
- Manhattan Gambit of the Dutch Defence â 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3 Nf6 3.g4
- Manhattan Variation of the QGD (also called the Westphalia Defence) â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 or 5.e3 Bb4
- Mannheim Variation of the QGA â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qa4+
- Mar del Plata Variation of the King's Indian Defence â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0âÂÂ0 6.Be2 e5 7.0âÂÂ0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7
- Margate Variation of the Sicilian Defence â 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, Wing Gambit â 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Bb2
- Massachusetts Defence of the CaroâÂÂKann Defence â 1.e4 c6 2.d4 f5
- Mediterranean Defence â 1.e4 e6 2.d4 Nf6
- Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4
- Mexican Defence â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6
- Miami Variation of the Italian Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 Bxd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Be3
- Modern Archangel Defence of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5
- Mongolian Attack â 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nd4
- Monte Carlo Variation of the French Defense â 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4
- Montevideo Defence â 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Nb8
- Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6
- Moscow Variation of the Sicilian Defence â 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+
- Mujannah Formation of the Old Benoni Defence â 1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5
- Mujannah Opening (or Arabian Opening) of the Bird's Opening â 1.f4 d5 2.c4
N
- New Castle Gambit of the French Defence, Tarrasch Variation â 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 e5
- New York Variation of the Benoni Defense â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.h3
- Nordic Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 (alternative name for the Danish Gambit)
- Nordwalde Variation of the King's Gambit Declined â 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Qf6
- Norfolk Gambit of the Zukertort Opening â 1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 c5 3.e4 or 1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 c5 4.e4
- North Sea Variation (or Norwegian Defense) of the Modern Defence â 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.e5 Nh5
- Norwegian Gambit of the Modern Defence â 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.e5 Nh5 4.Be2 d6
- Norwegian Defense of the Modern Defense â 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Nf6
- Norwegian Defence of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5
- Nottingham Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation â 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Nb3
- Novosibirsk Variation of the Dunst Opening â 1.Nc3 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qh4
- Novosibirsk Variation of the Sicilian Defence â 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7
- Nuremberg Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f6
O
- Odessa Variation of the King's Indian â 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 9.Bg5
- Omaha Gambit of the Vienna Game â 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4
- Oxford Variation of the Vienna Game â 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3
- Oxford Gambit of the Four Knights Game â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 Bb4 5.d5 Nd4
P
- Paris Defence (or Semi-Italian Opening) â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6
- Paris Gambit â 1.Nh3 d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4 (intending 3...Bxh3 4.Bxh3 exf4 5.0-0)
- Paris Opening (or Amar Opening) â 1.Nh3
- Persian Opening â 1.c3 c5 2.Qa4 Nf6 3.g4
- Peruvian Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5
- Philippine Attack of the Pirc Defense â 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 Bg7 5.f4
- Pittsburgh Variation of the QGD â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Nf3 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bb5
- Podebrady Variation of the Sicilian Defence â 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Nb3
- Polish Opening (or Orangutan) â 1.b4
- Polish Defence â 1.d4 b5 or 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5
- Polish Attack â 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b4
- Polish Gambit â 1.e4 b5 2.Bxb5 c6
- Polish Gambit of the Anderssen Opening â 1.a3 a5 2.b4
- Polish Spike â 1.b4 Nf6 2.Bb2 g6 3.g4
- Polish Variation of the Indian Game â 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b5
- Portsmouth Gambit of the Sicilian Defence â 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b4
- Portuguese Gambit of the Scandinavian Defence â 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4 4.f3 Bf5 5.Bb5+ Nbd7
- Portuguese Opening â 1.e4 e5 2.Bb5
- Portuguese Variation of the King's Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 Nc6
- Prague Variation of the Tarrasch Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6
- Prussian Game (or Two Knights Defence against the Italian Game) â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6
- Pyrenees Gambit â 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b5
R
- Riga Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 exd4
- Rio de Janeiro Variation of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7
- Romanian Opening (or Dunst Opening) â 1.Nc3
- Romanian Defense of the Wing Gambit â 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.Bb2 Nc6 7.c4 Qe6
- Rotterdam Variation of the Slav Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3
- Russian Defence of the Ruy Lopez â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 d6
- Russian Game (or Petrov's Defence) â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6
S
T
- Tashkent Attack of the King's Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Nh5 5.g4
- Transylvania Variation of the Vienna Game â 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nb5
- Trencianske-Teplice Gambit of the Italian Game, Two Knights Defense â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.d4
- Tuebingen Variation of the Polish Opening â 1.b4 Nh6
- Tuebingen Gambit of the Dunst Opening â 1.Nc3 Nf6 2.g4
- Turkish Gambit (or the Elephant Gambit) â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5
U
V
- Valencia Opening (or Mieses Opening) â 1.d3 e5 2.Nd2
- Venezolana Variation of the Mieses Opening â 1.d3 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3
- Venice Attack of the Sicilian Defence â 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 â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c5 5.cxd5 Qb6
- Vienna Game â 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3
- Vienna Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4
- Vienna Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4
- Vietnamese Gambit â 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 b5
- Vinohrady Variation of the Sicilian Defence â 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g4 named after a district in Prague
- Volga Gambit â 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 â 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 Defence â 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 c6
- Westphalia Defence in the Queen's Gambit Declined: An alternative name for the Manhattan Variation â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 or 5.e3 c5
- Wiesbaden Variation of the Slav Defence â 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6
- Wilkes-Barre Variation of the Italian Game, Two Knights Defence â 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" â 1.c4 f5 2.b4) can be found in this list of chess opening names.
See also
References
External links