The Sokolsky opens with 1.b4 - the pawn goes past the centre and is offered to Black at once. In return White puts the bishop on b2, where it rakes the long diagonal straight through the centre, and takes queenside space. There is hardly any theory here, and the opponent is usually out of preparation from move one.
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The starting position. Choose your moves - at a branching point several continuations are available.
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1.b4 looks like a breach of every rule: the pawn does not fight for the centre and hangs immediately. In return White gets three things. First, the b2 bishop on the long diagonal, raking through the centre all the way to Black's kingside. Second, space on the left and a ready plan with c2-c4 and b4-b5. Third, and most practically, an opponent who is out of book from move one.
The b4 pawn is not really hanging: after 1...e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.Bxe5 White regains the material at once, precisely because the bishop was already on the diagonal. That little combination is what the opening is built on.
The opening is named after the Minsk master Alexey Sokolsky, who systematised it in the 1960s. Its other name is the Orangutan: Savielly Tartakower coined it before a game in New York in 1924, saying he had consulted an orangutan at the zoo about which move to open with.
The first way is to take the pawn: 1...e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4. The most honest answer. After 3.Bxe5 Nf6 material is level, Black is slightly better developed and White has space. A healthy position for both.
The second is not to take at all: 1...d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 and quiet development. Black builds a centre and White has to prove that a pawn on b5 is worth more than central pawns.
The third is 1...e5 2.Bb2 f6. The pawn is defended and Black is in no hurry to take. The move weakens the diagonal, but White also has to find something to do: the bishop is staring at the f6 pawn.
There is only one wrong way: to play the first ten moves on autopilot as if against 1.e4. The b2 bishop punishes exactly that, because it eyes g7 straight through the centre.
In the Sokolsky White has exactly one asset - the bishop on the long diagonal. The pawn is given and won back, the space advantage is not always there, but the bishop always is. So every exchange of it has to be calculated separately.
The typical error looks harmless: 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.Bxe5 Nf6 4.Bxf6 Qxf6. White has removed a knight but given up the bishop, and after 5.Nc3 O-O there is no extra pawn and no pressure on the diagonal - none of the things the first move was played for.
The same rule applies later: the b2 bishop should not trade itself for a knight, should not go pawn-hunting on the queenside and should not end up staring at its own pawn. The moment it stops looking at g7, the opening becomes an ordinary position with no advantage for White.
These are the main named variations. Click any one of them and it loads straight onto the board above, where you can play it out move by move. The trainer itself holds more lines than this: it also covers main-line continuations and transpositions that have no name of their own.
What to avoid, and what catches an unprepared opponent.
The bishop on the long diagonal is the only asset the opening has, and trading it for a knight throws it away. After 4.Bxf6 Qxf6 5.Nc3 O-O White has neither an extra pawn nor pressure on the diagonal - just an ordinary position in which 1.b4 achieved nothing.
Traps in other openings - the 12 most common opening traps.
Take a short quiz and find out which chess opening suits your MBTI personality type - 16 types, each with its own opening and a walkthrough on the board.
The Sokolsky Opening (A00) is 1.b4 - the pawn goes past the centre while the bishop rakes it from afar. It starts with the moves 1.b4. Its main branch: Main line 1...e5.
Yes, but it does not promise an advantage: with accurate play the position is equal. The point is not a theoretical plus but that the opponent is on their own from move one.
Savielly Tartakower coined the name before a game in New York in 1924, saying he had consulted an orangutan at the zoo about which move to start with.
Take the centre and develop: ...d5, ...Nf6, ...e6 is enough for equality. Taking the b4 pawn is fine too, but only when it comes with a developing move.
Yes, as a fast-time-control weapon. There is almost nothing to memorise, the plan repeats, and the main rule is simple: keep the b2 bishop and keep it on the long diagonal.
1.b3, the Nimzowitsch-Larsen, puts the bishop on the diagonal without giving up a pawn and plays more quietly. 1.b4 sacrifices at once for tempo and space, so the positions are sharper from move one.
Want the tactics that decide these positions? Start with the 12 most common opening traps and tactics for beginners. If you are just starting out, read the rules of chess and how to set up the board.
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