Lopez Opening
The Lopez Opening is a chess opening characterized by the moves:
The opening was played frequently by 19th century Scottish–Canadian chess master Nicholas MacLeod but has otherwise arisen rarely in tournament play.Discussion
White's second move prepares to push a pawn to d4, establishing a strong center. Play can potentially transpose to other openings, most likely the Ponziani Opening or the Göring Gambit in the Scotch Game. However, Eric Schiller states in Unorthodox Chess Openings that the opening is too slow; that Black can respond vigorously with 2...d5! to eliminate transpositional possibilities and solve all of his opening problems, as after 1.e4 e5 2.c3 d5! 3.exd5 Qxd5, 4.Nc3 is not available to chase the queen away and gain a tempo.
