Are there any valid opening lines started with the rook pawns?

Not really my friend, you're looking at abdicating control of the center and throwing away some tempo, pretty much. The pawns simply do not control pivitol squares.

That is my assumption.  I haven't played that since I was about 10 (I'm over 30 now).  However, I see some players do it, so I wonder if it has ANY value besides a fear of scholar's mate.

no. none. zip. zilch.

THANK YOU BOTH.  Now help me convince my students of this. Hehe.

no, and your pieces stay closed in (knights bishops). Bringing your rooks to the 3rd rank does nothing except making them vulnerable for attack.

You can pawnstormm on the kingside! That is if you don't get checkmated first...

Well certain openings have rook pawn openings, but there is no point in ever moving them unless for prophylactic purposes or in advancing your pawns. Of course this is just my personal opinion.

1. a4

is called the Ware opening. 

1. h4

is called the Desprez opening.

Both are rare (estimated to occur 1/1,000,000 games) because they are usually answered by     1... d5  or 1... e5, which are followed by one of Black's bishops attacking either the a3 or h3 spaces, effectively stopping the entry of White's rooks.

1. a4  can flow into a standard Reti, though, so it isn't totally out of line.

Those moves usually dont make sense but if someone replies 1.h4 g6?! White is ready to pawn storm at some stage of the game.

Ok 1...g6 is not dubious really but it kinda makes sense of whites first move. Eric Schiller has a good link on his website about playing unorthodox openings and its worth a quick read. 

so we can't consider h3 or a3 a pass  move...     lets say you were playing white when you prefer playing black...   well a3 or h3 is a common move in numerous positions.   so do these moves not work as passes?   or do the creat too much of a weakness for black to attack?

oh... a4 and h4... i c...   oops...    well my comment still stands as its more of a question really

batmanmg wrote: so we can't consider h3 or a3 a pass  move...     lets say you were playing white when you prefer playing black...   well a3 or h3 is a common move in numerous positions.   so do these moves not work as passes?   or do the creat too much of a weakness for black to attack?

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 Its not the best way to go about obtaining the initiative or an opening advantage but you can play these moves. You wont make life easy for yourself and i think beginners should stay away from playing such moves. ok, its fun for blitz but thats all. You may think that some of these moves are played later on in some openings but your opponent will be aware of that and try to enter lines where your first move is a disadvantage, for example a line where that move makes no sense, creates a weakness or blocks an important square etc.

 

Playing over the board tournaments there may be a tense atmosphere and those moves may be used to create some psychological tension but thats probably about it.

 dvwork wrote:

Are there any valid opening lines started with the rook pawns?

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The Desprez is my main opening.  I use it almost exclusively, and have played it with some success against players as strong as 2800 on playchess.com.  Strong players tend to trap my runaway h-pawn on h5 by playing moves like ...h6, ...Nf6 and ...Bg4.  I've been playing the Desprez a long time now and have come up with my own unique playing system as White, with some sub variations depending on Black's replies.  The most troublesome for me is the Sacrifice Variation I have just mentioned above.  

You can check wiki for more info on this opening.  My name is also mentioned in Wiki. 

This opening has some virtue, in that it does not allow Black to castle safely on the Kingside.  

After playing so many games with 1. h4, I can conclude that:

a) It is playable against all players, possibly except those with ratings above 2600 FIDE.  

 b) It almost always leads to tactical slugfests.  Never a dull moment!

c)  As Black, it (...1. h5)  is my only response against any White opening.  It is also playable.

I combine h4 with a4 also, and I employ the dragon pawn formation often when I play the Desprez. 

Michael Reyes

 

 dvwork wrote:

Are there any valid opening lines started with the rook pawns?

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The Desprez is my main opening.  I use it almost exclusively, and have played it with some success against players as strong as 2800 on playchess.com.  Strong players tend to trap my runaway h-pawn on h5 by playing moves like ...h6, ...Nf6 and ...Bg4.  I've been playing the Desprez a long time now and have come up with my own unique playing system as White, with some sub variations depending on Black's replies.  The most troublesome for me is the Sacrifice Variation I have just mentioned above.  

You can check wiki for more info on this opening.  My name is also mentioned in Wiki. 

This opening has some virtue, in that it does not allow Black to castle safely on the Kingside.  

After playing so many games with 1. h4, I can conclude that:

a) It is playable against all players, possibly except those with ratings above 2600 FIDE.  

 b) It almost always leads to tactical slugfests.  Never a dull moment!

c)  As Black, it (...1. h5)  is my only response against any White opening.  It is also playable.

I combine h4 with a4 also, and I employ the dragon pawn formation often when I play the Desprez. 

Michael Reyes

 

Tony Miles played 1..a6 against Karpov once...and won. I guess those kind of moves have some surprise factor.

 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068157

 

 

pinnoy wrote:  dvwork wrote:

Are there any valid opening lines started with the rook pawns?

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The Desprez is my main opening.  I use it almost exclusively, and have played it with some success against players as strong as 2800 on playchess.com.  Strong players tend to trap my runaway h-pawn on h5 by playing moves like ...h6, ...Nf6 and ...Bg4.  I've been playing the Desprez a long time now and have come up with my own unique playing system as White, with some sub variations depending on Black's replies.  The most troublesome for me is the Sacrifice Variation I have just mentioned above.  

You can check wiki for more info on this opening.  My name is also mentioned in Wiki. 

This opening has some virtue, in that it does not allow Black to castle safely on the Kingside.  

After playing so many games with 1. h4, I can conclude that:

a) It is playable against all players, possibly except those with ratings above 2600 FIDE.  

 b) It almost always leads to tactical slugfests.  Never a dull moment!

c)  As Black, it (...1. h5)  is my only response against any White opening.  It is also playable.

I combine h4 with a4 also, and I employ the dragon pawn formation often when I play the Desprez. 

Michael Reyes

 

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1 thing, in my game against you the only tactical maneuver was getting my self 2 pieces for a rook.

1 thing, in my game against you the only tactical maneuver was getting my self 2 pieces for a rook.

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 Yes, it was the only tactic so far.  Let's play real time chess too, after the game  

a4 and h4 are both investment moves. these move usually are part of a plan, but when played first, they become the plan, which is very inflexible. against a player of strong calibur, moves like a4 and h4 will not be outright crushed, but you will certainly negate any advantage of first move.