Ponderchess / Openings
Play the guided film, or select a scene to pause and study its position.
Opening
The English Opening in 3D
1.c4. A flank opening that controls d5 and keeps White's options open. It can stay independent or transpose into many queen's pawn openings.
Rebuild the sequence yourself. The board responds to each move, and hints are available.
Click or drag to move · Arrow keys + Enter to play
Your turn · white to play
Select a piece, then its destination. Switch to 2D for a clear overhead view or rotate the 3D board to explore the position.
English Opening: Closed, Taimanov Variation, move by move: c4 e5 Nc3 Nc6 g3 g6 Bg2 Bg7 …
The white pieces
Control the light squares and the long diagonal. Plans with b4 and a queenside expansion are common.
The black pieces
Choose between symmetrical setups with ...c5, the reversed Sicilian with ...e5, or transposing into a d4 opening.
Look a little deeper · 01
After 1...e5 the position is a reversed Sicilian, with White a tempo up.
Look a little deeper · 02
White often fianchettoes with g3 and Bg2, putting pressure on the long diagonal and the d5 square.
English Opening: Closed, Taimanov Variation, move by move: c4 e5 Nc3 Nc6 g3 g6 Bg2 Bg7 …
Keyboard: Space pauses, the arrow keys step. Gold arrows are White's moves, violet are Black's, red rays are threats, green shows support, blue shows plans.
