Busted
Describing a position, opening line, or plan that has been proven unsound or losing, often by engine analysis.
A previously trusted opening variation can become "busted" once a refutation is discovered, sometimes retiring it from serious competitive use almost overnight.
Etymology
Bust is a colloquial American variant of burst produced by loss of the -r-, attested from 1806 meaning “to burst,” from 1834 “go bankrupt,” and from 1859 “break (into).” Chess uses the “broken beyond repair” sense: a bust is a refutation of an opening, an opening line, a tactic, or a previously published analysis. The term's fame in chess is owed to a single article: in 1961, prompted by his loss to Boris Spassky the previous year, Bobby Fischer wrote “A Bust to the King's Gambit” for the first issue of the American Chess Quarterly, declaring, “In my opinion, the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force.” Fischer later played the King's Gambit as White in three tournament games, winning them all.
First documented: 1961 — Bobby Fischer, “A Bust to the King's Gambit,” American Chess Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer 1961, pp. 3–9
Translations
Translations for this term haven't been added yet.