A long time chess debate is on the opening known as the “Parham Attack” or the “Wayward Queen Opening”. The opening starts 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5. Mainly amateurs play this, although Bernard Parham was the first master level advocate, and Hikaru Nakamura also played it a couple times (although not in a major tournament setting). While many chess players “beat down” on the Parham advocaters at the amateur level, some still persist to say that it is good. This article is going to show some lines on why the opposite is true.
Below is the reason for 2.Qh5. Any of the below lines are obviously good for white, but that is if black doesn’t understand what to do and plays terribly.
Ok, so first of all I will give the general consensus. Many Super GM’s have appeared over the years, and the only one who ever said it was good was Nakamura, who as previously mentioned never used it previously. Most grandmasters and strong players take this stance, even most B and C classes accept this as bad.
Ok, so that’s what people are saying, but what are some actual lines that make this bad? Here is the most common line seen
So, the question is, who is better here? Well, lets look at the pros and cons.
WHITE
PROS: