What is the Clarendon Court?

The Clarendon Court Defence is an opening, namely 1 d4 c5 2 d5 f5, which has been named after the block of flats where I have been living since about 1976.

It is a provocative opening, designed to get a double edged and interesting game (useful when playing for a win as Black). It may well prove to be positionally unsound, but why let a trifle like that stop you from playing it?

I have played the opening on numerous occasions and several other grandmasters (including Tukmakov and Summerscale) have used it as a surprise weapon. I find it quite a surprise that any grandmaster is prepared to play it...

In 1995 I scripted and presented a video using the Clarendon Court as the basis for a repertoire as Black against 1 d4 (about a quarter of the material deals with white alternatives to 2 d5, the rest is on the Clarendon Court). Grandmaster Video can be contacted at:
PO Box 50, Woking, Surrey GU22 7YT, England.

Alternatively, click here to e-mail the Grandmaster Video site
(from where you can order the video)

To see my annotated game with Keith Arkell, click here