Van 't Kruijs Opening
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8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
e7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
e3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Moves1.e3
ECOA00
Named afterMaarten van 't Kruijs
Synonym(s)Van 't Kruys Opening

The Van 't Kruijs[lower-alpha 1] Opening (Dutch pronunciation: [vɑn ət ˈkrœys]) is a chess opening defined by the move:

1. e3

It is named after the Dutch player Maarten van 't Kruijs (1813–1885) who won the sixth Dutch championship in 1878. As this opening move is rarely played, it is considered an irregular opening, and thus it is classified under the A00 code in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.

Discussion

Although there are several examples from games in the 19th century, the Van 't Kruijs Opening is not popular in the modern era and is not a common choice for grandmasters, but its ability to transpose into many different openings explains its attraction for some players such as Pavel Blatny, Aron Nimzowitsch,[1] and Bent Larsen. Benjamin & Schiller (1987) call it a "chameleon". According to ChessBase, it ranks sixth in popularity out of the twenty possible first moves.[2]

The loss of popularity is due to 1.e3 gaining little except as a transposition strategy to reach other positions.[3][4] It releases the king's bishop, and makes a modest claim in the centre (supporting a future d4), but the move is somewhat passive compared to the much more common King's Pawn Game (1.e4). The queen's bishop's development is somewhat obstructed by the pawn on e3, and White usually wants to take more than a modest stake of the centre.

Although not very aggressive for a first move, play may transpose to lines of the English Opening (c2–c4), Queen's Pawn Game (d2–d4), or French Defense (delayed d2–d4), reversed Dutch Defense (f2–f4) positions, the modern variation of Larsen's Opening (b2–b3), or the Stonewall Attack.

Black's response

Benjamin & Schiller's (1987) general advice is to watch out for transpositions and suggest a 1...g6 fianchetto response since e3 positions against fianchetto are weak. The most common response after 1.e3 is 1...Nf6, where White generally continues with 2.Nf3, effectively transposing to the Reti Opening. Here, White can either play d4 soon after, potentially transposing to a Queen's Gambit Declined line, but can also deviate with a system similar to the Hedgehog System played by Black, with b3, c4, Nbd2, and Be2.

If Black responds with 1... d5 or 1...c5, White can respond similarly to 1...Nf6. Even 1...b6!?, 1...g6!?, 1...c6!?, or 1...e6 is completely playable. Another common response is 1...e5, where White usually plays 2.d4, transposing to the French Defense Exchange Variation after 2...exd4 3.exd4 d5. However, either White or Black can deviate, showing the flexibility of this opening.

Other moves like 1...b5?, 1...g5?!, 1...h5?!, or 1...a5?! are rarely played.

There are also a few experimental moves that can be tried. For example, after 1.e3 e5, White can play 2.e4!?, therefore making it a reversed Open Game. This is often used when White has much knowledge of the opening when playing as Black. Therefore, this can be used to ensnare a few opponents into traps. However, since this gives the first move advantage to Black straight away, this is not recommended. Similarly, 1.e3 f5 2.e4 goes to a reversed From's Gambit, where White is practically playing as Black.

Variations

  • 1.e3 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 e5 4.d4 Nbd7 (Sokolsky–Panoff 1936)[5][6]
  • 1.e3 e5 2.b3 c5 3.Bb2 Nc6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Ne5 d6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.d3 Nf6 8.dxe4 Nxe4 9.Bd3 Qa5+[7]
  • 1.e3 e5 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.b3 Nf6 (Amsterdam Attack)[4]
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 d5 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.e4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.e5 Ne4 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Ne2 Be7 11.Be3 Qxd4 12.Nxd4 Bd7 (Nimzovitchz–Tarrasch 1928)[8][9]
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.e4 dxe4 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.Bg5 Bf5 8.0-0-0+ Nd7 9.Nce2[5]
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Be2 d5 4.d4 exd4 (Horing–Paulsen 1863)
  • 1.e3 e5 2.Bc4 d5 3.Bb3
  • 1.e3 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.a3 e5 4.f4 exf4 5.Nf3
  • 1.e3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e5 4.Ne2 d5 (Wisker–Bird 1873)
  • 1.e3 b6 2.b3 Bb7 3.Bb2 d6 4.d4 Nf6 (Mason–Winawer 1881)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Also spelled Van 't Kruys.

References

  1. ↑ Aron Nimzowitsch playing 1.e3 at Chessgames.com
  2. ↑ "ChessBase - Chess database with eight million games. Openings, players, tournaments". database.chessbase.com. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  3. ↑ Watson, John (2010). Mastering the chess opening. Vol. 4. Gambit. p. 269.
  4. 1 2 Benjamin, Joel; Schiller, Eric (1987). Unorthodox openings. BT Batsford. p. 11.
  5. 1 2 Griffith, RC; White, JH (1939). Fine, Reuben; Griffith, RC; Sergeant, PW (eds.). Modern chess openings (6 ed.). D McKay. p. 87.
  6. ↑ "Alexey Sokolsky vs. Vasily Panov (1936)".
  7. ↑ Chess Informant (1979). Encyclopaedia of chess openings. Šahovski Informator. p. 12. Chess Informant considers the position even (=).
  8. ↑ Griffith, RC; White, JH (1939). Fine, Reuben; Griffith, RC; Sergeant, PW (eds.). Modern chess openings (6 ed.). D McKay. p. 87. Fine et al. highlight these Nimzovitchz–Tarrasch moves as the main line and considers this position as even.
  9. ↑ "Aron Nimzowitsch vs. Siegbert Tarrasch (1928)".

Further reading

The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: Van 't Kruijs Opening
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