Owen's Defence
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| Moves | 1.e4 b6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | B00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | 1619 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Rev. John Owen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Pawn Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Queen's Fianchetto Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owen's Defence (also known as the Queen's Fianchetto Defence[1]) is an uncommon chess opening defined by the moves:
By playing 1...b6, Black prepares to fianchetto the queen's bishop where it will participate in the battle for the centre. The downside of this plan is that White can occupy the centre with pawns and gain a spatial advantage. Moreover, 1...b6 does not prepare kingside castling as 1...g6 does, and it is harder for Black to augment their pressure against the centre with ...f5, which weakens the kingside, than it is to play the corresponding move ...c5 after 1...g6.[2] Owen's Defence accordingly has a dubious reputation.[3][4][5]
Owen's Defence is classified as code B00 by the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.
History
The first master strength player to employ 1.e4 b6 on a regular basis was the 19th-century vicar and strong amateur chess player John Owen,[1] after whom the opening is named. Owen seems to have used 1.e4 b6 as his main defence for the majority of his career, including in two games against Paul Morphy in 1858 (scoring one win[6] and one loss.[7])
In 1889, Owen's Defence was played seven times by Isidor Gunsberg at the US Chess Congress (scoring +4,=2,-1), but the opening was otherwise a very rare visitor in master level chess until the 1970s when it was adopted by freethinkers such as Bent Larsen and Michael Basman. In more recent times Owen's Defence has been played with some regularity by grandmasters Pavel Blatny, Artashes Minasian, Nona Gaprindashvili, Tony Miles, Edvīns Ķeņģis, and Normunds Miezis, and by International Masters Bauer, Bricard and Filipovic.[8] The opening remains rare but has enjoyed a certain amount of popularity in top-level online blitz tournaments, including in games by Alireza Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Teimour Radjabov.
Theory
The theory of Owen's Defence is less developed than that of other openings. This makes it attractive to some players, since their opponents will often be ill-prepared for it and hence forced to think for themselves.[2] GM Christian Bauer observes:[9]
To be honest, I don't think Black can equalise as quickly with 1...b6 as he sometimes does in standard openings, and he may suffer against a well-prepared opponent. Then again, the well-prepared opponent is rare for such marginal variations as 1...b6, and in any case, with reasonable play I'm sure White can't get more than a slight advantage from the opening – a risk everyone is running as Black, aren't they?
According to MCO-15, after 2. d4 Bb7 White gets the advantage with either:
- 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Nf6 (5...cxd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Qe2 d5 9.e5 Ne4 10.0-0!? Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nxc3 12.Qe3 Nc6 13.Bb2 Ne4 14.Ba3 and White had a large advantage in Adams–Vanderwaeren, Moscow Olympiad 1994) 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. a3! d5 8. e5 Nfd7 9. b4 Be7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Re1 "with a clear plus", or
- 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qxf6 9. 0-0 d6 10. Nd2 e5 11. f4 Qe7 12. Qg4, as in David–Bauer, France 2005.[10]
Black may also be able to transpose into forms of the Hippopotamus Defence, by playing ...g6 and ...Bg7, attaining a double fianchetto formation. This approach was used by GM Boris Spassky in games 12 and 16 of his 1966 World Championship match against the then World Champion Tigran Petrosian; Spassky drew both games. It had been developed and played by the Slovakian International Master Maximilian Ujtelky a few years before this.
Illustrative games
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| 8 |              | 8 | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
Speelman vs. Basman, British Championship 1984:
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 b6 3. d4 Bb7 transposing to a position more commonly reached by 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6. 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Nge2 c5 6. d5! a6 6...exd5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Bxd5 9.Nf4 Bc6 (9...Be6? 10.Be4 wins; 9...Qe7+!?)[11] 10.Bc4! "gives White strong pressure".[12] 7. a4 exd5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Bxd5 10. Nf4 Be6 11. Be4 Ra7 12. 0-0 Be7 Watson and Schiller also give 12...g6 13.a5! as favoring White after 13...bxa5 14.Bd2 or 13...b5 14.Be3 d6 15.b4 Be7 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Qg4 Qc8 18.bxc5 dxc5 19.Bh6, intending Rad1, Rfe1, and h4–h5 "with great pressure for just a pawn".[13] 13. Ra3 0-0 14. Rg3 f5 15. Bd5 Rf6? Better is 15...Bxd5!? 16.Qxd5+ Rf7 17.Nh5 with a strong attack.[11] 16. Re1 Bxd5 17. Qxd5+ Rf7 18. Nh5 g6 19. Bh6 Nc6 20. Rge3 (see diagram) 1–0[14] White threatens both 21.Rxe7! Nxe7 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.Qxf7 and 21.Nf6+! Bxf6 (21...Kh8 22.Qxf7) 22.Re8+. On 20...gxh5, 21.Rg3+ wins; 20...Bf8 21.Re8 gxh5 23.Bxf8!; 20...Ra8 21.Rxe7! Nxe7 and now either 22.Rxe7 Qxe7 23.Qxa8+ or 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.Qxf7 wins.[11]
Bibliography
- Bauer, Christian. Play 1...b6 (Everyman Chess, 2005).
- Coles, Nevil. Owen's Defence, chapter 19 (pp112-120) in the 1977 & 1978 impressions of Nimzowitsch/Larsen Attack by Keene, R. (Batsford, 1977). Absent from subsequent reprints.
- Gawehns, Klaus. Theorie und Praxis: Owen-Verteidigung (Part I in Kaissiber 30, pp20-42, Part II in Kaissiber 32, pp45-61, both 2008, ISBNs 4194305406103/80030 & 4194305406103/80032).
- Lakdawala, Cyrus. 1...b6: Move by Move (Everyman Chess, 2014).
- Odessky, Ilya. 'Winning quickly with 1.b3 and 1...b6 (New In Chess, 2020).
- Trent, Lawrence. 1...b6 Against Everything (Chessable.com, 2021).
See also
References
- ^ a b David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed. 1992), p. 286. ISBN 0-19-866164-9.
- ^ a b Christian Bauer, Play 1...b6, Everyman Chess, 2005, p. 5. ISBN 1-85744-410-8.
- ^ Owen's Defence "enjoyed a brief revival at the hands of American IM Regan and Yugoslav GM Sahović. Unfortunately, the attention it received unearthed more accurate lines for White and it is currently considered insufficient." Garry Kasparov and Raymond Keene, Batsford Chess Openings 2, Collier Books, 1989, p. 228. ISBN 0-02-033991-7.
- ^ Owen's Defence is "viewed by theory as unreliable". Nick de Firmian, Modern Chess Openings, 15th edition, Random House Puzzles & Games, 2008, p. 385. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.
- ^ "Owen's Defence ... is regarded by current theory as suspicious". Bauer 2005, p. 7.
- ^ Paul Morphy vs John Owen, London m2 1858 ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2011-08-29.
- ^ Paul Morphy vs John Owen, London m2 1858 ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-12.
- ^ Bauer 2005, p. 6.
- ^ Bauer 2005, p. 7.
- ^ de Firmian 2008, p. 385.
- ^ a b c Speelman's annotations in Chess Informant, Volume 38, Šahovski Informator, 1985, p. 74.
- ^ Watson & Schiller 1995, p. 111.
- ^ Watson & Schiller 1995, p. 114.
- ^ Speelman–Basman, British Championship 1984. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-15.
External links
- Marcin Maciaga, Flexible System of Defensive Play for Black – 1...b6
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