Well, In the last few days I have been practising f4 opeing regularly in provincial tournaments, coz i personally feel that e4, c4 and d4 are quite common in use. My point comes in the fact thatm whether f4 is a good opeing for White. My personal record has not been very good while opeing with f4. Please post your suggestions regarding this.

i don't like it. there are a lot of openings where you can AIM for f4, but playing it straightout seems wrong to me. i think the track record of players above 2200 would prove that out.

1 f4 is good.  Tim Taylor wrote a good book about it.  There are some videos on the internet about it by GM Henrik Danielson whose name on YouTube is krakkaskak.

www.videochess.net

 

GM Danielson plays F4 a lot, and gives wonderful lectures while playing blitz! 

I've given Danielsen's system for Bird's Opening (The Polar Bear System, which is effectively a reverse-colored Leningrad Dutch Defense most of the time) a few goes off-site, and I have the following to say about it:

 

It's immensely entertaining. The games are quite tactical and action-packed, and not in the oh-crap-my-opponent-is-about-to-stomp-me way most of the time. I've found my tactical grasp improving by playing it, consequently.

 

I find that it also helps that I spent a while as a Stonewall Attack player and have gotten passably competent with it, because transposing into some variation of it is sometimes a really good idea.

I used to play it , and still do sometime . However I find From's gambit ( 1. f4 e5 ) hard to deal with and I think this is best defence for black

 It really does not matter what Opening we choose to play.  What mattters is what follows afterwards, therefore "understanding the Ideas of the particular opening we choose to play is very important!  Actually all openings are good. There isn't any bad ones, otherwise the masters would not have played them!

Can someone post the main variation of the Bird's Opening.  Thanks

1.f4 is certainly playable, but might be more difficult to handle than more common opening first moves, especially 1.e4

My advice would be not to play 1.f4 if you're still a novice because you may find it difficult to understand. However, if you already have some experience, you can probably decide for yourself if the Bird suits you.

I hate playing against this opening, I deploy the hedgehog formation when playing against it.

rgp89 wrote: Can someone post the main variation of the Bird's Opening.  Thanks

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There is quite a few ways black can answer this . The whole point of playing 1.f4 is to control the e5 square right from the get go . All the moves that follow for white will have that intention . So for example one possibility that occurs the most is the Classical variation ( which can go like this )

ericmittens wrote:

www.videochess.net

 

GM Danielson plays F4 a lot, and gives wonderful lectures while playing blitz! 

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Thanks for the link, those lectures are great!

F4, i feel leaves a lot to be disierd throughout the opening. However, it proves to be valuable in other variations of diffrent openings. I personally would steer clear of f4. The anylasis in which was done by reputable grandmasters regard it as being to bold. In modern day chess.

Actually I would recommend playing the bird. Most people below a certain level do not study up on the opening for black and have no idea what to do. The opening is perfectly sound and can be mirrored as a black defence against d4

I definatl agree with playing the bird. The most common response is 1...d5, entering a reversed dutch defense position, only a tempo up as white. The dutch defense was played by such greats as Morphy, Alekhine, and Botvinnik. The bird was played by bent larsen, and his games are very instructive. Also i agree that the book on the Bird by Tim Taylor is very informative. And finally lets not forget that by playing 1.f4 you are steering the game away from opening theory and there is much more room for innovation. All in all, I think The Bird leads to an interesting tactical battle with interesting attacking chances for white.

With Current practice of Bird's opening specially in the live chess.. Blitz.. there were some interesting positions that were created in the early middle game!!

Thanks to you all...this forum provides me so many ideas on Bird's opening. Next time i'll taste this opening from my opponent (Bird's as his repertoire) hope i could be more familliar on the terrain...thank you again!

TalFan wrote: I used to play it , and still do sometime . However I find From's gambit ( 1. f4 e5 ) hard to deal with and I think this is best defence for black

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 I think that all From's Gambit lines are poor for Black, and some are probably out and out losing. Give me a sample game where Black achieved a decent position from a From's Gambit.

erik wrote: i don't like it. there are a lot of openings where you can AIM for f4, but playing it straightout seems wrong to me. i think the track record of players above 2200 would prove that out.

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 What is your rating Erik? I mean REAL rating (national or FIDE).