Desprez Opening
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Moves | 1.h4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ECO | A00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Named after | Marcel Després | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonym(s) | Kádas Opening Anti-Borg Opening Samurai Opening Harry's Opening Reagan's Attack |
TheDespréz Opening,also called theKadas Openingis achess openingcharacterised by the opening move:
- 1.h4
The opening is named after the French playerMarcel Despréz .Like a number of other rare openings, 1.h4 has some alternate names such asAnti-Borg Opening,Samurai OpeningandHarry's Opening.
As the Despréz Opening is very rare, it is considered anirregular openingand is classified under the A00 code in theEncyclopaedia of Chess Openings.
Assessment
[edit]Like 1.a4, theWare Opening,1.h4 does nothing in the fight overcentral spaceand does very little in the way ofdevelopment.The only piece released is therook,which is usually not developed to h3. In addition, 1.h4 weakens White'skingside.For these reasons, 1.h4 is among the rarest of the twenty possible first moves for White.
Black usually responds by grabbing the center with 1...d5 or 1...e5. A simple and sound development by 1...Nf6 is also possible. The response 1...g6, intending tofianchettothe Black'sbishopon g7, is rare, because White can undermine Black'spawn structurewith 2.h5, making 1.h4 seem logical.
GrandmasterDavid Bronsteinonce remarked that he knew of a Russian player who always opened with 1.h4 and always won. His point was that after 1...e5 2.g3 d5 3.d4!exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd1 Nf6 6.Nh3! Be7 7.Nf4 0-0 8.Bg2, the f4-knight is well placed, leaving White with a good position.[1]However, Black does not have to be so cooperative.
See also
[edit]- List of chess openings
- List of chess openings named after people
- “The Chess Opening 1.h4” by Edward Winter
References
[edit]- ^McDonald, Neil(2001).Concise Chess Openings.Everyman. p. 301.ISBN1-85744-297-0.
Bibliography
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg/40px-Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg.png)
- Dunnington, Angus(2000).Winning Unorthodox Openings.Everyman Chess.ISBN978-1-85744-285-4.
- Schiller, Eric(2002).Unorthodox Chess Openings(Second ed.).Cardoza Publishing.p. 237.ISBN1-58042-072-9.