Is this guy still around? I'm sure we have established, long ago, that while 1. Na3 is not going to lose you the game, it certainly does throw away any advantage white had by playing the first move.

Basically, the move is playable, but not optimal. And if the move isn't optimal, there is really no point in discussing it...

There isn't, just how insane chess trainor's claims are and how he's first trying to teach people that it's good and second to have an opening named after him!

Psh.. getting an Opening named after one's self is so overrated. Now variations are all the rage, and they're actually feasible. If this is what chesstrainor is after to "immortalize" his name in the chess books, can't he simply post an analysis of the London System with his theoretical novelty (don't worry, he doesn't have to have been the first to have played it, just the first to play it in a famous game or analyze it in depth [see Henry Grob; he analyzed the Grob Opening and it was named after him- even though he preferred to have it named "The Spike"]) of Na3.

7th August 2009, 09:51am

#136

by Conquiscador
Miami United States

Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 176

Here is my game to illustrate why 1.Na3 is bad.

My opponent used your theory as well.

Should have played D4 on your 5th move.CT

Na3 to Nb5 threatens c7 square causes to hold Queen.

Tapel -Tomas Opening via Transposition A04 to A00..

15.ChessTrainor(Phils) vs Bekim/(Albania) [1-0] 19 moves mate,.

site:Playchess.com/date:Aug 18,2009

In this game my opponents Black Queen did not move at all,partly because of Na3 to Nb5 move, And at move 8.Qa4 a poise for Discovery Attack ChessTactic #4 in my lessons.This speed up his castling in the Kingside,where he concentrated  all his activity .And only in the twelfth move.12....a6 did he shew off my Na3 Knight that threatens  his Queen' via Nxc7.That is why his Queen can't move at all it is preoccupied with guarding his Queen's rook (R at a8).At move 16. ....Nd7 is a weak move.He has already holes in his defenses .So the Na3 Knight holding back the Queen's active participation and coupled with wrong and weak move at 16....Nd7? spelled his doom.I teach my chess pupils and students.If You are attack with a Queen You must defend with a Queen not a lesser piece because Queen has Two function move Bishop moves and Rook moves which a lesser officer cannot cover or contain.ChessTrainor.

Chess Trainor, your opponents are making basic errors and blunders. Your Nb5 idea did not have much of a positive impact, it just was a waste of time. But it was ...Bxf3? That was just an awful move, giving up the absolute key b7 bishop, which was controlling squares like e4. So at that point black had weak light squares all over the place giving white a nice edge, but still there was no reason for black to allow a kingside attack with ...f5?? because otherwise black's king was completely safe. But even worse was ...fxg4? a totally elementary mistake giving white a big attack all of a sudden. After that black is lost, but i suspect based on his mistakes he was a lot lower rated than you. It was not really ...nd7 that was the weak move, because black was probably lost anyways.

Okay, so after 1.Na3 e5 2.c3 Bxa3 3.bxa3 Nf6 4.e3 e4 5.d4 d5! and now what?

Your dark square bishop is blocked by its own pawns, your light square bishop cannot develop effectively past e2 due to 6.Bb5 c6 and your bishop is useless.  In addition,your knight is forced to a suboptimal square e2 further interfering with your piece coordination.  Black is postionally winning once more.

2...bxa3 destroys white's queenside pawn structure, which leaves white with a very weak pawn on a3.  This comes with a gain of time allowing quick development and castling taking advantage of white's weak light squares, especially c4.  Black take the center and have complete positional control.

I think that 2...d5 is better and less commital than 2...Bxa3 (because it can still be played) but Bxa3 is still pretty good for black, it's just that now white has the bishop pair to aim at the center and open it up with pawn breaks and probably fianchettoes. and the pawns are not immediately weak. Also not taking leaves the knight poorly placed on a3.

Maybe it is a matter of preference.  I like the small advantage enough to take the advantage to the endgame.  The two bishops are not as relavent because the dark square bishop is blunted by the white pawns on dark squares and the light square bishop does not have a great future.

I like 4...e4 because it interfers with white's ability to develop and blunts white's bishops.  The e3 pawn blocks the dark square bishop.  after e4, black can consider d5 and castling trying to hold the center.  c6 should be used in case of Bb5 and the knight can manuver from d7 to e5 ocupying a strong outpost and threaten to land on d3.

Well I don't like ...e4 that much because then there are plenty of open dark squares to the dark squared bishop after c4 and Bb2, followed by Ne2 when d4 is weak. Also, e4 can be undermined by d3 and or f3.

With reference to the Original Post:

You post that Durkin game as though it's some sort of demonstration of the power of the opening, however, after 1 Na3 the game proceeded along normal lines (the errant knight never moved or had any influence on the rest of the game). What I think I saw was a better player beating a lesser player even with a dodgy first move. Perhaps 1. Na3 is some sort of universal panacea, but that game doesn't do anything to cement its place.

Well, moves like 1 a4, 1 h4, 1 g4, and 1 f3 seem even worse as they create serious weaknesses and waste time.

 1. g4 (The Grob) is worse than 1. Na3? I beg to differ.

Also, 1. Na3 is good because certain other moves are worse, what a novel idea.

ive play Na3 several times .. 
havent lost a game yet far ..

FM Eric Schiller says 1 g4 is the worst move on the board. Yes, white has some tricky things he can try with moves like c4, but black can just decline the pawn at first and white will eventually need to play h3 after which his position is riddled with weaknesses. If he goes kingside, his king will simply be insecure. If he goes queenside, this will first of all take a long time so his king could get blasted before that happens, but if it does get to the queenside the opposite side castling situation should favor black quite a bit, since in the meantime he has built up a strong center. 1 Na3, on the other hand, develops the knight to a most likely inferior square, but at least it doesn't create any weaknesses. The knight can be repositioned, but with moves like g4 or h4 though, white won't be able to move them back and at some point he may wish to move them back to patch up the weaknesses he created. Also a g4 Bg2 setup doesn't even do that much to fight for the center, because moves like c4 are riskier if white wants to castle queenside.

And you think I think the move is good? Just read my posts for the last few pages! I'm clearly against his idea, I'm just mentioning worse moves. Na3 is not terrible, because it's not like white's position was totally ruined after that move, it's just inflexible (the knight is usually not well placed on a3) and pointless considering better moves like e4 and d4 and if you want to go hypermodern there tons of others that are superior. So it's not so much a ruining move it just wastes time and does so little for the white position compared to other moves. By the way, I was responding to ouachita, not you, if that makes any difference.

Actually, I think 1.h4 is the worst move in chess.  At least 1.g4 gives white some counterplay.

Here is my post to someone who asked about this opening.

"The point behind the rook pawn openings is to allow a rook lift to assist in the attack while the rook pawn is used as a battering ram in a pawn storm attack.

The problem is that this opening is the worst opening in chess, even worse than 1.g4.  In rank 1.a4 is slightly better than 1.h4 because it does not weaken the kingside.  1.h4 creates a weak pawn on h4 that can only be defended by the rook and a pawn move to g3, further weakening the kingside.  It does not open diagonals for the bishops, and the knight's future is questionable.  The point of a rook lift is very slow, losing several tempo, allowing black to build up a powerful position.  Now for the theory.

1.h4

This opening is referred to as Kadas Opening

1...d5

This move takes a stake in the center and prevents a possible rook life unless white wishes to expend an additional tempo on a pawn move.

But, there is a better move.

1...c5!

This puts to question White's first move.  White would not play 2.d4 because it causes an additional loss of tempo.

2.e4

This is the only sensible move as others allow black to take the center.

2...b6

This move sets up a fianchetto to attack White's weak pawn on e4.  The defense of this pawn becomes very difficult for white.

3.Nc3 Bb7

This also prepares a d5 pawn break cementing Black's grip on the center.

4.Bc4

To prevent the bishop from being blunted by a defensive d3 after a d5 pawn break.

4...e6!

Black now has several threats: The d5 pawn break, and Be7 threatening White's weak h4 pawn.

5.d3

Probably White's best to get the other bishop out and castle queenside if possible.

5...Be7

Forcing a concession by white to deal with the threat.

6.Nf3

Again, probably the best move.  After 6.h5, black can just play 6...h6!  White wasted an additional tempo so black can use his time to prevent the advance.  Furthermore, White's dark squares are very weak.  If white instead plays 6.Qg4, then black gains at least two more tempos after 6...Nf6.  If white continues 7.Qxg7? black should play 7...Rg8! 8.Qh6 d5! and white is losing.

6...d5! 7.exd5 exd5 8.Bb5+ Nbd7 9.Ne5 Nf6 10.Bg5 0-0!

White is completely lost."

But conquistador, you mention that white gets counterplay with 1 g4. But at what cost? If it doesn't work (which it really shouldn't), his kingside is weaker with h3 and g4 than if he just played h4. But it's true that with h4 it's not only really bad but also isn't difficult to play against. But I think the weaknesses created by h4 are still a bit harder to exploit. So it's debatable, but in terms of soundness, I would prefer h4, slightly less self destructive lol. And your theory is strange. After 1 h4 c5 2 e4 b6?! (I doubt this is the best move) 3 Nf3 Bb7 4 Nc3 followed by d4, which takes his space in the center. The h4 pawn still has potential for attack since this is a sicilian type position and white can castle queenside. h4 can still be a weakness, but you're giving white a much better position than he deserves.

b6 may seem strange except that white has weakened his kingside.  The bishop aims at e4 which is difficult for white to defend.  In addition, black is preparing a d5 pawn break which would cement black's grip on the center when white has little counterplay.

1.h4 c5 2.e4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Nc3 e6 preparing d5 and Be7 could be a threat to the weak h4 pawn later on.