Anderssen's Opening

White spends the first move on a pawn nudge at the edge of the board and invites Black to commit first.

1.a3 looks like a joke and is actually a question. White makes a move that develops nothing and controls no central square. In return he learns Black's intentions before revealing any of his own. The little pawn move is not entirely useless. It takes b4 away from Black's pieces and supports a later b4 advance. Its real content is psychological: play chess, it says, and I will react.

The move carries a famous name because Adolf Anderssen, one of the great attacking players of the nineteenth century, opened with it against Paul Morphy in their 1858 match. The logic then is the logic now: against an opponent who knows the openings better, decline the theoretical argument entirely. It did not solve the Morphy problem, but the name stuck.

In modern terms 1.a3 usually becomes a reversed defense with an extra move. After 1...e5, White can play 2.c4 and reach a Sicilian structure a full tempo up. There a3 turns out to be a move the position genuinely wants. Whether that tempo matters at club level is a question the numbers answer with a shrug.