A10 - English Opening
The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move:
- 1. c4
A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular[1][2] and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful[1] to the fourth most successful[3] of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the centre by staking a claim to the d5 square from the wing, in hypermodern style. Although many lines of the English have a distinct character, the opening is often used as a transpositional device in much the same way as 1.Nf3 – to avoid such highly regarded responses to 1.d4 as the Nimzo–Indian and Grünfeld defences, and is considered reliable and flexible.[4]
Read more about the English Opening on Wikipedia.
Videos -
I strongly suggest watching both of these videos in the order they are presented. The first video only covers the first 4 or 5 moves, but he gives a lot of good information about center control and controlling key squares. The second video covers 2 common responses to 1. c4. What you see in the first video will really help the second video make more sense.
White will play to control the d5 square and build-up a queenside attack. White has a lot of flexibility and can look for opportunities to switch to a king side attack.
Black has 2 major types of response. Those that work to control the dark squares and those that challenge White's claim to the light squares.
The most common response is the Reverse Sicilian. Here, black will work to control the d4 square.
Thank you for reading this blog. It will be updated as I play the opening more, so be sure to check back next time you want to try the English Opening.
Feel free to post your English games in the Pizza Forums. I have created a thread to share and discuss English Opening games.
You can also read about how I study openings.
