Many of the 1,327 named chess openings and variants listed by The Oxford Companion to Chess are named for geographic places.
A
Aachen Gambit of the Nimzowitsch Defense – 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Nb4 Aasum Gambit of the Dunst Opening – 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Bc4 Abbazia Defense of the King's Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5Abbazia Defense from chess.com. The name 'Abbazia' comes from the Abbazia 1912 tournament in which the variation was played six times. Abbazia is now the city of Opatija in Croatia. Adelaide Countergambit of the King's Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5 Agincourt Defense of the English Opening – 1.c4 e6 Aleppo Gambit, synonym of the Queen's Gambit – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Amazon Attack of the Queen's Pawn Opening – 1.d4 d5 2.Qd3 American Attack of the Dutch Defense, variation of the Staunton Gambit – 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nd2 American Attack of the Sicilian Defense, Taimanov Variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Ndb5 Bb4 7. Nd6+ Amsterdam Variation of the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 Amsterdam Variation of the Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Qd2 Arctic Defense of the Zukertort Opening – 1.Nf3 f6 Argentine Gambit of the Baltic Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5 3.cxd5 Bxb1 4.Qa4+ c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 Argentine Variation of the Cambridge Springs Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 0-0 9.Bh4 Arkhangelsk Defense (or Archangel Defense) of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 Armenian Variation of the French Defense – 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5 6. b4 cxd4 Australian Defense – 1.d4 Na6 Australian Gambit of the King's Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.h4 Austrian Attack in the Pirc Defense – 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Austrian Defense of the Queen's Gambit Declined – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5
B
Baguio Variation of the Ruy Lopez -1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 Bf5 Balkan Gambit – 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 dxe4 4.Ng5 Baltic Defense of the Queen's Gambit Declined – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5 Baltic Defense of the Polish Opening – 1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5 Baltic Opening (or Dunst Opening) – 1.Nc3 Basque Gambit of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d4 exd4 7.e5 Ne4 8.c3 Basque Opening – 1.d4 Nf6 2.b3 Batavo Gambit of the Bird's Opening - 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.e4 dxe4 Battambang Opening – 1.Nc3 e5 2.a3 Bavarian Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.c4 d5 Bayreuth Variation of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Bxc6 Belgrade Gambit of the Four Knights – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5 Benelux Variation of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 Bb6 (named for the Benelux countries) Berlin Defense of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Beverwijk Variation of the Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 Birmingham Defense (more commonly as the St. George Defense): – 1.e4 a6 Birmingham Gambit of the Polish Opening – 1.b4 c5 Bled Variation of the English Opening – 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3 Nf6 4.Bb2 g6 Bohemian Attack of the Caro–Kann Defense – 1.e4 c6 2.Ne2 Brazilian Defense – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qe7 Bremen Variation of the English Opening – 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Breslau Variation of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Re1 0-0 11.Nd4 Nxe5 Brooklyn Defense of the Alekhine's Defense – 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8 Brussels Gambit of the Sicilian Defense – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 f5 Budapest Gambit – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 Bulgarian Variation of the Ruy Lopez – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a5
C
Calabrese Countergambit of the Bishop's Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 Cambridge Gambit of the Alekhine's Defense – 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 g5 Cambridge Springs Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 c6 6.e3 Qa5 Canadian Gambit of the Indian Game – 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 c5 3.e4 Canadian Opening of the Indian Game – 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 Carlsbad Variation of the Slav Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 Carlsbad Variation of the Sicilian Defense, Wing Gambit – 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 bxa3 Catalan Opening – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Chelyabinsk Variation of the Sicilian Defense – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 Chicago Defense of the Sicilian Defense, Smith–Morra Gambit – 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 e6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.0-0 a6 Hannes Langrock, The Modern Morra Gambit: A Dynamic Weapon Against the Sicilian, Russell Enterprises, 2006, pp. 219–20. . Chicago Gambit of the Irish Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5? Nxe5 4.d4 Chinese Variation of the Pirc Defense – 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4!? Chinese Variation of the Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rb8 Clarendon Court Variation of the Benoni Defense – 1.d4 c5 2.d5 f5 Cocquio Countergambit of the QGD – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 c6 Cologne Gambit of the Ware Opening – 1.a4 b6 2.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nd7 Colorado Gambit of the Nimzowitsch Defense – 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5 Copenhagen Defense of the Danish Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bb4+ Cracow Variation of the Italian Game – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Kf1?! Czech Defense, the term used by Siegbert Tarrasch for the Slav Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6Siegbert Tarrasch, The Game of Chess, David McKay, 1938, p. 341. Czech Defense (Pribyl System) of the Pirc Defense – 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 Czech Defense of the Polish opening – 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 d6 Czech-Indian Variation of the Indian Game – 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c6 Czech Variation of the Benoni Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 Czech Variation of the Old Indian Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 c6 Czech Variation of the Slav Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 Slav Defense: Modern, Alapin Variation, Czech Variation
D
Danish Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Danube Gambit – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 c6 Dresden Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4 Duisburg Gambit of the QGD – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 Düsseldorf Gambit of the Van Geet Opening – 1. Nc3 c5 2. b4 Dutch Defense – 1.d4 f5 Dutch Variation of the Slav Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 Dutch Variation of Reti Opening – 1. Nf3 f5 Dutch Variation of Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack – 1. b3 f5
E
East Indian Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 Edinburgh Variation of the Caro–Kann Defense – 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Qb6 English Attack of the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 and 7.f3 English Defense – 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 English Opening – 1.c4
F
Finnish Variation of the Caro–Kann Defense – 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 h6 Florentine Gambit of the King's Indian Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.e5 Folkestone Variation (or Swedish Variation) of the QGD – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 c4 Fort Knox Variation of the French Defense – 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 Frankfurt Variation of the French Defense – 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Ng8 6.Be3 b6 French Defense – 1.e4 e6
G
Genoa Opening (known as the Grob Attack) – 1.g4 Gent Gambit of the Amar Opening (Paris) – 1.Nh3 d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4 Bxh3 4.Bxh3 exf4 5.0-0 fxg3 6.hxg3 German Defense of the Polish Opening (Orangutan or Sokolsky Opening) – 1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Qd6 Glasgow Kiss Variation of the Slav Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Nc6 Goteborg (Gothenburg) System of the Scandinavian Defense – 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 e5 5.Nf3 Gothenburg Variation of the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 g5 Granada Gambit of the Italian Game, Two Knights Defense, Blackburne Variation – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 cxb5 9.Qxa8 Graz Variation of the Ruy Lopez – 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 Bc5 Graz Attack of the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack – 1.b3 d5 2.Ba3 Greek Defense (or Owen's Defense) – 1.e4 b6 Guatemalan Defense of the Greek Defense or Owen's Defense – 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Ba6
H
Hastings Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nc3 c6 7.Qb3 Hollywood Variation of the King's Indian Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e3 d6 6.Be2 Nc6 Hungarian Attack of the English Opening – 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Rb1 Hungarian Defense – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 Hungarian Gambit (or Breyer Gambit) of the King's Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Qf3 Hungarian Gambit of the Catalan Opening – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 e5 Hungarian Opening (or Benko's Opening) – 1.g3 Hungarian Variation of the Sicilian Defense – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4
I
Icelandic Gambit of the Scandinavian Defense – 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 e6 Indian Defenses: a complex of chess openings beginning – 1.d4 Nf6, including the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Defense, King's Indian Defense, Bogo-Indian Defense, Old Indian Defense, Janowski Indian Defense, etc. Inverted Hungarian Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Be2 Irish Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 Israeli Gambit (or Halasz Gambit) – 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.f4 Italian Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 Italian Game – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 (Bc5)
J
Jalalabad Defense – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 c5 or 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e5
K
Kahiko-Hula Gambit of the English Opening – 1.c4 e5 2.e3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 Karlsruhe Variation of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit – 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3 g6 Kazakh Variation of the King's Indian – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6 Kecskemet Variation of the Ruy Lopez –1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.d4 Bd7 9.Nbd2 Be8 Kemeri Variation of the King's Indian Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5 Kentucky Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+? Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 Keoni-Hiva Gambit of the Van't Kruijs Opening – 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 (Akahi Variation), 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 (Alua Variation), 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 d5 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 (Ekolu Variation) Kiel Variation of the Scandinavian Defense – 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4
L
Latvian Gambit – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 Leipzig Gambit (or Müller-Schulze Gambit) – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5?! Lemberg Gambit (Lviv Gambit) – 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.e4 or 1.Nf3 d5 2.e4 Lemberg Countergambit – 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5 Leningrad Variation of the Dutch Defense – 1.d4 f5 2.g3 g6 Lisbon Gambit of the Dutch Defense – 1.d4 f5 2.g4 fxg4 3.h3 Lisbon Gambit of the Queen's Pawn Opening, English Rat – 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Nc6 Lithuanian Variation of the Mikėnas Defense – 1.d4 Nc6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 Nce7 Lodz Variation of the Tarrasch Defense – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 London System, a set of related chess openings characterised by 1.d4 followed by an early Bf4, e.g. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4; 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4; and 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4
M
Macedonian Variation of the English Opening – 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 Maltese Falcon Attack (or Gibbins-Wiedehagen Gambit) – 1.d4 Nf6 2.g4 Nxg4 3.f3 Nf6 4.e4 Manhattan Gambit of the Dutch Defense – 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3 Nf6 3.g4 Manhattan Variation of the QGD (also called the Westphalia Defense) – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 or 5.e3 Bb4 Mannheim Variation of the QGA – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qa4+ Mar del Plata Variation of the King's Indian Defense – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7