Horwitz Defense Opening

Hey everyone, I was looking in chessmaster through the openings and came across the Horwitz Defense openning, and I really want to use it as my opening and focus on that.

I was just wondering if anyone knew about it or could go in depth about it.

And the reason I want to learn it is because it's my last name lol. 

Looks like it's a "refutation to the Danish Gambit"....  might be tricky to use it as part of a standard repertoire -- not many folks play the Danish.

http://www.correspondencechess.com/campbell/articles/a030801.htm

You might also find a copy of this book: "Unorthodox Chess Openings" in the Cardoza/Schiller line of books (ahem). It's pretty widely available in the US of A .

http://www.chesscity.com/PDF/UCO_Front.pdf

I have dabbled with the Danish Gambit and this line looks interesting indeed. When i seen the game that bstrat provided the link to i immediatley didnt like the move 6.Nc3. I know this is a good move and is used in various lines in the Danish. Usually, white plays a timely Nc3 in order to go to d5 to block the black bishop on e6 trading with whites ''mighty bishop on c4''. In this case tho, the knight wont be going to d5 becuase of the pawn on c6 so i think developing the knight on f3 first, caslting, placing the rook on e1 and exploiting the fact that the black king is in the centre is a better option. This is a usual theme in these kind of positions as we all know. Here is a line i think is better for white if Black carries on with his ...b5 idea.

 Of course, Black does not have to play ...Nf6 and could carry on with ...Be7 (white could play Nf5) or he could still play ...Be6 and White can simply exchange it for his Knight on d4. White is compensated because his lead in development and Blacks king is in the centre. I am not going to provide millions of variations on this line but i think the Nd4 idea is better than the one played in the game provided. The b1 should rest for the time being =) As Silman says, dont just make developing moves for the sake of it. White should have a plan, and that plan in this opening regradless, is go for the king in the centre. 

  I wouldnt stop playing the Danish because of this line, as the danish offers so many good traps and always delivers a good exciting game.

 hehe yeah, i think i agree with you. Definatley not the best opening to play as black if you have bad nerves. Hey Erik, if you dont like the Smith Morra you definatley shouldnt play the black side of the Danish!

I think ...d5 is a better line than ...c6 but it can also be dangerous. 

I thought the Horwitz was 1.d4 e6. This is what I play in response to d4. It is a transposing opening meaning that you can go into lots of other different openings depending on what white plays next.

Mind you, it is only listed as Horwitz Defence on games explorer - none of my other resources label it as such. A40 just comes up as Queen's Pawn opening or it transposes into something else.

Anyway, point is that you don't need to learn any theory on it - you just use it to get into the opening that you have learned theory on e.g. French, benoni, Nimzo/queen's Indian, slav, English defence etc.

For anyone looking to try out Horowitz's unusual (and excellent) defense against the Danish Gambit, there is a thematic Danish Gambit tournament starting on April Fools' Day.

http://www.chess.com/tournament/danish-gambit-thematic

Wanting to play a line because its name is the same as yours indicates a serious lack of desire to becone a good chess player.

Best game I have ever played(2100 elo) https://www.chess.com/live/game/2165923200