Vasily Smyslov Lopez and English Opening as White and the Sicilian Defense and Nimzo-Indian Defense as Black. He made enormous contributions to chess opening theory in many openings, including the English Opening, Grünfeld Defence, and the Sicilian Defence. He has a variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez named for him: the line runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 h6. In the Grünfeld Defence, the continuation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 is known as the Smyslov Variation and remains a
Salo Flohr players ever, and proved virtually invincible at the Olympiads of the 1930s. His tournament record was impressive, with his tactical skill and excellent endgame technique securing him many famous victories. FIDE awarded him the International Grandmaster title on its inaugural list in 1950. He made a number of important contributions to opening theory: a 'Flohr variation' can be found in no fewer than six major openings, including the Caro–Kann Defence, the Ruy Lopez, the English Opening, and the Grünfeld Defence. The Flohr–Zaitsev Variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5