Programmers who don't play chess name openings all sorts of stupid ways.
Ask 100 professionals what the Van Geet opening is and they wont know, much less the Batambang variation.
How did the Battambang opening get its name?
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I'm a Cambodian Chess player and Chess may not be popular here but today I discovered that the opening origin could be very simple to explain. So I was at school and I introduced a few people to chess and they played weird openings such as 1. A4 or 1. H4 but the common reason is that in Ouk (Cambodian Chess) Most chess players tend to play that way. And coincidentally a person who has never played chess but Ouk challenged me to a game of chess and I played normally until he played the Battambang opening, At first I never realized it until I run a game analysis later. And when I asked did he know about this opening he said no and just said, “I played normally” This could probably mean that The opening got its name from a chess game from Battambang, And the reason could be it's the most played opening in that province. And this is just a hypothesis. But if there's anything that anybody knows about this opening please tell me too because I would love to learn more about this opening!
May 22, 2023
0
#5
poucin wrote:
2.a1?
I'm sure they mistyped, or it is a language barrier where pawns/pieces have a different letter for them. This variation is 1. Nc3 e5 2. a3
May 22, 2023
0
#6
fischerrook wrote:
I recent played a variation of the van geet opening...This is the Battambang variation...Does anyone know where I could research where the idea came from...
I don't know the origins to this particular variation, but I'd imagine "Battambang" is either the last name of the player who popularized this opening, or it is the name of the location (like city) where this opening became popular. About 7 months ago, I made a YouTube video roughly 45 minutes long where I tried to categorize all opening name "categories" I could think of. I give opening examples for them all. If you don't want to watch the entire video, I've conveniently labeled timestamps/chapters for each opening "category."
What makes an opening a "gambit" or a "system" or a "formation"...? I address all of these and much more, so check it out! 
I recent played a variation of the van geet opening. it's 1. Nc3 e5 2. a1. This is the Battambang variation. Battambang is a province here in Cambodia and chess is not very popular here. Does anyone know where I could research where the idea came from to name this variation for a Cambodian province? I'm very curious to find out. There must be information somewhere, but I could not find it through normal google search. Thanks if anyone can provide some direction.