St. George Defence
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| Moves | 1.e4 a6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | B00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | English patron St. George | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Pawn Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Baker's Defence Birmingham Defence Basman Counterattack |
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The St. George Defence (also known as the Baker's Defence, Birmingham Defence, or Basman Counterattack ) is an unorthodox chess opening for Black. The opening begins with the moves:
The St. George Defence is given ECO code B00 as a King's Pawn Opening.
The first known chess game involving the St. George was a simultaneous game between an English amateur, J. Baker, and the first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, on 11 December 1868. The game was won by Baker. The advocates of the opening are generally players willing to sacrifice the centre in order to attack from the flank, and to avoid theory. Michael Basman has been known to play the St. George, as did Tony Miles.
In perhaps its most famous appearance, Miles defeated reigning World Champion Anatoly Karpov in the 1980 European Team Championship in Skara, Sweden. The opening also acquired the name of "Birmingham Defence" at this time, after Miles' hometown.
Boris Spassky also played the St. George Defence, albeit by transposition, in the 22nd game of his 1966 world championship match against World Champion Tigran Petrosian. That game began 1.d4 b5 (the Polish Defence) 2.e4 Bb7 3.f3 a6 (transposing to the St. George). This was an inauspicious outing for the defence, however: Petrosian won, giving him the 12 points needed to retain his title.
The St. George Defence is generally considered an inferior response to 1.e4 compared to 1...e5, 1...e6, 1...c5, or 1...c6. The St. George Defence is considered more dubious than Owen's Defence (1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7), since Black spends three moves just to develop his queen bishop, as opposed to two in Owen's Defence, while White occupies the centre and is ready to castle in three more moves.
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