Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. c4

The Whale C20 Open game English opening 2. c4?! · The Whale White controls d5 another time with a pawn instead of developing a piece. This move is playable but slow. It concedes White's first move advantage and has the drawbacks of creating a permanent hole on d4 and blocking the f1 bishop from developing to c4 or b5. Black has a wide range of reasonable options, including 2...Bc5, 2...Nf6, or 2...Nc6. 2...g6?! is called the Adorjan defence. This prepares to fianchetto, though the king's bishop could already develop along the a3-f8 diagonal, and invites 3. d4! exd4 4. Qxd4 with tempo on the rook on h8. 4...Nf6 5. Bg5 where 5...Bg7?? loses a piece to 6. e5+++. 2...c6?! transposes into the open variation of the accelerated Panov attack, though this improves White's position. Playing 2...d5? anyway is called the Bavarian gambit. History John Cochrane (1798―1878) experimented with this opening.John Cochrane v Howard Staunton, 1842. Chessgames.com The name, "The Whale", was coined by offbeat opening aficionado Eric Schiller, writing, "It seems to me rather large and lumbering... Jennie Frenklakh who lives close to whale territory in California played it in her early years".Unorthodox Chess Openings Schiller Eric Cardoza Publishing 1998 0-940685-73-6 New York 143-144 References See also