Anderssen's Opening

About this opening

With 1.a3 White plays a waiting move that develops nothing: Anderssen's Opening effectively gives back the advantage of the first move. The pawn on a3 does deny Black's pieces the b4-square, sometimes allowing a reversed Sicilian or English setup with a useful extra tempo. Adolf Anderssen tried it three times against Paul Morphy in their 1858 match, without success. A purely psychological surprise weapon.