The Sensei's Favorite Opening.

Throughout my time playing chess, I have played and played against many openings. A lot of d4's and e4's, however this opening I am about to show is a very off-beat but can cause a lot of imbalances in the position for the attacking players out there. 

What is this opening? 

It is called the Mieses opening and can transpose into many mainlines of other openings. It begins when white plays 1.d3. 

A basic set up of the Mieses opening

Why should I consider this opening?  
The Mieses Opening is great for anyone who is playing white and wants to avoid any deep theory, it allows you to be creative and avoid any "meta" lines. You can go in many directions with this opening whether you want to attack, or you just want a solid setup 😎. 

What are the Cons 🤔? 
One of the biggest flaws with this opening is the lack of center presence, however, the middle plan would be focusing on the attacking the center with flank pawns.

History of Grandmaster Jacques Mieses 

Jacques Mieses (1865–1954), a German-born chess master, became known for aggressive play and creative openings, including the Mieses Opening (1. d3). He helped organize key tournaments, and, as a Jewish player, moved to the UK after fleeing Nazi Germany. Mieses became Britain’s first FIDE grandmaster in 1950. 

Picture of the late great Jacques Mieses

A Notable game

The Mieses opening was played by deep blue against Grandmaster Garry Kasparov, this was a complex game where Garry Kasparov and Deep blue played at 93% accuracy and 92% accuracy respectively. This battle of man and machine ended in a draw .

Conclusion 

I used the Mieses opening to go from 1900 to 2100 💪. It is great to catch your opponents off guard, however it is not recommended for new players that are still learning the basics of the game.  There are many variations you can go with that can fit almost anyone's playing style.