Napoleon Opening Explained

Openingname:	Napoleon Opening
Moves:	1.e4 e5 2.Qf3
Eco:	C20
Nameorigin:	Napoleon Bonaparte
Parentopening:	Open Game
Chessgid:	2252287&move=2.5&moves=e4.e5.Qf3&nodes=21720.21721.2252287

The Napoleon Opening is an irregular chess opening starting with the moves:

1. e4 e5

2. Qf3

As with the similar Danvers Opening (2.Qh5), White hopes for the scholar's mate (2...Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Qxf7), but Black can easily avoid the attack.

History

The Napoleon Opening is named after the French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who had a deep love of chess but was said to be a mediocre player.^[1] The name came into use after mid-nineteenth century publications reported^[2] that he played this opening in an 1809 game^[3] that he lost to The Turk, a fake chess automaton operated at the time by Johann Allgaier.^[4]

Assessment

The Napoleon is a weak opening because it the white queen prematurely and subjects it to attack, and deprives the white of its best development square.

See also

• List of chess openings
• List of chess openings named after people

External links

• Napoleon vs. The Turk, Schönbrunn Palace, 1809

Notes and References

1. Murray, H.J.R. A History of Chess (London: Oxford University Press), 1913, p. 877.
2. Web site: Napoleon Bonaparte and Chess by Edward Winter . Winter . Edward . 1998 . 18 January 2013.
3. Web site: Napoleon Bonaparte vs. The Turk (Automaton), Vienna 1809 . .
4. Murray, H.J.R. A Short History of Chess (London: Oxford University Press), 1963 posthumously, p. 79.