I always thought the orang-utan was good for a laugh. I'll always remember a quote from the novel Schrodinger's Cat that went something like: "They looked at each other like two chessmasters who had wandered into some bizarre permutation of the orang-utan opening."
One of my friends laughed when he first heard of the Pirc defence, as the name sounds like Australian slang for vomit! And of course the Grob attack just sounds funny in and of itself! Which is quite apt for such a funny opening!
What about the Borg. I know it's just the grob spelled backwards (cuz it's played by black instead of white), but it always makes me think about Star Trek.
The Creepy Crawly formation is another cool name.
Resistance is Futile
What about the Borg. I know it's just the grob spelled backwards (cuz it's played by black instead of white), but it always makes me think about Star Trek.
The Creepy Crawly formation is another cool name.
Heh, I feel the same way about the Chigorin Defense. Sounds Klingon to me.
Also, after learning of Grob's Attack, I liked the name so much (sounded sci-fi) that I played two games with a buddy of mine in which we both had to use it on each other.
Interesting results:
Me as White: http://www.chess.com/echess/game.html?id=8409768
Him as White: http://www.chess.com/echess/game.html?id=8396695
Fried liver attack.
Cabbage patch formation.
Operation unicorn.
please tell me operation unicorn is real
Sodium Attack (1. Na3); weird, 61% of games show a win for white. Sodium is a very reactive metal, but we use it as table salt (chloride).
I've played the Fried Liver before. I've heard of the Cabbage Patch, but couldn't tell you what it is. The Operation Unicorn intrigues me as much as The Double Duck and The Pterodactyl. Gonna have to look all these up.
What I like about the Sodium Attack is that the chemical symbol for sodium is NA3, and the move is Na3.
We can't forget The Frankenstein vs Dracula Variation. This was actually just played out in The Dark Knight Tournament, and posted in the tournament blog with a really cool narration (referring to the white queen as the bride of Frankenstein for example).
http://blog.chess.com/Billium248/the-dark-knight-tournament-blog
Cabbage Patch
Garbage Opening (the pieces on the board roughly spell out the word Y.M.C.A)
Arafat opening (a line in the Omega Gambit) (aparently there is a person called arafat that plays chess and uses the line, I will try to find the quoted game and date)
Fred Goes On Holiday (random likes 1. f3 2. Kf2)
How about the Toilet variation of the Bird's opening?
"the Grob attack just sounds funny in and of itself!"
"after learning of Grob's Attack, I liked the name so much (sounded sci-fi)"
By the way, in Russian, "Grob" means "Coffin". So the name sounds like something from horror stories to me.
There is a REAL COFFIN with a christian cross on it in my chess room's storeroom, maybe it is a sign to play the grob.
Im not joking. There is really a coffin in there.
Or maybe the coffin is a sign of something else ... [Cue SPOOKY music]
Two old chess players were sitting on the front porch talking one day. They both were in their 80's. They were wondering about whether or not chess was played in heaven, so they made a pact that whoever died first would come back from the spirit world and tell the other if indeed chess was played there.
Sure enough one of the old men passed away the very next morning. That night, as promised, his spirit returned to the home of his friend. Surprised and excited, his friend asked, "So tell me, do they play chess in heaven?"
The spirit answered, "Well I've got good news and bad news. The good news is they DO PLAY chess there, and it's like nothing you've ever seen before. You always make the best move and all the old greats are there"
"That's great!", said the other guy, "but what's the bad news?"
The spirit replied, "The bad news is you're up against Capablanca tomorrow!"
I don't get it...
The O'Kelly variation of the Sicilian must be the funniest opening name yet!!!
O'Kelly?! Isn't that Irish?!
ROLF surely if an "authentic" O'Kelly plays it, the opponent must be guaranteed of a win?
Openings with animal names attached to it. Memories of the late Steve Irwin from Animal Planet flood my mind.
I'll post my list soon. Any takers?