Spanish Game, Morphy Defense

My first hurdle as a budding chess player is getting a handle on some basic chess openings. This article is an ongoing analysis of one of the more common opening scenarios that I have seen in my games.

Avoiding Chess Blunders: The Damiano Defense

I am beginning a strong push to become a better chess player. I am finding that one of the keys to my becoming an adequate player is avoiding blunders. I frequently trap myself in situations by not being aware of the ramifications of a move. I have decided to use blogging as a tool to explore situations I’ve been into help both myself and other developing chess players.

The following situation, called the King’s Knight Opening, is very common during the first two moves of chess games:

The white player opens the game by moving his King’s pawn two spaces to square e4 (This is the most common opening move.) The black player moves her pawn the same way. For his second move, the white player moves his knight to square f3.

I am sure even the most inexperienced chess players have been in this situation at least ten times. The black pawn is under attack with no support. There are a few things the black player can do to equalize the situation, including putting white’s pawn under similar attack (moving her King’s knight to square g6) or supporting her pawn by moving her Queen’s knight to c6 or her Queen’s pawn to d6.

There are also a number of things that seem to be good ideas, but are not. One of these is called the Damiano Defense, and looks like this:

It seems like a good idea. The black player believes she has protected her pawn with another pawn, which means that it is up to the white player to figure out a new attack.

However, it is a blunder. Watch how it unfolds.