No, this is not a post about the London System.
Some time ago, I stumbled on an entertaining question on Quora titled What are the coolest chess opening names.
I wrote a short, but a rather superficial answer. But I immediately realized it would be an interesting topic for an extended, more thorough and researched article.
It took me a while to actually sit down, do the research and write it. But I finally managed. Today, I am able to present you with the result of my work. An article devoted to weird chess openings – openings that have funny, cool, entertaining or just plain weird names.
The article is structured as a list. The name of the variation is followed up with the actual moves and some of my comments. I have tried to find the origin of the name whenever possible. Unfortunately for the reader, I was able to do so for only a small sample of openings considered. As for the rest, you will have to put up with my dubious writing style and pitiful humour attempts.
Hope you will enjoy the show.
LIST OF WEIRD CHESS OPENINGS
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The Fried Liver (Fegatello) Attack
A variation of the Two Knights Defence including a Knight sacrifice on f7 first appeared in a game between two Italian Masters in 1610. Since the sacrifice leads to a position where the Black king has to endure an attack in the center, the variation later became known as The Fegatello or Fried Liver Attack.
The exact etymology is not known. In The Oxford Companion To Chess, David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld speculated that the name implies that the sacrifice of White’s knight is like a slice of liver used as bait in a trap 1 (in the Italian language, the word Fegatello is an idiom meaning “dead as a piece of liver”).
The opening moves of The Fried Liver Attack are:
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Fried Fox / Pork Chop (Hammerschlag Opening)
In the 19th century, an English player Thomas Wilson Barnes used a provocative opening – 1 e4 f6!? to beat none other but the greatest player of the era – Paul Charles Morphy. His name has been connected to the advance of the f-pawn with both colors (including 1 f3).
Ever since, the opening theory has advanced and introduced the so-called Fried Fox / Pork Chop / Hammerschlag. I couldn’t find any origin for its name, but I have been able to find its moves:
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The Toilet Variation
According to the urban legend, The Toilet Variation was invented by a Sicilian Grand Prix player during a visit to the “special place”.
Even without acknowledging the theory that our brain discovers brilliant ideas while we are relaxed, this story would be plausible.
Because the opening is – essentially – crap.
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The Monkey’s Bum
In the 1970s, there was a certain wave of popularity for the Modern Defence. Grandmasters such as Raymond Keene and Jonathan Speelman (and later Yasser Seirawan) used to play it on a regular basis. 2
In the search for refutation, British International Master Nigel Povah started investigating a rapid assault on the f7 square. He devised a weird variation involving a sacrifice of the d4 pawn in return for the rapid development.
When he showed the variation to his friend Ken Coates, the latter declared: “If that works then I’m a monkey’s bum!” The name stuck ever since.
The opening moves of the Monkey’s Bum variation are:
If any reader contemplates about employing it against me, I would definitely urge him to do so. I think this is a highly critical test of the Black system. I am scared of it.
So scared.
Really, really scared.
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Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl
While we are at the Modern Defence – only chess players are capable of using the words “Hyperaccelerated” and “Pterodactyl” in a single sentence. The Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl Variation refers to the set-up where Black plays 1… g6, 2….Bg7 and 3…c5:
It has to be noted that English Fide Master and trainer Charles Storey christened this set-up ‘The Sniper’ and devoted a whole book to it.
You have to admit – Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl just sounds much cooler.
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Beefeater Variation
We are still not done with the Modern defence. Even if White avoids playing the move e4, Black can stick to his set-up. A certain sub-variation of the Pterodactyl involves the counterintuitive exchange of the g7-bishop for a knight on c3, followed up by the advance of f5:
Although it is ugly looking, the variation is decent for Black. I have ventured it myself in some blitz games and I remember watching a video of Nakamura having trouble against it with the White pieces. 3
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Lion’s Jaw
The Pirc, as The Modern Defence’s closest cousin, also has something to add to the discussion. A variation with the early f3 advance is called Lion’s Jaw:
I couldn’t find anything about the origin of the name. I assume the resemblance is purely visual – White players opens the Jaw and prepares to swallow everything Black has to offer.
Including the king.
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Halloween Gambit
In the 19th century, German players in the Leipzig chess club used to play this variation of the 4 Knights Game. Due to its unsoundness, it was called “Müller and Schulze” in German, which is the equivalent for “Tom, Dick and Harry” and is a derogatory and mocking substitute for the word“everybody”.
Almost 100 years later, a German chessplayer Steffen Jakob did a heavy analysis of the line and introduced an alternative name. According to him:
“Many players are shocked, the way they would be frightened by a Halloween mask when they are mentally prepared for a boring Four Knight’s, and then they are faced with Nxe5.”
As you might have guessed, the Halloween Attack is characterized by an early sacrifice of the knight on e5:
The main source is this great article by Tim Krabbe: A Breeze In The Sleepy 4-Knight’s Game
You can also check Steffen Jakob’s page about Halloween Attack on his website
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The Sodium Attack
In chemistry, the symbol for Sodium is Na.
In chess, the notation for the knight going to the a-file is Na.
In the opening, there is only one square white knight can reach on the a-file:
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Drunken Knight Opening
If 1 Na3 is The Sodium Attack, it would be reasonable to expect that the mirror move – 1 Nh3 – is, correspondingly, The Ammonium Attack.
Alas, nothing in chess is expected. For some reason, someone connected the movement of the knight to the h-file on the first move with a different chemical element.
The element whose formula is CH3-CH2-OH.
Ethanol. More commonly known as drinking alcohol.
Because 1 Nh3 is the so-called Drunken Knight Opening:
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The Hillbilly Attack
According to the 1900 New York Journal, a hillbilly is:
A free and untrammeled white citizen of Tennessee, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires off his revolver as the fancy takes him 4
If an opening were to bear this honorable name, it has to be unsophisticated, dumb and slightly offensive. All three aims are achieved by an early Bishop foray to c4 on the second move of the Caro-Kann:
In contrast to some other variations mentioned in this post, The Hillbilly Attack is relatively playable. World Champion himself – Magnus Carlsen – used it to beat Evgeny Tomashevsky in a blitz game in World Blitz Championship 2015.
For more information on the Hillbilly Attack, I highly recommend the following article by Ginger GM Simon Williams (who also made a whole video series devoted to this opening)
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The Frankenstein-Dracula Variation
In his 1976 book on the Vienna Game, chess author Tim Harding analyzed a particularly sharp line. At one point, he remarked that the bloodthirstiness of the character of play was such that:
“[…] a game between Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster” would not seem out of place.”
Naturally, the variation later became known as The Frankenstein-Dracula Variation. It is characterized by the following moves:
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The Orangutan (Polish / Sokolsky) Opening
One of the more famous openings on this list, often faced by an average club player:
The opening was initially named after the Soviet Master Alexey Sokolsky, who was the first to analyze the opening seriously and wrote a book in Russian about it (Debyut 1b2-b4, 1963).
The story regarding two other names is more amusing, though.
In the 4th round of the New York 1924 chess tournament, Savielly Tartakower was paired against Geza Maroczy.
A day before the game the players visited the nearby zoo. Tartakower allegedly asked an Orangutan called Suzanna which first move to play. Suzanna supposedly urged him to go 1 b4.
Hence the name. The opening is also called Polish in Tartakower’s honour (since he was a Pole).
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The Flick-Knife Attack
Probably the most serious opening on this list. The Flick-Knife Attack is a very sharp and strong response to the Modern Benoni:
The variation was initially analyzed by Mark Taimanov, who concluded that 8 Bb5+ check is especially dangerous for Black. In the 1980s, Garry Kasparov picked up the baton and brought the Modern Benoni to the brink of extinction.
The term “Flick-Knife” was coined by David Norwood in his 1994 book on The Modern Benoni. The set-up visually reminded the author of the cold-weapon. And the name stuck to this day.
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Nescafe Frappe Attack
The story behind the name of the opening is fascinating.
First of all, we need to know what a coffee house player is. According to Wikipedia:
An adjective used to describe a move, player, or style of play characterized by risky, positionally dubious play that sets traps for the opponent. The name comes from the notion that one would expect to see such play in skittles, games played in a coffeehouse or similar setting, particularly in games played for stakes or blitz chess.
Now, what does it have to do with anything? Well, back in 1987, there was a certain game between Collins and Tebb, won by Black after a speculative sacrifice. Informally, the winner was nicknamed as the ‘King of Coffee House’.
Later next year, a Cambridge student and a future FIDE Master, Graham Burgess, faced Tebb with the White pieces and ‘decaffeinated’ the King of Coffee House with the help of the afore-mentioned Gambit.
This win inspired him so much, that he went on to write a whole book about the system.
In the book, he also has to say something about the name of the opening:
This line as yet has no official name (except ‘Zaitsev line with 8 Bc4’); it is generally referred to as simply ‘The Hack Line’, or for reasons which are rather obscure, the The Nescafé Frappé Attack or NFA for short.
The Nescafe Frappe Attack is characterized by the following moves:
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The Crab Opening
Dragon and Pterodactyl are not the only animals chess players have introduced in the nomenclature. There are many others. For example, the advance of the a and h pawns on the first two moves is commonly knowns as The Crab Opening:
If White’s set-up doesn’t remind you of Crab, I don’t know what to say. Perhaps I would advise you not to play Associations game
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Double Duck Formation
While we are at openings that include the advance of the pair of pawns you would normally never consider to advance – I present you a line of the Bird’s opening: Double Duck Formation.
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Aged Gibbon Gambit
Last but not least when it comes to “animal” openings The Aged Gibbon is a variation of the Old Indian Defense including an early advance of the g-pawn:
How it got its name is beyond me. If I had to guess 6, I would probably assume only Gibbons are capable of advancing the g-pawn so early. And this particular one forgot to do so on move 2 due to his age, so decided to do it on move 3 instead.
You heard it here first.
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Creepy Crawly Formation
This opening is a close cousin of the Crab Opening, as it also includes the advance of the a and h pawns.
However, this line is more sophisticated. White tries to “lure” his opponent into overextending himself:
It probably got its name because White tries to crawl creepily. Although, I would say it is – on the whole – much more Creepy than Crawly.
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The Bongcloud
This “joke” opening involving an early king move has captured the hearts of chess aficionados, especially once the Internet appeared. It also got a lot of recognition after self-renowned Bongcloud Master (BM) Andrew Fabbro published a free-ebook Winning With The Bongcloud 7
There is something romantic in the early king foray. The Bongcloud is a must for any player striving to become a pretentious asshole – there is no better way of disrespecting your opponent.
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The Apocalypse Attack
If the apocalypse is a scenario where one man fights for survival against his own, a chess equivalent would be a single piece trying to take down the entire opposing army.
In a certain variation of the Caro-Kann Exchange Variation, it is precisely what White tries to achieve:
Even though moving the knight for the second time violates the basic opening principle, this opening is actually quite playable. 8
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Vulture Defence
White is not the only one who can make aggressive knight leaps early in the opening. In a variation of the Modern Benoni, Black can violate the same opening principles and jump to e4 as early as on move 3:
Although I like the Apocalypse reference more, comparing the knight to a vulture who prepares to scavenge the remains is also a viable approach.
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Reagan’s Attack
The opening move 1 h4 was named after a French player Marcel Desprez and is known as Desprez Opening. However, like many other rare openings, it has some alternate names, such as Kadas Opening, Anti-Borg Opening or Samurai Opening.
However, the name I like the most is Reagan’s Attack. According to Eric Schillers’ Unorthodox Chess Openings, it is a joke on Reagan’s Behalf, since 1 h4 is “thoroughly unmotivated and creates weaknesses with only vague promises of future potential”.
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Wulumulu Opening
A subvariation of the Desprez Opening, including the moves 1… e5 and 2 d4:
I couldn’t find how the name of the variation came to be. My guess would be that silly openings require silly names.
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Napoleon Attack
I bet you have all heard about certain Frenchman called Napoleon Bonaparte. 9 Apart from being a general, in his free time he was also a very passionate (albeit a mediocre) chess player. 10
According to some sources, he used the variation with an early queen development against chess automaton the Turk. An alternative explanation might refer to his wife Josephine’s infidelities. Mean tongues would say he was unable to keep his Queen at home.
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Prickly Pawn Pass System
Prickly Pawn Pass System is a variation of the Botvinnik System in the English opening in which Black advances his pawn to a6:
The etymology of the name is not clear. But in contrast to other variations considered in this article, this one is quite ordinary and healthy (the plan of advancing b5 pawn is logical).
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Campomanes Attack
Last but not least – an opening named after the 5th president of FIDE Florencio Campomanes, most famous for his involvement in the controversial 1978 Karpov – Korchnoi match and his termination of the 1984 Karpov – Kasparov match.
The name refers to a variation including an atypical 3rd knight move in the main line of Caro Kann:
I am not 100% sure why this variation bears his name. I found a game which he played against none other than Mikhail Tal in 1960 Olympiad where he employed it. But I find it hard to believe he was its first (or most fervent) supporter.
I assume it is easier to have a variation named after you if you are a FIDE president.
In any case, one question remains open.
If my opponent employs it and we play a long game, should I play it until the end? Or offer him to end the game without a winner and play a new, shorter one, instead?
Boy, the opening theory is indeed sometimes confusing.
SOURCES, REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Quora: What Are The Coolest Chess Opening Names
Chesscom: The Weirdest Chess Openings
Chess.Stackexchange: Frankenstein-Dracula Variation and Other Variations With Funny Names
Chesscom: Funniest Or Weirdest Opening Name
Chesscom: Coolest Most Awesome Chess Opening Names
Chesscom: The Weirdest Chess Openings
Kingscrusher: The Top 40 Funniest Named Chess Openings
Webcitation: List Of Chess Openings And Their Names
Chesscom: Sokolsky/Polish Opening
Tim Krabbe: A Breeze in the Sleepy 4-Knight’s Game
Kenilworth Chess Club: The Apocalypse Attack
Chessmastery: Bongcloud (free pdf)
- Source: Chessskill: Fried Liver Attack
- Where are you now, haters (For the uninitiated – the author of these lines is a fervent Modern player
- Unfortunately I can’t find the exact link. You will have to take my word for granted.
- Source: Hillbily: A Cultural History of An American icon
- To be fair, though, in a recent banter blitz for chess24, Magnus admitted he was pretty much on tilt and that his victory had nothing to do with the opening.
- And I don’t, but I kinda want to
- I highly recommend it. It is short, but very humorous. ALMOST AS MY POSTS
- I was impressed by this article I found on the pages of Kenilworth Chess Club
- And if you haven’t, you should probably stop studying the Najdorf and read some chess books, you narrow-minded ignorant
- Among other things, I guess he always had trouble playing against the Petrov or Russian Defence. Get it? Russian? Guys? Guys..?
The video that is called the campomanes attack is not accurate. Campomanes attack, as lichess calls it is from the whte side, it results from a transposed Blackmar-Diemer Gambit declined where white pushes against nf6, and again against nd2, white is forced to take opening up the King, bd3 and if black fails to move the knight back to f6 it is mate in 2.