Why Names Matter In Chess
What's in a name?
Have you seen this famous clip of GM Hikaru Nakamura calculating a deep combination in seconds with his famous "check, check, check...."
How can Hikaru calculate that quickly? He's amazing, but it helped that he knew the staircase maneuver and just had to confirm that it worked in this position. Having a name for anything makes it easier to remember, and chess is no exception. Many of us know a few opening names, and those help us learn specific variations, but there's so much more to names than meets the eye.
Opening Names
Many of us know the names of our favorite openings and variations. Besides learning the openings themselves, the names help us identify and tell stories about ourselves as chess players. We might say, "I'm a swashbuckling attacking player so I play the King's Gambit whenever I can," or "I'm a grinder and a Gothamchess fan, so I always play the Caro Kann."
There's a reason why the Pirc Defense is a somewhat popular response to 1.e4, played 74,438 times according to Opening Explorer. It's probably not the strongest first move for Black, but there are many books and online courses covering it.
Now, let's take a look at 1.d4 d6, a nearly identical position that's likely (but not always) going to transpose to the same position after the next move.
This move order is sometimes called the Pribyl System or Pribyl Defense, a name I had to look up because I've never heard anyone use it. The Pribyl System occurs in the database only 41,814 times. It's just as good—but less catchy.
There's no difference between the quality of 1...d6 after 1.e4 or 1.d4. The name Pirc and the surrounding literature explain the difference. Maybe we need to come up with a catchier name for 1.d4 d6. Any suggestions?
Tactics Names
Hikaru's staircase maneuver isn't the only tactical pattern with a name. GM Gregory Serper's popular column frequently focuses on identifying and then naming tactical motifs.
For instance, d4-d5 advances like this one, which he dubs The Killer Trap, have been winning games for more than a century. Check out how Frank Marshall blows away his opponent.
It still works in modern times. GM Pentala Harikrishna used it to win a nice miniature against Nakamura.
If you know that this is The Killer Trap, you will be much more likely to find and play that motif in your own games.
Endgame Names
When it comes to the endgame, many experienced chess players have learned a few patterns or even 100 Endgames You Must Know. Naming ideas like the Lucena Position makes it easier for everyone to notice opportunities to aim for or avoid in their own games. Names can help you learn less famous patterns as well.
A couple of years ago, Michael Duke, also known as Mr. Dodgy, made a series of funny tweets about the "double bathtub" pawn structure.
as is common knowledge, in the case of opposing bathtubs, the player with the more advanced bathtub has the advantage pic.twitter.com/3COTU8Yf5n
— MrDodgy (@ChessProblem) February 10, 2022
He was referring to the white pawns on a5, b4, c4, and c5 and the black pawns on a6, b7, c7, and d6 as the two bathtubs. Indeed, the two collections of pawns are vaguely bathtub-shaped.
Soon after learning this silly term, I played a game that taught me something important about the double-bathtub structure. The more advanced side has a pawn breakthrough!
From that point on I knew to look for double-bathtubs in any endgame and this random knowledge has won me several games against strong opposition. Can you find White's plan to force a winning double-bathtub ending?
Hopefully, you know this motif now and can find it in your own games. More importantly, the next time you see a new chess idea, give it a name! It will make it much easier to remember and use it going forward.
What's your favorite named opening, tactic, or motif in chess? Let us know in the comments.
