Barnes Opening
Encyclopedia
Barnes Opening or Gedult's Opening is a chess opening
where White opens with
It is considered an irregular opening, so it is classified under the A00 code in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
.
The opening is named after Thomas Wilson Barnes
(1825–1874), an English
player who had an impressive eight wins over Paul Morphy
, including one game where Barnes answered 1.e4 with 1...f6, known as Barnes Defense.
, 1.f3 is considered to be the worst one. The move does attack a central square, e4, but if this is the summit of White's ambition in the centre, which it should not be, 1.d3 (the Mieses Opening
) or even 1.Nc3 (the Dunst Opening
) are better ways, although both of these opening moves are considered rather passive. 1.f3 does nothing for development, indeed it actually hinders White's development because it robs the knight
of the f3 square. In addition 1.f3 weakens the king
's position needlessly. If White intends to take control of the 1.e4 square, the most common idea is to simply play 1.e4, and place a pawn in the centre: this is White's most common first move.
Since 1.f3 is a poor move, it is not played often. Nonetheless, it is probably not the rarest opening move. Some players play this move, somewhat arrogantly, as a way of saying something like "I can play anything against you". After 1.f3 e5 some players even continue with the nonsensical 2.Kf2, which is sometimes called the Wandering King Opening, The Hammerschlag, or the Pork Chop Opening. One example of this was Simon Williams against Martin Simons in the last round of the British championship tournament in 1999 where Williams had nothing to play for. One other notable employer of this opening is Hugo Mason.
Refutation of 1.f3 is not an easy task. Black can easily secure an advantage by advancing his central pawns, grabbing control of the centre, and rapidly developing his pieces. However, converting this to a win is tougher, and in most games featuring 1.f3, White "wakes up" and starts playing sensibly after a few moves.
The two most popular replies to the Barnes are likely to be 1...d5 or 1...e5. In the case of d5, White can claim to take out the center by 2.e4. 2... dxe4 3. fxe4 is not bad for White, but if Black declines by 2...d4 White has chances to transpose into other openings easily.
If the opponent replies 2...e5, there is a very passive opening also known as the Blue Moon Defence. It usually occurs after the moves 1.f3 e5 2.Nh3 d5 3.Nf2 (avoiding Bxh3 gxh3 weakening the kingside) Nf6 4.e3 Nc6 5.Be2 Bc5 6. 0-0 0-0.
White has no significance in the center, but in the future hopes to make a hole to break into.
However, if White plays poorly and leaves too many lines open against his king after playing 2.Kf2, he may be quickly checkmated. One example is the quick checkmate: 1.f3 d5 2.Kf2 e5 (Black places two pawns in the centre, to prepare for quick development) 3.e4 Bc5+ 4.Kg3 Qg5#
, 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4 mate. Of all of White's legal moves on his second move, only one allows mate
in one, while another, 2.h3, allows mate in two.
proper, with 3...exf3 4.Nxf3 Nf6 5.d4.
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
where White opens with
- 1. f3
It is considered an irregular opening, so it is classified under the A00 code in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
.
The opening is named after Thomas Wilson Barnes
Thomas Wilson Barnes
Thomas Wilson Barnes was an English chess master, one of the leading British masters at the time of Paul Morphy's visit to the UK in 1858....
(1825–1874), an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
player who had an impressive eight wins over Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
, including one game where Barnes answered 1.e4 with 1...f6, known as Barnes Defense.
Strategy
Of the twenty possible legal first moves, in the game of chessChess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, 1.f3 is considered to be the worst one. The move does attack a central square, e4, but if this is the summit of White's ambition in the centre, which it should not be, 1.d3 (the Mieses Opening
Mieses Opening
The Mieses Opening is a chess opening:It is named after the German-British grandmaster Jacques Mieses.White's 1.d3 releases his c1 bishop and makes a modest claim for the center, but since it does not stake out as large a share of the centre as 1.d4 does, it is not a popular opening move. Of the...
) or even 1.Nc3 (the Dunst Opening
Dunst Opening
The Dunst Opening is a chess opening where White opens with the move:This fairly uncommon opening may have more names than any other: it is also called the Heinrichsen Opening, Baltic Opening, van Geet's Opening, Sleipnir Opening, Kotrč's Opening, Meštrović Opening, Romanian Opening, Queen's...
) are better ways, although both of these opening moves are considered rather passive. 1.f3 does nothing for development, indeed it actually hinders White's development because it robs the knight
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
of the f3 square. In addition 1.f3 weakens the king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
's position needlessly. If White intends to take control of the 1.e4 square, the most common idea is to simply play 1.e4, and place a pawn in the centre: this is White's most common first move.
Since 1.f3 is a poor move, it is not played often. Nonetheless, it is probably not the rarest opening move. Some players play this move, somewhat arrogantly, as a way of saying something like "I can play anything against you". After 1.f3 e5 some players even continue with the nonsensical 2.Kf2, which is sometimes called the Wandering King Opening, The Hammerschlag, or the Pork Chop Opening. One example of this was Simon Williams against Martin Simons in the last round of the British championship tournament in 1999 where Williams had nothing to play for. One other notable employer of this opening is Hugo Mason.
Refutation of 1.f3 is not an easy task. Black can easily secure an advantage by advancing his central pawns, grabbing control of the centre, and rapidly developing his pieces. However, converting this to a win is tougher, and in most games featuring 1.f3, White "wakes up" and starts playing sensibly after a few moves.
The two most popular replies to the Barnes are likely to be 1...d5 or 1...e5. In the case of d5, White can claim to take out the center by 2.e4. 2... dxe4 3. fxe4 is not bad for White, but if Black declines by 2...d4 White has chances to transpose into other openings easily.
If the opponent replies 2...e5, there is a very passive opening also known as the Blue Moon Defence. It usually occurs after the moves 1.f3 e5 2.Nh3 d5 3.Nf2 (avoiding Bxh3 gxh3 weakening the kingside) Nf6 4.e3 Nc6 5.Be2 Bc5 6. 0-0 0-0.
White has no significance in the center, but in the future hopes to make a hole to break into.
However, if White plays poorly and leaves too many lines open against his king after playing 2.Kf2, he may be quickly checkmated. One example is the quick checkmate: 1.f3 d5 2.Kf2 e5 (Black places two pawns in the centre, to prepare for quick development) 3.e4 Bc5+ 4.Kg3 Qg5#
Fool's Mate
Barnes Opening can lead to Fool's mateFool's mate
Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...
, 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4 mate. Of all of White's legal moves on his second move, only one allows mate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
in one, while another, 2.h3, allows mate in two.
A transposition
David Gedult, a cult hero of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit community, often played 1.f3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3. This is sometimes called the Gedult Opening. Play often transposes to the Blackmar-Diemer GambitBlackmar-Diemer Gambit
The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit is a chess opening characterized by the moves:- History :The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit arose as a development of the earlier Blackmar Gambit, named after Armand Blackmar, a relatively little-known New Orleans player of the late 19th century who popularized its...
proper, with 3...exf3 4.Nxf3 Nf6 5.d4.
See also
- Fool's MateFool's mateFool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...
- Barnes Defense
- List of chess openings
- List of chess openings named after people