Trompowski Attack
Encyclopedia
The Trompowsky Attack is a chess opening
that begins with the moves:
With his second move, White intends to exchange
his bishop
for Black's knight
, inflicting doubled pawns
upon Black in the process. This is not a lethal threat; Black can choose to fall in with White's plan.
The Trompowsky is a popular alternative to the more common lines after 1.d4 Nf6 beginning 2.c4 or 2.Nf3. By playing 2.Bg5, White sidesteps immense bodies of opening theory of various Indian Defences like the Queen's Indian
and the King's Indian
.
The opening is named after the one-time Brazil
ian champion Octavio Trompowsky
(1897–1984) who played it in the 1930s and 1940s. The Trompowsky has also been called The Zot.
Julian Hodgson
and Antoaneta Stefanova
are among several grandmaster
s who often employ the Trompowsky.
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. d4 Nf6
- 2. Bg5
With his second move, White intends to exchange
Exchange (chess)
In the tactics and strategy in the board game of chess, an exchange or trade of chess pieces is series of closely related moves, typically sequential, in which the two players capture each others pieces. Any types of pieces except the kings may possibly be exchanged, i. e. captured in an...
his bishop
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
for Black's 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...
, inflicting doubled pawns
Doubled pawns
In chess, doubled pawns are two pawns of the same color residing on the same file. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides. In the diagram, the pawns on the b-file and e-file are doubled...
upon Black in the process. This is not a lethal threat; Black can choose to fall in with White's plan.
The Trompowsky is a popular alternative to the more common lines after 1.d4 Nf6 beginning 2.c4 or 2.Nf3. By playing 2.Bg5, White sidesteps immense bodies of opening theory of various Indian Defences like the Queen's Indian
Queen's Indian Defense
The Queen's Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the movesBy playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian is regarded as the sister opening of the Nimzo-Indian, since both openings aim to impede White's efforts to gain full control...
and the King's Indian
King's Indian Defence
The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening...
.
The opening is named after the one-time Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian champion Octavio Trompowsky
Octavio Trompowsky
Octavio Figueira Trompowsky de Almeida was a Brazilian chess player, who was born and died in Rio de Janeiro....
(1897–1984) who played it in the 1930s and 1940s. The Trompowsky has also been called The Zot.
Julian Hodgson
Julian Hodgson
Julian Michael Hodgson is an English International Grandmaster and former British Champion of chess.He first came to the notice of the chess world for his phenomenal prowess as a junior; he was London under-18 champion at 12 years of age and won the British Boys under-21 title aged just...
and Antoaneta Stefanova
Antoaneta Stefanova
Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster, and a former Women's World Chess Champion. She became the twelfth holder of that title in 2004 in a 64-player knockout tournament held in Elista, Kalmykia under the auspices of FIDE....
are among several grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
s who often employ the Trompowsky.
Main lines
Black has a number of ways to meet the Trompowsky, some of which avoid doubled pawns, while others allow them. The most common Black responses are discussed here.- 2... Ne4 is the most common reply. Although Black violates an opening principle ("Don't move the same piece twice in the opening"), his move attacks White's bishop, forcing it to either move again or be defended.
- 3. h4 defends the bishop, and Black should avoid 3...Nxg5? since that will open up a file for the White rookRook (chess)A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
. Instead Black can start making a grab for the centre and kick the White bishop away with a timely ...h6 advance. - Usually, White retreats with 3. Bf4 or 3. Bh4. In this case, Black will try to maintain his knight on e4, or at least gain a concession before retreating it. (For instance, if White chases the knight away with f3, he will have taken away the best development square from his own knight.)
- 3. Nf3? is rarely seen except among amateurs; after 3... Nxg5 4. Nxg5 e5! Black regains the lost time by the discovered attackDiscovered attackIn chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess tactics, they succeed because the opponent is unable to meet...
on the knight; White's center is liquidated and he has no compensation for the bishop pair.
- 3. h4 defends the bishop, and Black should avoid 3...Nxg5? since that will open up a file for the White rook
- 2... e6 also avoids doubled pawns since the queenQueen (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...
can recapture if White plays Bxf6. The move 2...e6 also opens a diagonal for the Black king's bishop to develop. On the debit side, the knight is now pinnedPin (chess)In chess, a pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece...
, and this can be annoying. - 2... d5 makes a grab for the centre, allowing White to inflict the doubled pawns. If White does so, Black will try to show that his pair of bishops is valuable, and that White has wasted time by moving his bishop twice in order to trade it off. By capturing away from the center (...exf6), Black will preserve a defensible pawn structure and open diagonals for his queen and dark-squared bishop.
- 2... c5 also makes a grab for the centre, planning to trade off the c-pawn for White's d-pawn. Again, White can inflict doubled pawns, and again Black will try to make use of his bishop pair.
- 2... g6 is another line, practically begging White to inflict the doubled pawns. Black's development is slightly slower than in the two lines previously mentioned. Black is intending to fianchettoFianchettoIn chess the fianchetto is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward....
his dark-squared bishop which is unopposed by a White counterpart, and will try to prove that this is more important than the doubled pawn weakness. - 2... c6 is an offbeat line in which Black intends ...Qb6, forcing White to defend or sacrifice his b-pawn. White can play the thematic 3. Bxf6 or 3. Nf3, but must avoid 3. e3?? Qa5+, when White resigned (in light of 4...Qxg5) in Djordjević vs. KovačevićVlatko KovacevicVlatko Kovačević is a Croatian and Yugoslavian grandmaster of chess.In 1970, Vlatko Kovačević tied for 9th - 11th in Rovinj–Zagreb , but beat Fischer in their individual game. In 1975, he tied for 2nd - 4th in Rovinj–Zagreb . In 1976, he won in Sombor...
, Bela Crkva 1984—"the shortest ever loss by a master" (Graham Burgess, The Quickest Chess Victories of All Time, p. 33).
2. Bg5 after 1. d4 d5
White can also play 2. Bg5 after 1. d4 d5 (called the Levitsky Attack, ECO code D00), when Black can play 2... Nf6 transposing back to the Trompowsky, or vary with, for instance, 2... c6, intending 3...Qb6 to attack White's undefended b-pawn.Further reading
- Gallagher, JoeJoseph GallagherJoseph Gerald Gallagher is a British Chess Grandmaster and former British Champion, as well as a chess author.Born to Irish parents Norah and Patrick, Gallagher was the eldest child . His sister Marie also played chess to an international standard at age 11...
(1998), The Trompovsky, Chess Press, ISBN 1-901259-09-9