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English Defense

1.d4 b6 2.c4

Against 1.d4 and 2.c4, Black plays ...b6, ...e6 and ...Bb7, letting White take the center and then attacking it with pieces and ...f5.

Fun fact: The English Defense was rarely seen in master play before the Second World War. In the 1970s several leading English players, such as Tony Miles and Raymond Keene, took it up. Source

Practice this opening

The idea

The English Defense is a hypermodern answer to 1.d4 and 2.c4. Black plays ...b6, ...e6 and ...Bb7 and invites White to build a full center with e4. Then Black attacks that center with pieces rather than pawns: the bishop on b7 hits e4, ...Bb4 pins or exchanges, and ...f5 or ...Qh4 add pressure.

The trainer starts it 1.d4 b6 2.c4. The same positions also come from 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 or 1.c4 e6 2.d4 b6.

Plans for White

Take the center with e4, protect it with Bd3, Nc3 or f3, and develop quickly. White's space is a real asset, so White wants to keep the e4 pawn and complete development before Black's pieces can hit it from all sides.

Plans for Black

Pile up on e4 with ...Bb7, ...Bb4 (pinning a knight on c3), ...f5 and ...Nf6. Black's pieces come out fast, and the aim is to make White's big center a target rather than a strength. Black can also aim for a Nimzo-Indian-style game with ...Bb4 and ...Nf6.

Watch out for

For Black, loosening the kingside. ...f5 opens the e8-h5 diagonal and weakens e6, and a quick Qh5+ or an attack on e6 can punish it if Black isn't developed.

For White, the e4 pawn. It's Black's target, and if White's pieces get tied to defending it, Black gets a good game. Defending with f3 also weakens the e1-h4 diagonal to ...Qh4+.

History

Early examples come from Henry Bird, Gyula Breyer, Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Réti, and P. N. Wallis investigated it in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It became popular in the 1970s with Tony Miles and Raymond Keene, and Nigel Short, Alexander Morozevich, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Grischuk and Richard Rapport have played it since. Jon Speelman is one of its most frequent high-level practitioners.

Lines