Thought of 1.e4e5 2. Bd3?!

 hi, im new to the site. and consider myself beginner in chess, since i've never taken academic approach like majority of chess.com community til i joined.

The game below, i played 2.Bd3 for few reasons. First, I'm no expert with opening theories and wanted to throw my opponent off balance. Also i had planned to castle ASAP, but the fianchettoed bishop on the kingside weakens the pawn structure, once the bishop is eliminated. Lastly, i wanted the bishop to ultimately occupy the h1-a8 diagonal. (again, without fianchetto by the castle)

The game, turns out to be dubious and exciting. Offering mate threatening attacks from both ends. But i manage to fight off the attacker, and  pick up most of his attacking pieces

comments are appreciated, since i'm only starting to learn. was there mating moves by black, that we jus both fail to see? what could i have done better? ... well other than those pieces i never moved...

EDIT: i'm beginner at chess, but i've played japanese chess (shougi) for year. I like how you could place enemy's captured piece as your piece

...9 Bg4? i meant to say Nd3 not Kd3
...10 now HIS knight on f4 is potentially pinned 

some blunders

1. e4 e5  2. Bd3

Is called the Tortoise Opening.  It's a C20 (ECO) opening, falling under "King's Pawn Openings".

Typical progression would be  2. ... Bc5  3. Nf3 Nf6  4. Nxe5 ...

then if Black castles,

4. ... O-O  5. Ng4 Nxe4  6. Bxe4 ...

Which leads to decent play for White.  Better for Black is 4. ... Qe7, which correctly punishes the opening for the reasons stated above.

Black again gets another chance to eat all those undefended pieces in the center by (you guessed it) move 9. ... Qe7.

This opening wouldn't last long against a veteran player.

thanks all for the comments!

i'm trying to find a opening that feels right for me. currently i'm liking english, i think it comes natural to me since i like playing Sicilian when playing as black.

Then you should think about it a lot more:)

They lead to a completely different game flow.

The english usually leads to a slow, positional, maneuvering game, and the sicilian leads to a real tactical bloodbath (if white wants it). Don't be fooled by the similarities of the pawn structure - the single tempo difference makes a LOT of difference,

So it depends what type of game you like, If you don't mind white entering into an open sicilian when you're black, and you like the open melee better than slower positions, then do NOT play the english.

As for playing the openings - It's relatively easy to play simple openings without knowing a lot of opening theory, as long as you keep followig some basic principles. You may not be sure of playing the best move, but you know what? neither am I, when I play mt games, and I do know a lot of theory...

By adhering to principles (development, king safey, center), you can be certain that you don't make positional blunders (so what if they won't be the best).

"You have to know the rule in order to break it (and be right...)", and opening theory contains many principle-breaking move. The most important principle of the opening is:

Develop your pieces! As many as you can - develop, castle early (which develops the rook in the corner, and gets your king out of the center, which enables you to make bolder plans of development in the center), and fight for control of the center (which hinders your opponent from developing as actively as he would like).

That's the problem with your 2.Bd3 -

1) the bishop is rather passive there (blocked by the e4 pawn, which, if black so chooses, will stay there for quite a while, so it's not well developed for now).

2)it blocks the d2 pawn, which, in turn, prevent you from fighting for the center (so your opponent can develop more freely), and also limits the development of your c1 bishop (You're THAT sure already you don't want it on e3,f4,g5?).

 Black has an easy time of equalizing development, neutralizing white's extra tempo, then blasting open the center with d5 (AFTER preparation, your opponent went in too early with ...d5, and you should have taken (exd5)).

After you start understanding the basics - you can start investigating the small nuances of similar positions - for example, IM Danny Kopec's idea with 1.e4 c5 2.Bd3!?, which he regularly employs with success. (It's totally different from 1.e4 e5 2.Bd3, and even then, you have to realy really understand what are the ideas and plans to even contemplate playing it).

But, first, learn the basics!!!

I'm glad I found this article, thank you to everyone for your input & feedback on the "Tortoise Opening" (1.e4 e5 2.Bd3?). It's all very helpful, as I'm also fairly new to chess, and still learning the game, especially openings.

I failed to mention that I'm playing (black) against someone (white) who used this opening... I don't think I've seen it before now.

Id like yo first say you played the opening very well. Your tactical ability and strategies arnt beginers level your far from it... but keep the humility in order to grow. The bd3 is an opening ive played for years and it originated in the Kopec system. Which if you got time check out. Its a good opening. Yes it creats a loss of tempo and puts you at an early disadvantage: but it can be a great advantage against Sicilian players and others who arnt familiar with it. And if you can develop it or incorperate it from an Italian game against openings your not familiar with. You could have a great game no matter how it goes. :) good luck playing and keep up the good work.

you are developing a piece

why not just offer your opponent a draw

then if you drew then this post would not be a problem