St. George (Baker) defence

The St. George (Baker) Defence arises after 1.e4 a6. ECO code: B00.

The St. George Defence, also associated with the name Baker, prepares ...b5 to challenge White's e4-pawn via the queen's bishop on b7. Michael Basman was a notable practitioner. Tony Miles famously employed a related system (1.e4 a6) to defeat World Champion Anatoly Karpov in 1980. While considered irregular, the opening has some strategic logic in its queenside fianchetto plan.