AylerKupp: Thanks guys!. Maybe.
But this got me to thinking, usually a bad thing. Since it seems that more and more openings are named after places instead of people, it might be a good idea to be more consistent and change the name of all, or at least most, openings to conform. There are still quite a few holdouts as listed below, along with my suggestions for possible name changes:
Alekhine's Defense. Unfortunately, Russian Game is already taken (see Petrov Defense below). So, since Alekhine was born in Moscow, perhaps Moscow Defense is appropriate.
Benko Gambit. Since it's often referred to as the Volga Gambit, primarily by Volgans, it already has a well known alternate name.
Bird's Opening. Unfortunately English Opening is already taken so, since Henry Bird was born in Hampshire, Hampshire's Opening might be appropriate. And, since this is seldom played anymore, it's not really that important.
Evans Gambit. Since Captain William Evans was apparently the first person who played it and he was Welsh, calling it the Welsh Gambit would be appropriate. This was once described as "a gift of the gods to a languishing chess world" so perhaps Olympus Gambit or Valhalla Gambit might be equally appropriate.
Grunfeld Defense. This is also an Indian-type defense but we already have too many of those. Ernst Grunfeld introduced it into international play in Vienna, so the Vienna Defense would be appropriate and not likely to be confused with the Vienna Game. And the Neo-Grunfeld could then be called the Neo-Vienna.
Nimzo-Indian. This is a tough one. Only partially incorrect, it could be called the Latvian Defense since Aron Nimzovitch was born in Riga, Latvia. We already have a Latvian Gambit so perhaps the Latvian Defense might be appropriate. But Latvian-Indian just sounds too weird.
Petrov Defense. This is often called the Russian Game so we're OK here.
Philidor Defense. Andre Philidor was French, but we already have the French Defense so that's out. He was born in Dreux, France but hardly anyone knows where that is (I didn't). But Philidor began his chess career at the famous Café de la Regénce in Paris, so the Paris Defense would be most appropriate. Besides, they would both start with the same letter.
Pirc Defense. This is sometimes called the Ufimtsev or Yugoslav Defense, but the first one is a person and Yugoslavia no longer exists so it doesn't seem proper if we're starting a new naming convention to name it after a place that no longer exists, although that didn't stop me from suggesting either Olympus Gambit or Valhalla Gambit for the Evans Gambit. But since the Pirc is named after the Slovenian grandmaster Vasja Pirc, calling it Slovenian Defense might be appropriate.
Reti Opening. Richard Reti was born in what is now Pezinok in Slovakia so the Slovakian defense would be appropriate.
Richter-Veresov Attack. This is named after Kurt Richter (born in Berlin) and Gavril Veresov born in Minsk, so the obvious renaming is the Berlin-Minsk Attack. Which, unfortunately, is no improvement over its current name.
Robatch Defense. Karl Robatsch was born in Klagenfurt, Austria but renaming it the Klagenfurt Defense is a non-starter. But naming it the Austrian Defense would be OK. Too bad that Slovenia was not part of Hungary since, because this is occasionally called the Pirc-Robatch Defense, then renaming it the Austria-Hungary Defense would have made sense.
Torre Attack. This one is easy. Carlos Torre Repetto was born in Mexico so renaming this the Mexican Attack would be most appropriate.
Let me know what y'all think. :-)
Kibitzing
