Napoleon Opening
abcdefgh
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
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
e5 black pawn
e4 white pawn
f3 white queen
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
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Moves1.e4 e5 2.Qf3
ECOC20
Named afterNapoleon Bonaparte
ParentOpen Game

The Napoleon Opening is an irregular chess opening starting with the moves:

1. e4 e5
2. Qf3

As with the similar Danvers Opening (2.Qh5), White hopes for the scholar's mate (2...Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5?? 4.Qxf7#), but Black can easily avoid the attack.

History

The Napoleon Opening is named after the French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who had a deep love of chess but was said to be a mediocre player.[1] The name came into use after mid-nineteenth century publications reported[2] that he played this opening in an 1809 game[3] that he lost to The Turk, a fake chess automaton operated at the time by Johann Allgaier.[4]

Assessment

The Napoleon is a weak opening because it develops the white queen prematurely and subjects it to attack, and deprives the white king's knight of its best development square.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Murray, H.J.R. A History of Chess (London: Oxford University Press), 1913, p. 877.
  2. ↑ Winter, Edward. "Napoleon Bonaparte and Chess by Edward Winter". Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "Napoleon Bonaparte vs. The Turk (Automaton), Vienna 1809". Chessgames.com.
  4. ↑ Murray, H.J.R. A Short History of Chess (London: Oxford University Press), 1963 posthumously, p. 79.
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