- This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection (now also a computer database) describing chess openings. The moves were taken from hundreds of thousands of games between masters, from published analysis in the Chess Informant since 1966, and then compiled by notable chess players. Both the ECO and the Chess Informant are published by the Serbian company Šahovski informator (homepage). These openings are typically provided in an ECO table that concisely presents the best opening lines. Instead of the traditional names for the openings, ECO has developed a unique coding system that has also been adopted by other chess publications. There are five main categories, "A" to "E", each of which is divided into one hundred sub-categories.
Contents |
Main ECO codes
See list of chess openings for full details.
A
- White first moves other than 1.e4, 1.d4: Irregular openings (A00-A39)
- 1.d4 without 1...d5, 1...Nf6: Atypical replies to 1.d4 (A40-A44)
- 1.d4 Nf6 without 2.c4: Atypical replies to 1...Nf6 (A45-A49)
- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 without 2...e6, 2...g6: Atypical Indian systems (A50-A79)
- 1.d4 f5: Dutch Defence (A80-A99)
B
- 1.e4 without 1...c5, 1...e6, 1...e5 (B00-B19)
- 1.e4 c5: Sicilian Defence (B20-B99)
C
- 1.e4 e6: French Defence (C00-C19)
- 1.e4 e5: Double King Pawn games (C20-C99)
D
- 1.d4 d5: Double Queen Pawn games (D00-D69)
- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 with 3...d5: Grünfeld Defence (D70-D99)
E
- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6: Indian systems with ...e6 (E00-E59)
- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 without 3...d5: Indian systems with ...g6 (except Grünfeld) (E60-E99)
See also
- Chess Informant
- List of chess openings for the full ECO codes
References
- Classification of Chess Openings, Chess Inforamant, 1971
