Difference Between Chess Opening Names: Opening, Gambit, System, Variation, Game, Defense, Attack...

This is kind of an odd question as it seems very trivial, but ever since I was interested in the Vienna Game I took note that its named lacked the suffix of "opening" like the Bird's Opening. Then I noticed that the London System was similar in that its suffix was "System" rather than "opening" or "game."

Basically, I am curious on how chess openings acquire certain suffixes or parts of their names. I have a rough idea of how it works, but when it comes to calling things games, systems, or just plain openings is where things get very grey I feel.

Systems are openings where you can general play the same moves no matter what your opponent plays. They're more focused on a certain setup rather than specific move orders. Gambits are just a sacrifice (usually a pawn). I don't think there's really much difference between "Opening" and "Game". Variations are specific lines of a certain opening. For example, 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 is the Advance Variation of the French (often shortened to "Advance French") and 3. exd5 would be the Exchange Variation of the French (likewise often shortened to "Exchange French"). Attack and Defense is just whether it's an opening for White or Black. It doesn't have much to do with whether it's an attacking or defensive opening. For example, the KIA (King's Indian Attack) is basically just the King's Indian Defense for White.

@WaffleCrumbs

What @AsDaGo said is great.

Speaking of great, I like the OPs name. How did you come up with it?

If an opening is called a "game" then it will be very ancient. Other than that @AsDaGo pretty much nailed it, although there are exceptions like the Marshall Attack which is for black.

Also there is fun to be had musing about the relative merits of openings according to their names. I propose a hierarchy:

1. Named after a great nation of the world
2. Named after a world champion
3. Named after a lesser nation
4. Named after a city that hosted a big tournament 100 years ago
5. Named after someone you've never heard of who died 200 years ago
6. Named after their lunch
7. Named after a funny animal
8. ...

@oneiro_naut said in #4:
> Also there is fun to be had musing about the relative merits of openings according to their names. I propose a hierarchy:
>
> 1. Named after a great nation of the world
> 2. Named after a world champion
> 3. Named after a lesser nation
> 4. Named after a city that hosted a big tournament 100 years ago
> 5. Named after someone you've never heard of who died 200 years ago
> 6. Named after their lunch
> 7. Named after a funny animal
> 8. ...

What about Ding's American Fried Orangutan Liver? That's 1. b4 e5 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Nf3 Ng4 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nxf2 as we can see in this absolute beauty of a game (by transposition):

@Le_Patzer83 said in #3:
> @WaffleCrumbs
>
> What @AsDaGo said is great.
>
> Speaking of great, I like the OPs name. How did you come up with it?

Well, I played a lot of Team Fortress 2 when I was younger, and I noticed that my username was initially kind of cringy. So, I was like, "hm, what is an inoffensive and fun little name I can give myself?" I thought of my breakfast and then It's been my go to name every since.

Also, thank you for answering my silly little question everyone!