He and Palliser both recommend instead 4.e6, after which play can become extremely sharp. However, Orlov considers both Torre's fourth and fifth moves inferior. Then after 4.e4 (inviting 4.Nxe4? 5.Qd4 winning a knight), Black struck back in the center with 4.Ng6 5.f4 e5 in the seminal game Sämisch-Torre, Moscow 1925. This ambitious move is playable but rarely seen. These possibilities can also be reached via transposition from the Flohr-Mikenas Variation of the English Opening (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4), although if Black wishes to play this way, the optimal move order is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nc6. From that position, the main possibilities are 5.e5 (the main line), 5.exd5, 5.cxd5, and 5.Bg5. Now the game may continue in "Tango" fashion, for example with 5.Nf3 Ng6, or transpose to the King's Indian Defense with, for example, 5.Nf3 d6 6.e4 (6.Bg5!?) g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.O-O O-O, reaching the main line of the King's Indian by transposition.Īnother interesting but relatively unexplored idea is 3.e6, allowing White to play 4.e4 (other moves such as 4.d5, 4.Bg5, 4.a3, 4.f3, and 4.Nf3 are also possible), whereupon Black follows up with 4.d5. Palliser recommends 4.e4!? in response, while Orlov prefers 4.exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4.
After the thematic 3.e5, one possibility for White is 4.Nf3, transposing to an English Opening. This is White's second most popular move. After 3.e6, White can play 4.Nc3 Bb4 (transposing to the Nimzo-Indian Defense) 4.a3, when Black can either play 4.d5 (reaching a kind of Queen's Gambit Declined or Ragozin System), or 4.d6 preparing 5.e5 or even 5.g6 ("championed by Bologan", according to Palliser), reaching a sort of King's Indian Defense or 4.g3, when Black can transpose to the Catalan Opening with 4.d5, recommended by Palliser or 4.Bb4+, preferred by Orlov, which transposes to a Nimzo-Indian after 5.Nc3, or to a Bogo-Indian Defense after 5.Bd2 or 5.Nbd2. Black usually responds with 3.e6, although 3.d6, intending a kind of Old Indian Defense, is also possible. The opening has some distinct variations but it is highly transpositional, and may transpose to the King's Indian Defense, Nimzo-Indian Defense, Bogo-Indian Defense, Chigorin Defense, Ragozin System, Catalan Opening, and English Opening. Basic ideasĪlthough fairly uncommon, the "Tango" has a sounder positional basis than most other offbeat openings: Black develops quickly, has a flexible pawn structure, and is prepared to strike back in the center with 3.e5, or with. Yermolinsky has even ventured it against Garry Kasparov. Since 1992, the opening has been employed by a number of strong grandmasters, including Victor Bologan, Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, and Alex Yermolinsky. Orlov rechristened the opening the "Black Knights' Tango". It was later played by the Yugoslav master Mihailo Trajkovic and the Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Lutikov.Īfter decades of obscurity, the opening was revitalized by International Master Georgi Orlov, who published a booklet and a book about it in 19, respectively. Chess Champion Frank James Marshall in only seven moves.
The opening originated in the 1920s, when it was played by both the Mexican grandmaster Carlos Torre (hence the name "Mexican Defense") and the American master Alexander Kevitz (the "Kevitz" in "Kevitz-Trajkovic Defense"). This position can also be reached by transposition, for example 1.c4 Nf6, 1.d4 Nc6, or 1.c4 Nc6. The Black Knights' Tango (also known as the Mexican Defense or Kevitz-Trajkovic Defense) is a chess opening beginning with the moves: 1. Friedrich Sämisch vs Carlos Torre Repetto, Baden-Baden 1925