Opening Move

"Opening Move" opens side one of Red Queen to Gryphon Three, written by Oberle and Harvey and recorded in August 1974 at Chipping Norton; its length is given as 9:42 by Strawberry Bricks, 9:48 by Mark Barry and 9:44 to 9:46 by MusicBrainz, which also lists a 6:29 excerpt. Folking says it opens loudly with Oberle's thundering drums, Harvey's keyboards bring a gentler mood, it alternates between the two, bassoon and recorders take the lead at times, Nestor gets a near-solo, and everything converges in a climax. Record Collector's Abbott praised its contrasting sections.

Setlist.fm's Gryphon statistics do not list it, so there is no play count there. Nothing from the band about what the piece is about was found beyond the album's chess and Alice concept. No chart history, covers or samples were found, and it is likely, though not confirmed, that our upload is the album track.