English beginning

In the 19th century, it was often used by the champion of England, Howard Staunton , hence his name. The debut received significant popularity since the 1920s .

Zuckertort , Nimzowicz , Rubinstein , Reti , Capablanca , Botvinnik contributed to the development of many variants of this debut. Often used the English beginning in tournaments and matches Smyslov , Polugaevsky , Larsen , Petrosyan , Tal , Portisch , Korchnoi , Karpov , Ulman , Lyuboevich , Andersson , Miles , Gort , Hubner , Gulko , Shuba , Kasparov , Ivanchuk , Kramnik . The latest developments and ideas in the English beginning belong to Mikhail Gurevich , Mikhail Marina , Lars Karlsson , Anthony Kosten and others.

Move 1. c2-c4 was used in world championship matches: for example, Korchnoi in matches against Karpov opened most of the games with this move. Kasparov in a match with Karpov in 1987 chose the English beginning as the main debut weapon.

Now the English beginning is not very popular among amateurs, even of a high level. It is not so easy to start a sharp tactical struggle here. In this debut, positional understanding, the art of maneuvering, the ability to feel the subtle nuances of emerging positions are important. In the English beginning, the pawn structure is not immediately determined, it has much fewer forced variations.

The main advantage of the English beginning compared to move 1. d4 is that in this opening it is easier to build the game not from the point of view of blacks, but from the point of view of whites. The English beginning allows the chess player who prefers to play closed beginnings to White to avoid many popular and deeply developed openings, such as the accepted queen's gambit , Chigorin’s defense , Albina’s countergambit , Budapest’s gambit , Slavic defense , Grünfeld ’s defense, Nimzowicz ’s defense , Bogolyubov ’s defense , defense Benoni , Volga gambit , Dutch defense , Polish defense and others. Thus, White can prevent those openings that are well studied and played by the opponent. But according to many chess players, after 1. c4 e5 White’s chances of getting an advantage are extremely small.

• 1.c4 e5 - in some cases leads to positions similar to Sicilian defense with a color change.
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Кc3 Кf6 3.g3 - dragon system in the first hand;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Кc3 Кf6 3.Кf3 - a system of three horses;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Kc3 Kf6 3.Kf3 Kc6 - a system of four horses;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Кc3 Кc6 3.g3 g6 - closed system;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Kc3 d6;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Kc3 f5;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Кc3 Кc6 3.Кf3 f5;
  • 1.c4 e5 2.Кc3 Кc6 3.g3 f5.
• 1.c4 c5
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Кf3 Кf6 3.d4 сxd4 4.Кxd4;
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Кf3 Кf6 3.Кc3 e6 4.g3 b6 5.Сg2 Сb7 6.OO - anti-New Indian scheme;
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Кf3 Кf6 3.d4 сxd4 4.Кxd4 b6 - “hedgehog” system;
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Кf3 Кf6 3.g3 b6 4.Сg2 Сb7 5. OO g6 - double fianchetto;
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Кc3 Кf6 3.Кf3 d5 4.cxd5 Кxd5 - "Modern option";
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Кc3 Кf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Кxd5 5.Сg2 - Rubinstein system;
  • 1.c4 c5 2.Kf3 Kf6 3.Kc3 Kc6 - a symmetric option.
• 1.c4 Nf6 - Anglo-Indian defense. Often leads with a permutation of moves to the defenses of Nimzowicz, Grünfeld and Old Indian , but most of the options have independent significance (anti-Nimzowicz, anti-Grünfeld);
  • 1.c4 Kf6 2.Kc3 e6 3.Kf3 Bb4 - White’s evasion of Nimtsovich’s defense
  • 1.c4 Kf6 2.Kc3 e6 3.e4 - Mykonas-Flora system;
  • 1.c4 Kf6 2.Kc3 d5 - White’s evasion of Grünfeld’s defense ;
• 1.c4 e6 - usually leads with a permutation of moves to the queen's gambit , the Catalan beginning , or to Reti's debut ;
• 1.c4 c6 - usually leads with a permutation of moves to the Slavic defense or to the defense of the Caro-Cannes ;
• 1.c4 f5 - leads to the Dutch defense if White subsequently plays d4.
• 1.c4 b6 - after 2.d4 e6 leads to an unnamed sharp debut, which was introduced into practice by E. Miles and other English chess players. White often refrains from immediately moving the d-pawn, which gives them certain advantages
• 1.c4 Kh6
  • 1.c4 Kh6 2.d4 g6 3.e4 Cg7 4.Kf3 c5 5.dc Ka6 - Lozovsky variant

• Bagirov V.K. English beginning. - M .: Physical education and sport , 1989 .-- 464 p. - ( Theory of openings ). - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-278-00167-4 .
• Ilia Odessky. English Defense. Russian Chess House, M., 2008.
• S. Shipov. Hedgehog: a textbook of strategy and tactics. M., 2004. ISBN 5-7905-2763-9
• A. Karpov. Learn to play the English beginning. Russian Chess House, M., 2006. ISBN 5-94693-046-X
• Kosten, A. The Dynamic English. London, 2008.
• Povah, Nigel. How to play the English Opening. London, 1991.