Ware Opening

The Ware Opening attacks the b5-square and prepares to bring the a1-rook into the game. The b5-square is non-essential and if Black plays 1...e5, the f8-bishop prevents the development of the white rook for the moment. The reply 1...e5 also gains space for Black in the center, a typical objective of most openings but one completely ignored by the Ware Opening. Noting all this, the Ware Opening is normally seen played only by players completely new to chess.

An experienced player using the Ware Opening will usually meet a response of 1...d5 or 1...e5 with 2.d4 or 2.e4, respectively, since a reversed Scandinavian or Englund Gambit would be unsound here. After 1...d5 2.Nf3, 2...Nf6 is recommended, since a reversed Fajarowicz can arise after 2...c5 3.e4!? dxe4 4.Ne5 where a4 has some utility.Benjamin (1987), pp. 100–01.

In the 2012 World Blitz Championship, 1.a4 was employed as a little joke by Magnus Carlsen against Teimour Radjabov, who during the blitz championship two years earlier had told him "Everyone is getting tired. You might as well start with 1.a4 and you can still beat them." The game soon turned into a sort of Four Knights Game where Carlsen finally prevailed.{{cite news|url=http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/grischuk-wins-2nd-world-blitz-title-in-astana|publisher=ChessVibes|title=Grischuk wins 2nd World Blitz title in Astana|date=10 July 2012|access-date=11 July 2012|archive-date=12 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712124143/http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/grischuk-wins-2nd-world-blitz-title-in-astana|url-status=dead}}

Carlsen also played this in the blitz portion of the 2022 Norway chess tournament, ultimately losing to Wesley So.{{citation needed |date=October 2024}}

There are several named variations of the Ware Opening. The best known of these are:

• 1...e5 2.a5 d5 3.e3 f5 4.a6 (Ware Gambit). Schiller (1998), p. 475. In this variation, White attempts to create an open file in exchange for a pawn.
• 1...e5 2.h4 (Crab Variation). This version is generally chosen more for its aesthetic considerations than its strategic ones; white's pawns extend like a crab's pincers, preparing to attack on the sides.{{cn|date=December 2017}}
• 1...b6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nd7 (Cologne Gambit).Schiller (1998), p. 474.
• 1...b5 2.axb5 Bb7 (Wing Gambit of the Ware Opening).
• 1...a5 (Symmetric Variation).{{cn|date=December 2017}}
• 1... e5 2. Ra3 (Meadow Hay Trap)

• Corn Stalk Defense – sometimes known as the "Ware Defense"
• List of chess openings
• List of chess openings named after people

{{reflist|30em}}

Bibliography

• {{cite book

|last1=Benjamin

|first1=Joel

|author-link1=Joel Benjamin

|last2=Schiller

|first2=Eric

|author-link2=Eric Schiller

|title=Unorthodox Openings

|publisher=Macmillan Publishing Company

|year=1987

|isbn=0-02-016590-0}}

• {{cite book |last=Dunnington |first=Angus |author-link=Angus Dunnington |year=2000 |title=Winning Unorthodox Openings |publisher=Everyman Chess |isbn=978-1-85744-285-4}}
• {{cite book

|last1=Hooper

|first1=David

|author-link1=David Vincent Hooper

|last2=Whyld

|first2=Kenneth

|author-link2=Kenneth Whyld

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|publisher=Oxford University Press

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|year=1996

|orig-year=First pub. 1992

|isbn=0-19-280049-3}}

• {{cite book

|last=Schiller

|first=Eric

|author-link=Eric Schiller

|title=Unorthodox Chess Openings

|publisher=Cardoza Publishing

|edition=2nd

|year=2002

|pages=506–08

|isbn=1-58042-072-9}}

• {{cite book

|last=Schiller

|first=Eric

|author-link=Eric Schiller

|title=Unorthodox Chess Openings

|publisher=Cardoza Publishing

|year=1998

|isbn=0-940685-73-6

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/unorthodoxchesso00schi

}}

{{White's twenty opening moves in chess}}

Category:Chess openings

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