Horwitz Defense
The Horwitz Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:
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| Moves | 1.d4 e6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | C40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | 19th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Bernhard Horwitz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It is named for the German chess master and writer Bernhard Horwitz (1807-85), who is known to have played it five times between 1849 and 1852, including four times in his match against fellow German master Daniel Harrwitz.https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=15966&side=black&node=75540 The opening has little independent significance. It is likely to transpose to another opening, such as the Dutch Defense (after 2.c4 f5 or 2.Nf3 f5), Keres Defense (after 2.c4 Bb4+), French Defense (after 2.e4 d5), Sicilian Defense (after 2.e4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4), or Benoni Defense (after 2.e4 c5 3.d5). Players such as the English grandmaster Simon Williams often use it as a way of playing for the Dutch Defense while avoiding the Staunton Gambit (1.d4 f5 2.e4!?).
The ECO code for the Horwitz Defense is A80.