Handling unusual openings c4Nf6c5

When playing online, I often encounter unorthodox opening moves.

Usually it tells me I'm facing a beginner, but every once in a while there's a maverick who can actually play and thus handling his style becomes tricky in a timed game.

Even when I defend properly, ending up with a better position or superior piece development, I find it challenging to take advantage - and this is the main point I'd like to improve.  I lose way too many games in which I had a positional advantage.

Thanks for looking at the game, I would appreciate some feedback.

Have fun wih your games :)

3...a5 is strong.

Your comment on move 19 clearly shows that you are afraid of taking risks, and that's why you lose to such 'bluffs'.

Instead of 19...g6, you should have take the rook by 19...Nxd2 20.Qxd2 Qxa3, and if White's 'attack' was so terrible, you could even play 20...Qxd2+ that 'only' wins the echange, but gets the queens off the board.

The rook endgame was really terrible from both sides. As a rule, you should remember that rook endgames are the endgames where the initiative is the most important (33.g4 ? -> Re8 ; 35...Re6 ? (now it's a draw) ->...f6).

And 37.c6 ?? loses because after 39.Kb6 (?) (it's hopeless, so it's not really a blunder) 30...b4 and the pawn runs to b1 (although the text move is similar).