Durkin Opening
The Durkin Opening (also known as the Durkin Attack or the Sodium Attack) is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the move:
- 1. Na3
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| Moves | 1.Na3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | A00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Robert T. Durkin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Irregular chess opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Durkin Attack Sodium Attack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Durkin Opening is named for Robert T. Durkin (1923–?) of New Jersey. The name "Sodium Attack" comes from the algebraic notation 1.Na3, as Na is the chemical symbol for the element sodium. White may follow up by playing c4,[1] e.g. 1...d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nxc4.
Assessment
This development of the queen's knight does little to utilize White's advantage of the first move. On a3 the knight does not control central squares, and White would have to move this knight again for it (e.g., to c2 or c4) to do so. Angus Dunnington suggests that combining this with a gradual central expansion should give White a reasonable position.[2]
Variations
- Durkin Gambit (1.Na3 e5 2.Nc4 Nc6 3. e4 f5)
Footnotes
- Kasparov & Keene 1982, p. 3.
- Dunnington 2000, p. 139.
References
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The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: Durkin Opening |
- Benjamin, Joel; Schiller, Eric (1987). "Durkin Attack". Unorthodox Openings. Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 103–04. ISBN 0-02-016590-0.
- Dunnington, Angus (2000). Winning Unorthodox Openings. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-285-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Durkin, Robert (1959). N-QR3!, a new opening: the Durkin attack.
- Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996) [1992]. "Durkin Opening". The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
- Kasparov, Gary; Keene, Raymond (1982). Batsford Chess Openings. American Chess Promotions. ISBN 0-7134-2112-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Schiller, Eric (2002). Unorthodox Chess Openings (Second ed.). Cardoza Publishing. p. 454. ISBN 1-58042-072-9.
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