Amazon Attack

The Amazon Attack arises after 1. d4 d5 2. Qd3, a rare departure from the usual second moves of the Queen's Pawn Game, classified under ECO D00. The name is thought to allude both to the warrior women of Greek myth and to the amazon of fairy chess, a piece that moves as both queen and knight.

The queen on d3 adds a defender to d4 and, more importantly, bears on e4, so White can follow up with Nc3 and e2-e4 to challenge Black's center pawn directly. There is a cost. The queen stands where the light-squared bishop normally develops, and it is exposed to gaining-tempo moves such as ...Nb4 or ...Bf5. Unlike 2. c4 or 2. Bf4, the move does nothing to restrain Black's own development, so Black can choose a setup freely.

The most common reply is 2...Nc6, which brings a piece to a square from which ...Nb4 harasses the queen and the c2 pawn; this is regarded as leading to equality. The next most popular, 2...Nf6, controls e4 and makes White's central push harder to achieve, while 2...e6 adopts a solid structure behind the d5 pawn. Both are assessed as giving Black a very slight edge. Engines prefer 2...c5, striking at d4 at once so that Black's queenside break arrives before White can organize e4.

The opening is a fringe choice: about 12,700 Lichess games reach the position, placing it far down the list of named lines by frequency. Results favor Black, who wins just over half of these games against White's roughly 43%, and the engine likewise gives Black a slight advantage. It appears mainly in online and club play rather than in serious competition.

The Siberian Attack, 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Qd3, reaches a version in which White's knight is already on c3 and the e4 advance is closer to being playable. The same position can come from 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Qd3, a line tried by William Pollock against Max Weiss in 1889, a game Pollock lost.