On here you will find links to my pages about Chess openings. Simply click on the link to go to the opening that you want.
1. e4 e5; 2. Nf3 Nc6; 3. Bc4 Nd4;
The Blackburne Gambit is an alternative reply to the normal lines of 3....Bc5 and 3....Nf6 against the Giuoco Piano/Italian Game. There is a good trap in this opening where black is guaranteed to go ahead if white makes the mistake of accepting the gambit. There is a 7 move checkmate possible for black which might catch out some players.
1. d4 Nf6; 2. c4 e5;
The Budapest Gambit is an opening you might like to try if you don't like playing against the Queen's Gambit. I particularly recommend it for players with good end games as in my experience, it tends to lead to equal end games. There is a trap in the main line of this opening where it is possible for black to get checkmate in 8 moves.
1. e4 Nh6; 2. d4 g6; 3. c4 f6;
The Hippopotamus Defense is an opening that you might like to try if you want something a bit more unusual. Black gets a strong defense very early on in the game and will launch a counter attack early on in the middle game. It might look a bit strange but I have had good success with it. A good thing about the opening is that it can be played against almost any opening that white chooses (1. e4, 1. d4, 1. c4, 1. Nf3 etc).
1. e4 e5; 2. Nf3 Nc6; 3. Bb5
The Ruy Lopez is one of the most common openings in Chess. This page looks at many variations with advice for playing both the white and black side of the opening. The variations included are the Arkhangelsk Variation, Berlin Defense, Bird's Defense, Breyer Variation, Centre Attack, Chigorin Variation, Classical/Cordel Defense, Closed Defense, Exchange Variation, Marshall Counter Gambit, Avoiding the Marshall Counter Gambit, Morphy Defense, Open Defense, Schliemann/Jaenisch Gambit, Smyslov/Zaitsev Variation, Steinitz Defense, Worrall Attack and the 9....Be6 variation.
1. d4 d5; 2. c4 c6;
The Slav Defense is a common reply to the Queen's Gambit that is popular amongst all standards of players. This website concentrates mainly on the Semi-Slav Defense but also briefly looks at a few of the other variations.
1. e4 a6;
The St George's Defense is an opening that is closely related to the French Defense. It can be strong for black if white allows black to get into the sort of position that black is aiming for early on in the game.
Chess Puzzles
This is a collection of checkmate puzzles. There are sets of 12 puzzles for beginners, intermediate and advanced players.
Chess Opening Statistics
These are statistics compiled from over 2 million games. It shows for each opening and variation what percentage of matches were won by white, black and were drawn. Also included are white's and black's best and worst 10 openings statistically and what are the most and least drawn openings. There are statistics for nearly 300 different openings and variations.
Chess
Play Chess online against a computer opponent.
How to Beat Chess Computers
This page gives tips and advice on how to beat Chess Computers. It gives advice on what to do and what not to do against Chess Computers and includes example games that demonstrate a few key points.