Center Game
Encyclopedia
The Center Game is a chess opening
that begins with the moves:
The game usually continues 3.Qxd4 Nc6, developing with a gain of tempo
due to the attack on the white queen
. (Note that 3.c3 is considered a separate opening: the Danish Gambit
.)
The Center Game is an old opening. It was mostly abandoned by 1900 because no advantage could be demonstrated for White. Mieses
, Tartakower, and Spielmann
, seemed to be the last strong players who would adopt it. The Center Game was rarely played by elite players until Shabalov
revived it in the 1980s. Later, Shirov
, Adams, Judit Polgár
and Morozevich
also contributed to the theory of the Center Game by forcing revaluation of lines long thought to favor Black. In recent years, the young player Ian Nepomniachtchi
has also experimented with it.
White succeeds in eliminating Black's e-pawn and opening the d-file, but at the cost of moving the queen early and allowing Black to develop with tempo
with 3...Nc6. In White's favor, after 4.Qe3, the most commonly played retreat, the position of the white queen hinders Black's ability to play ...d5. The back rank is cleared of pieces quickly which facilitates queenside castling
and may allow White to quickly develop an attack. From e3, the white queen may later move to g3 where she will pressure Black's g7-square.
or the Petrov's Defense, or play a line recommended by Alekine
, 3...Bc5 4.Nxd4 Nf6 and now 5.e5 would be met with 5...Qe7.
The Halasz Gambit (3.f4?!) is another rare try. Although the move dates back to at least 1840, it has been championed more recently by the Hungarian
correspondence chess
player Dr György Halasz. The gambit
seems dubious but it has not been definitely refuted.
The nearly universal sequence of moves in the Center Game is 3.Qxd4 Nc6. Now White has a choice of retreat squares for the queen. Although 4.Qa4 corresponds to a fairly commonly played variation of the Scandinavian Defense
(1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5), it is rarely played in the Center Game because tournament experience has not been favorable for White in this line.
The best move for the queen seems to be 4.Qe3, known as Paulsen's Attack. White intends to castle Queen's side in this line. Black usually continues 4...Nf6 when a typical line continues 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 0-0 7.0-0-0 Re8. White may try to complicate play by means of the pawn sacrifice 8.Qg3!? intending 8...Rxe4 9.a3! - Shabalov's move. Black's best reply seems to be the quiet 9...Ba5. Even though this line gives White some compensation for the pawn, it is probably fine for Black.
A more solid option for Black is the natural 5...Be7! intending d7-d5 (sometimes even after White plays 6.Bc4), opening up lines as soon as possible. Black also seems to get a good game with 4...g6, and 4...Bb4+ has been played successfully as well.
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...
that begins with the moves:
- 1. e4 e5
- 2. d4 exd4
The game usually continues 3.Qxd4 Nc6, developing with a gain of tempo
Tempo (chess)
In chess, tempo refers to a "turn" or single move. When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, he "gains a tempo" and conversely when he takes one more move than necessary he "loses a tempo"...
due to the attack on the white queen
Queen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
. (Note that 3.c3 is considered a separate opening: the Danish Gambit
Danish Gambit
The Danish Gambit, known as the in German, and the in Dutch, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:...
.)
The Center Game is an old opening. It was mostly abandoned by 1900 because no advantage could be demonstrated for White. Mieses
Jacques Mieses
----Jacques Mieses was a German-born Jewish chess Grandmaster and writer. He became a naturalized British citizen after World War II.p258-Chess career:...
, Tartakower, and Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann was an Austrian-Jewish chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer.-Career:He was a lawyer but never worked as one....
, seemed to be the last strong players who would adopt it. The Center Game was rarely played by elite players until Shabalov
Alexander Shabalov
Alexander Shabalov is an American chess grandmaster, the multiple winner of the U.S. Chess Championships; he was the 2007 US Champion. He was born in Latvia, and like his fellow Latvians Alexei Shirov and Mikhail Tal he is known for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness...
revived it in the 1980s. Later, Shirov
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
, Adams, Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
and Morozevich
Alexander Morozevich
Alexander Morozevich is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list....
also contributed to the theory of the Center Game by forcing revaluation of lines long thought to favor Black. In recent years, the young player Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi is a Russian chess grandmaster and the chess champion of Russia in 2010. , he was listed by FIDE as having an Elo rating of 2730....
has also experimented with it.
White succeeds in eliminating Black's e-pawn and opening the d-file, but at the cost of moving the queen early and allowing Black to develop with tempo
Tempo (chess)
In chess, tempo refers to a "turn" or single move. When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, he "gains a tempo" and conversely when he takes one more move than necessary he "loses a tempo"...
with 3...Nc6. In White's favor, after 4.Qe3, the most commonly played retreat, the position of the white queen hinders Black's ability to play ...d5. The back rank is cleared of pieces quickly which facilitates queenside castling
Castling
Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
and may allow White to quickly develop an attack. From e3, the white queen may later move to g3 where she will pressure Black's g7-square.
3.Qxd4 Nc6
- 4.Qa4 (Scandinavian DefenseScandinavian DefenseThe Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The Center Counter Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as being played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia in 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess,...
Reversed) - 4.Qe3 (Paulsen's Attack-Main Line)
- 4...Bb4+
- 4...Nf6
- 4...g6
3.Nf3
- 3...Bc5 (AlekhineAlexander AlekhineAlexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
) - 3...Nc6 (Scotch GameScotch GameThe Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the movesWhite aims to dominate the centre by exchanging his d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as he has no good way to maintain his pawn on e5...
, by transposition) - 3...d6 (Philidor Defense, by transposition)
- 3...Nf6 (Petrov's Defense, by transposition)
- 3...Bb4+
3.Bc4 with the same choice as after 3.Nf3
Postponing recapture of the queen pawn is a standard idea in the Center Counter Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 Nf6), but 3.Nf3 is very rarely played in the Center Game. Black can safely transpose to the Scotch GameScotch Game
The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the movesWhite aims to dominate the centre by exchanging his d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as he has no good way to maintain his pawn on e5...
or the Petrov's Defense, or play a line recommended by Alekine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
, 3...Bc5 4.Nxd4 Nf6 and now 5.e5 would be met with 5...Qe7.
The Halasz Gambit (3.f4?!) is another rare try. Although the move dates back to at least 1840, it has been championed more recently by the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
correspondence chess
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
player Dr György Halasz. The gambit
Gambit
A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Some well-known examples are the King's Gambit , Queen's Gambit , and Evans Gambit...
seems dubious but it has not been definitely refuted.
The nearly universal sequence of moves in the Center Game is 3.Qxd4 Nc6. Now White has a choice of retreat squares for the queen. Although 4.Qa4 corresponds to a fairly commonly played variation of the Scandinavian Defense
Scandinavian Defense
The Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The Center Counter Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as being played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia in 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess,...
(1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5), it is rarely played in the Center Game because tournament experience has not been favorable for White in this line.
The best move for the queen seems to be 4.Qe3, known as Paulsen's Attack. White intends to castle Queen's side in this line. Black usually continues 4...Nf6 when a typical line continues 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 0-0 7.0-0-0 Re8. White may try to complicate play by means of the pawn sacrifice 8.Qg3!? intending 8...Rxe4 9.a3! - Shabalov's move. Black's best reply seems to be the quiet 9...Ba5. Even though this line gives White some compensation for the pawn, it is probably fine for Black.
A more solid option for Black is the natural 5...Be7! intending d7-d5 (sometimes even after White plays 6.Bc4), opening up lines as soon as possible. Black also seems to get a good game with 4...g6, and 4...Bb4+ has been played successfully as well.
External links
- Harding, Tim (August 1999). "The Vampire Gambit: Can We Bury It Now?". ChessCafe.com, The Kibitzer.
- Harding, Tim (December 2004). "The Center Game takes Center Stage" (pdf). ChessCafe.com, The Kibitzer.