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ECO A40Semi-closed game

Horwitz Defense

A waiting move: French, Queen's Gambit or Dutch, to be decided later

  • Offbeat

1…e6 answers the queen's pawn without committing to anything. Black keeps the roads open to a French, a Queen's Gambit Declined, an Indian set-up or a Dutch. People play it to avoid one particular opening and to choose the structure later. It is more a move order than a system. If White grabs space at once, Black has conceded a little, and the game often just transposes into other, better-known openings.

Interactive Opening Board

4…Be7

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Black
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♔
White
4…Be7
Speed:

Moves

(8 plies • 4 moves)
4…Be7Tabiya
  1. 1–4moves
  2. 1.
  3. 2.
  4. 3.
  5. 4.

Defining move

1…e6 — a move that decides very little

A flexible waiting move

The pawn opens the f8 bishop and prepares …d5, …f5 or …b6. It stakes no claim in the centre yet. After 2.e4 the game becomes a French; after 2.c4 Black chooses between a Queen's Gambit, an Indian set-up and a Dutch. That freedom of choice is the main point of the move.

Tabiya

A Dutch by the side door

One common destination is a Dutch structure. Black has played …e6, …f5 and …Nf6, and White has put a bishop on g2. Black holds e5 and controls the centre with the f5 pawn, but the e6 square and the kingside are a little weaker. White wants to use the long diagonal and the space on the queenside.

White’s plan

  • Take the centre at once with 2.e4 or 2.c4 and Nc3.
  • Develop and do not let Black pick a comfortable structure.

Black’s plan

  • Wait for White's reply and choose a structure: French, Dutch or Indian.
  • Strike at the centre with d5 or f5 when it suits.
  • Keep the c8 bishop from being shut in and finish development.

Legends who played it

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