Réti Opening — what it means in chess
1.Nf3 with a fianchetto, attacking the center from afar.
1.Nf3 with a fianchetto, attacking the center from afar.
[[board startfen="rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1" caption="The Réti: the knight first, then c4 strikes at Black's center — with White's own center pawns deliberately held at home. The opening that made hypermodernism respectable." pgn="Nf3 d5 c4" notes="An attack on the center by a player who refuses to occupy it. The knight develops first, committing no pawn to anything. Black takes the classical invitation and plants a center pawn — — and the Réti point lands: c4 strikes at d5 while White's d- and e-pawns stand untouched at home. Black's proud center pawn is now a target rather than an asset, pressured from the wing, soon to be joined in White's crosshairs by a fianchettoed bishop. When this idea beat the world's classical elite in the 1920s, it stopped being a heresy and became a school."]]
The Réti Opening is hypermodernism's founding document as a White system: develop the knight, invite Black to occupy the center classically, then attack that center from the flanks — c4 striking d5, the bishop coming to g2 to pressure it again — with White's own central pawns held in reserve as late-arriving reinforcements rather than early targets. When its namesake used the idea to defeat the reigning classical gods a century ago, the chess world's definition of correct opening play permanently widened; every Indian defense Black plays today is the same philosophy with colors reversed.
The Endgame Society glossary defines more than 240 chess terms — rules, notation, tactics, strategy, pawn structures, endgames, and openings — in language a beginner can act on rather than dictionary shorthand.