A18

A18 or A-18 is a three-character acronym that may refer to:

Autostrada A18 (Italy)

The Autostrada A18 is a 77 km (48 mi) motorway on the Ionian coast of Sicily that links Messina to Catania. The motorway is linked to the A20 Messina-Palermo at its northern-end and to the A19 Palermo-Catania through the RA15 Catania's Ring Road at its southern-end. There is also a second stretch of A18, on the south part of the island, running from Syracuse to Rosolini.

Messina – Catania

A18dir Diramazione Catania Nord

Siracusa – Ragusa – Gela

A first part of only 9,5 km from Syracuse to Cassibile opened 15 June 1983 but works stopped for over 20 years until in March 2008 a second stretch from Cassibile to Noto was open. The latest part, from Noto to Rosolini, was open to the traffic in October 2008.

Siracusa – Rosolini

Rosolini – Ragusa

This part of the A18 was designed in the early '70s and required re-planning because the original project would have run through archeological areas and natural reserves (created in the '80s and '90s). The new project was completed in 2001 and is partially financed. Works should start in 2013 taking the motorway from Rosolini to Ispica/Pozzallo first and to Modica. Authorities are awaiting for further founding for the completion of this second part of the A18 that should run to Scicli and Ragusa.

English Opening

The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move:

A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the centre by staking a claim to the d5 square from the wing, in hypermodern style. Although many lines of the English have a distinct character, the opening is often used as a transpositional device in much the same way as 1.Nf3 – to avoid such highly regarded responses to 1.d4 as the Nimzo–Indian and Grünfeld defences, and is considered reliable and flexible.

The English derives its name from the English (unofficial) world champion, Howard Staunton, who played it during his 1843 match with Saint-Amant and at London 1851, the first international tournament. It did not inspire Staunton's contemporaries, and only caught on in the twentieth century. It is now recognised as a solid opening that may be used to reach both classical and hypermodern positions. Mikhail Botvinnik, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen employed it during their world championship matches. Bobby Fischer created a stir when he switched to it from his customary 1.e4 late in his career, employing it against Lev Polugaevsky and Oscar Panno at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal in 1970 and in his 1972 world championship match against Boris Spassky.