More Irregular Chess Openings Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yes

Yes, Boris Spassky, one of my favorite former world champions, essayed this opening twice in world championship play against Tigran Petrosian. By placing one's pieces passively on the second rank and pawns on the 3rd rank, Black invites White to try to penetrate Black's pesky defenses.

Answer: 1.e4 b6

Owen's Defense is characterized by the fianchetto of Black's bishop on b7. It's obvious drawbacks derive from a lack of development on the Kingside and its relative passivity. That being said, Black can sometimes attain pressure on the center via control of the h1-a8 diagonal.

Answer: 1. .. a6

Despite being seemingly innocuous and perhaps giving White another tempo in the opening, some players have experienced a great deal of success with this opening. Tony Miles was a supremely gifted player and used this defense to defeat Anatoly Karpov, a former world champion.

Answer: 1.Nh3

As with most irregular openings, this deployment of the N to h3 can hardly be recommended. Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch, a great rival of Emanuel Lasker, quipped that, "A knight on the rim is grim." This aphorism is true for knights in all phases of the game and especially in the opening.

Answer: False

The Patzer Opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5, is also known by some other names: Wayward Queen's Attack, Danver's Opening, Parham's Opening, and a few others. A patzer is an inexperienced or poor chessplayer. While there exists some opportunity for Black to make some fatal errors, with correct play by Black, White's queen will be an easy target for attack by Black's minor pieces and pawns.

After 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5, 2. ..Nc6 is a strong reply. 2. ..Ke7 is the absolute worst reply, as it allows 3.Qxe5#.

Answer: Crab Opening

Even if you are a strong player, it might be difficult to recover after playing this opening against adequate play by Black. It does nothing to contend for control of the center or promote the development of your pieces. The Battambang Opening is: 1.Nc3 e5 2.a3.

Answer: 1. .. f5

It might be more aptly called Fred's Gambit, as after 2.exf5 Nf6, White can simply develop normally with 3.d4 followed by 4.Bd3 to protect the pawn on f5.

Answer: 2. .. Qe7

Although 2. .. Qe7 does, in fact, defend the pawn on e5, further development on the kingside is problematic. Statistically and not surprisingly, this opening has one of the worst success ratios in tournament play.

Answer: Napoleon Opening

There aren't too many game scores available of games played by Napoleon, but here is one that Napoleon played against The Turk:

1.e4 e5 2.Qf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 (Napoleon is shamelessly trying for a Scholar's Mate) 4.Ne2 Bc5 5.a3 d6 6.O-O Bg4
7.Qd3 Nh5 8.h3 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nf4 10.Qe1 Nd4 11.Bb3 Nxh3+
12.Kh2 Qh4 13.g3 Nf3+ 14.Kg2 Nxe1+ 15.Rxe1 Qg4 16.d3 Bxf2
17.Rh1 Qxg3+ 18.Kf1 Bd4 19.Ke2 Qg2+ 20.Kd1 Qxh1+ 21.Kd2
Qg2+ 22.Ke1 Ng1 23.Nc3 Bxc3+ 24.bxc3 Qe2# 0-1

By the way, The Turk was supposed to be an automaton, a chess playing machine, but was actually operated by a strong player hiding inside the machine.

Answer: True

As silly as its name, the Fried Fox variation of the Barne's Defense may be played as follows: 1.e4 f6 2.d4 Kf7. It really has no merit whatsoever, but it does have a silly name.