F. Openings
Lessons
The named openings with their main lines and ideas in a grandmaster voice. Each variation runs ghost → text → puzzle: watch it, read why it works, then play it yourself.
- F1Symmetrical OpeningBlack mirrors with 1…19-23 and the centre is traded off at once, 2.28x19 14x23. Nothing is decided; this is a long, patient fight for tempo and the better formation. Do not hurry: the player who keeps his back rank intact and seizes the centre square at the right moment will stand better.6 variations
- F2Chefneux OpeningBlack declines the symmetrical trade with 1…18-23 and keeps the tension, a modern, asymmetric game. Note the trap: White must not play 2.37-32?? because of the Harlem shot 23-29. Develop with 2.33-29 or 2.38-32.3 variations
- F3Chogoliev OpeningBlack develops the right wing and trades 2.28x17 11x22, a good choice for an active modern game with strong edge-piece play. White must reckon with a powerful right-wing fork-lock; precise piece placement is everything.2 variations
- F4Chogoliev Opening (12-21)The other recapture: 2.28x17 12x21 keeps a piece on 11 and aims the wing differently from 11x22. By far the more common practical choice, a fast, concrete right-wing fight.1 variation
- F5The Black PantherThe sharpest reply to 1.32-28. With 1…16-21 Black invites White to lock his right wing with 2.31-26, and sometimes keeps that lock on the board deliberately to complicate. A fighter’s opening.4 variations
- F6The EagleBlack plants 1…18-22, an aggressive set-up aiming for outpost and "rush" structures rather than a quiet trade. White chooses among three popular plans; the fight is about who controls the key advanced squares.2 variations
- F7The HedgehogA compact, prickly set-up with 1…17-21 that is hard to attack and waits to counter on the wing. It can transpose into the Black Panther after 2.31-26 11-17, or stay independent with quiet manoeuvring.2 variations
- F8The CowBlack’s placid 1…20-24 invites a classical game. Unhurried and solid, the "semi-classical" structure is the usual offshoot. Good when you want to out-manoeuvre rather than out-punch.1 variation
- F9The Russian BearBlack grabs the rim at once with 1…20-25, a heavy, lumbering flank stance preparing a broad wing advance. Crude but powerful; White must not let the bear build unopposed.1 variation
- F10Roozenburg OpeningA central first move that breathes fire. White takes the strong 29 square and aims to mount the famous Roozenburg attack on the wing, sharp, asymmetric, all initiative. Passive play by Black is punished hard.2 variations
- F11Classical Reply (Diamond)Black sidesteps the Roozenburg attack with 1…20-24, steering the Diamond into a calmer classical centre. Safer, but it concedes White an easy, comfortable game, choose it to defuse, not to win.1 variation
- F12Keller OpeningNamed after R.C. Keller. Black answers the diamond with 1…17-22, a sharp right-wing development that fights for the initiative immediately rather than conceding it.2 variations
- F13Sijbrands OpeningNamed after the legendary Ton Sijbrands. A flexible central first move keeping every plan, classical centre or modern wing play, on the table.3 variations
- F14Polish OpeningAn edge-oriented first move. White prepares the left wing and can choose a semi-classical, left-wing, or the sharp "big leap" continuation. Offbeat but fully sound.3 variations
- F15Krajenbrink AttackDutch GM Johan Krajenbrink’s aggressive answer to the Diamond: 1…16-21 sets up a fast attacking lock on White’s right wing. Provocative and concrete, White must react accurately.1 variation
- F16Fork-Lock OpeningWhite opens 1.34-29, preparing the fork-lock motif on the right. Keeps options open while eyeing a binding structure against Black’s left wing, a positional squeeze.2 variations
- F17French OpeningThe flank move 1.34-30, often steering toward classical play (its lines are named after animals, the cheetah, etc.). Solid and a touch unusual.2 variations
- F18Edge OpeningA border first move, 1.31-26. Committal early use of the edge piece, it can be met solidly or by an immediate rejection exchange that dissolves White’s rim commitment.2 variations
- F19The Wild HorseA rare flank move with the rim piece, 1.35-30, leading to offbeat, unbalanced positions well away from main theory. Surprise weapon, both sides must think for themselves early.1 variation