Durkin Opening

The Durkin Opening (also known as the Durkin Attack or the Sodium Attack) is a rarely played chess opening that consists of the following move:

Durkin Opening

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Moves	1.Na3
ECO	A00
Named after	Robert T. Durkin
Synonym(s)	Durkin Attack Sodium Attack

1. Na3

The Durkin Opening is named for Robert T. Durkin (1923–2014) of New Jersey. The name "Sodium Attack" comes from the algebraic notation 1.Na3, as Na is the chemical symbol for the element sodium. Similarly, the Amar Opening (1.Nh3) is sometimes referred to as the "Ammonia Opening". White may follow up by playing c4, e.g. 1...d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nxc4.

Assessment

This development of the queen's knight does little to utilize White's advantage of the first move. On a3 the knight does not control central squares, and White would have to move this knight again (e.g., to c2 or c4) for it to follow common rules such as controlling the center. Angus Dunnington suggests that combining this with a gradual central expansion should give White a reasonable position.

Variations

• Durkin Gambit (1.Na3 e5 2.Nc4 Nc6 3. e4 f5)

See also

• Australian Defence
• List of chess openings
• List of chess openings named after people

References

Bibliography

• Benjamin, Joel; Schiller, Eric (1987). "Durkin Attack". Unorthodox Openings. Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 103–04. ISBN 0-02-016590-0.
• Dunnington, Angus (2000). Winning Unorthodox Openings. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-285-4.
• Durkin, Robert (1959). N-QR3!, a new opening: the Durkin attack.
• Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996) [1992]. "Durkin Opening". The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
• Kasparov, Gary; Keene, Raymond (1982). Batsford Chess Openings. American Chess Promotions. ISBN 0-7134-2112-6.
• Schiller, Eric (2002). Unorthodox Chess Openings (Second ed.). Cardoza Publishing. p. 454. ISBN 1-58042-072-9.