Van Geet Opening
ECO A00 · 1. Nc3
The Van Geet Opening, 1.Nc3, develops the queen's knight first. It supports e4 and d5, can transpose to many 1.e4 and 1.d4 openings, and is named after the Dutch player Dirk van Geet, who used it for many years.
Plans for White
White follows with e4 or d4 depending on Black's reply, or plays an independent setup with g3, Bg2 and e4. Against ...d5, White can transpose to the Richter-Veresov with d4 and Bg5.
Plans for Black
Black can take the center with ...d5 or ...e5, or develop with ...Nf6 and see where White goes. Mirroring with ...Nc6 is also playable.
Typical pawn structures
Depends entirely on the transposition: Vienna Game, Scandinavian-like or Veresov structures are common.
Who it suits
Players who like flexibility and want to steer the game toward their favorite structures while avoiding main-line theory.
Common traps
The knight on c3 blocks the c-pawn, so lines where Black attacks it with ...d4 or ...b4 can gain time. White should avoid letting the knight be pushed around without development.
Variations
- Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense — 1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 dxe4 3. Nxe4 e5
- Van Geet Opening: Pfeiffer Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. f4 d4 3. Ne4 e5
- Van Geet Opening: Laroche Gambit — 1. Nc3 b5
- Van Geet Opening: Reversed Nimzowitsch — 1. Nc3 e5
- Van Geet Opening: Battambang Variation — 1. a3 e5 2. Nc3
- Van Geet Opening: Düsseldorf Gambit — 1. Nc3 c5 2. b4
- Van Geet Opening: Myers Attack — 1. Nc3 g6 2. h4
- Van Geet Opening: Tübingen Gambit — 1. Nc3 Nf6 2. g4
- Van Geet Opening: Twyble Attack — 1. Nc3 c5 2. Rb1
- Van Geet Opening: Billockus-Johansen Gambit — 1. Nc3 e5 2. Nf3 Bc5
- Van Geet Opening: Damhaug Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. f4 e5
- Van Geet Opening: Warsteiner Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. f4 g5
- Van Geet Opening: Dougherty Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3
- Van Geet Opening: Dunst-Perrenet Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. d3
- Van Geet Opening: Hector Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Bc4
- Van Geet Opening: Kluever Gambit — 1. Nc3 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. d3
- Van Geet Opening: Napoleon Attack — 1. Nc3 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
- Van Geet Opening: Nowokunski Gambit — 1. Nc3 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. e4
- Van Geet Opening: Venezolana Variation — 1. Nc3 d5 2. d3 Nf6 3. g3
- Van Geet Opening: Hergert Gambit — 1. Nc3 d6 2. f4 e5 3. fxe5 Nc6
- Van Geet Opening: Hulsemann Gambit — 1. Nc3 e5 2. e3 d5 3. Qh5 Be6
- Van Geet Opening: Liebig Gambit — 1. Nc3 e5 2. e3 d5 3. Qh5 Nf6
- Van Geet Opening: Melleby Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. f4 d4 3. Ne4 c5
- Van Geet Opening: Sleipnir Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. e3 e5 3. d4 Bb4
- Van Geet Opening: Berlin Gambit — 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. d5
- Van Geet Opening: Gladbacher Gambit — 1. Nc3 e5 2. b3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. d3
- Van Geet Opening: Novosibirsk Variation — 1. Nc3 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qh4
- Van Geet Opening: Reversed Scandinavian — 1. Nc3 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qa4
- Van Geet Opening: Sicilian Two Knights — 1. Nc3 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
- Van Geet Opening: Jendrossek Gambit — 1. Nc3 d5 2. f4 d4 3. Ne4 f5 4. Nf2 Nf6 5. Nf3 c5 6. b4