Offbeat Openings to DESTROY Your Opponents
Many chess players like to do the same, normal openings over and over again. However, sometimes, don't you wish you had some unusual openings to add to your arsenal? If so, consider learning some of these openings!
Openings like The Four Knights, Sicilian, Ruy Lopez, and Italian might be great openings, but since they are played so much, do you ever feel like your opponents always know what to do?
In this blog, you will learn to add some offbeat openings, so you can get your rating up, and have fun learning them as well!
Agenda
2. Offbeat Openings AS White
The Toilet
The Hippo
The Polish
The ICBMG
The King's Gambit
3. Offbeat Openings AS BLACK
The Modern
The Englund Gambit
The Budapest Gambit
My Idea
4. Master Games WITH Offbeat Openings
5. Me Playing Games USING Offbeat Openings
6. Pros & Cons
7. Outro
The blog may seem long, but there are lots of diagrams, it will fly by.
Before we start, my annotations do not work, hopefully, that's ok.
What ARE Offbeat Openings?
Offbeat openings can best be described as openings that are unusual and unconventional and are known to confuse your opponents.
Examples of themes an offbeat opening can possess are openings that have a weird move order, moving pieces more on the flank, even sacrificing a piece, and much more! Though a lot of these openings may not score well at the master level, you're probably not a master, so consider learning some of these openings!
I made this blog because I noticed when I was struggling in chess, I played a random opening out of frustration. I then noticed that weird openings can work extremely well, and I hope they will for you too.
Offbeat Openings As WHITE
1. The Toilet Variation
Now, your first question may be: what's with the name? Well, the name was invented by a chess player who loved to play the Grand Prix attack against the Sicilian Defense, and the Toilet Variation has a similar idea! The basics of the Toilet Variation are below...
White wants to put a bishop on b5, while also sticking to opening principals and castling. This is a tricky opening because white claims lots of space in the center, and since the opening is not played a lot, it can confuse lots of players.
IF black goes 3. d4: retreat the knight on c3 to e2. Then go to d3 and resume development.
IF black goes 3. e6: go Bb5+, and resume development with Nf3, d3, and 0-0.
IF black goes 3. dxe4: go Nxe4, OR if you are an aggressive player, consider d3, gamboling a pawn.
Try this opening at least once (if not confident in an unrated game). See if the opponent gets surprised! Practice against bots.
2. The Hippo
This opening also has a weird name! This opening doesn't look very good, but it is hard for the opponent to punish it. While the Hippo defense doesn't follow opening principles either, it follows hyper modernism (click to go to @AstroTheoretical_Physics blog on it) and is super solid.
As you can see, in this setup, black (you can play the Hippo as white too!) fianchettos both of the bishops and places their knights on d7 and e7.
Since this opening is so uncommonly played, occasionally your opponent will panic or get too aggressive and worsen their position. It may look lost, but any wrong move could result in disaster for the opponent, such as losing a pawn or creating a weakness.
The fun thing about this opening is that there are NO VARIATIONS! You don't have to remember anything about it, except maybe find what to do if the opponent tries to break the position with e5, or d5 as white.
When the opponent makes a mistake, the Hippo Opening strikes!
3. The Polish Opening
NOTE: 1. b4 is not a brilliant move.
There very well may be a few of you who play this opening, and I think more should, it is tricky! White goes 1. b4, and brings the bishop to b2 to attack the black center. Many players have trouble handling this opening. I hate it when my opponents play it against me.
The bishop on b2 is dangerous and creates problems for black. When playing this opening, try to put as much pressure on the e5 pawn as possible, and advance your queenside pawns if necessary.
IF 1. e5
Often a trade happens, with white capturing on e5 with the dark-squared bishop, and black taking on b4 with their dark-squared bishop, after 2. Bb2, you might get 2. Nc6, which is a huge mistake. Why? Because of 3. b5, 3. Nd4, and 4. e3, which provides white with a great position. Can't follow the notation. Here is a diagram below.
or a slightly different line that involves white winning a pawn.
Especially at the lower levels, this is a trap that black can easily fall into if they are not prepared for the Polish. Its uniqueness makes it such a deadly opening sub-1000.
IF 1. c6
While 1. c6 may look dumb for black, it is a playable move against the Polish. The main idea is to go 2. Qb6 and attack the b-pawn. After you defend that with 3. a3, black wants to go 3. a5 and apply more pressure. If black does anything else, they most likely don't know what they're doing. Here is the main line (which includes a huge trap!)
At move 6 for white, there is a choice of d4, Nf3, and axb4. If you are a new player, I suggest recapturing the pawn immediately, because it simplifies the position. If you are above 1500, however, you can consider d4 and Nf3, gambling a pawn.
Where is the trap there was supposed to be? I showed it with arrows in the diagram above, but here it is on the board.
And black is completely lost.
In conclusion to this opening, the Polish is decent and can be useful and many different levels of chess.
4. The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Gambit
Are you tired of people playing the Scandinavian against you? Try this opening.
Probably the longest opening name in chess, and also super deadly. This opening is hardly played, and I think it should be played much more. It starts like this.
White plans to unleash an attack on black, which in full scale can involve sacrificing multiple pieces. This is what a successful ICBMG looks like.
Black is forced to move their king, because if 6. g6, white simply goes 7—Qxe5, forking the king and the rook.
So after black moves the king, white takes a free pawn, and black loses the ability to castle.
IF 3. Nf6
You know what to do. The ICBMG! Go d3 and gambit a pawn, going for the idea of sacrificing the knight on f7 if black takes that pawn.
IF 3. Bf5
In this line, black tries to hang on to the extra pawn on e4.
Also the best response (according to the computer) to this opening (The Tennison Gambit)
The move I suggest is 4. d3, offering another pawn, and if black goes 4. exd3, then white can do the tricky Qf3
Below is a diagram representing this line.
The white queen has all sorts of open lines, on b7 winning a pawn, at f7, destroying black, and even simply regaining the pawn on d3, full of dangerous combinations for white, and lots of ways for black to find themselves in a losing position.
IF 3. f5
The most greedy option, yet quite a few of your opponents might play it against you since it looks like a free pawn.
However, that move opens up tons of light squares around the king, which is a vulnerable weakness, especially in the opening.
There are only two moves to keep an equal position (from the computer's perspective), and they are super strange.
E6 and Nh6 are the moves, but e6 is probably the move you will get. You have to settle for the free pawn, but you're still winning with an easy position to play.
Thumbnail: GothamChess, click the image to watch his video!
Just a Cool Tennison Gambit Trap
A nice trap that I found in one of the lines similar to the ICBMG.
5. The King's Gambit
The last offbeat opening in this blog for white is The King's Gambit, which is a solid opening that lacks the approval it should get.
It is one of the most aggressive openings in chess, since it moves the f-pawn on the second move, very suitable for a player that wants to have the initiative.
White wants to put pressure on blacks center, and it can be fatal if black does not know what to do.
There are 4 moves to expect as a response, however, there are lots of moves that give white a huge advantage in the opening. We will be looking at the most common responses.
King's Gambit: Accepted
This is the most common response: accepting the gambit. After this happens, white's plan should be to eventually win the pawn back with the dark-squared bishop, and launch an attack on the f-file.
First, you must go Nf3. The reason for this is that if you don't, then black will hit you Qh4+ the next move, forcing you to move your king, which is losing. Then simply go d4, and win back the pawn and castle.
My opponents are going g5 after I do this? What should I do?
A super fun variation is to give up a knight to get an attack since black is so undeveloped.
Offbeat Openings as BLACK
I always feel like openings as black are not recognized enough. Some of these openings as black I deeply recommend you add them to your game.
1. The Modern Defense
I love this opening. I have been playing it for a few years now, and it has worked for me extremely well. The idea of the Modern Defense is to fianchetto the dark-squared bishop on g7, which will be your best piece.
What I love about the Modern Defense is that no matter what opening white does, you rarely have to change your setup.
This is a great opening in bullet since you get to blitz off a few moves to get up on the clock a bit.
My advice for playing this opening is to:
1. Trade of the light-squared bishop
It usually gets trapped behind pawns, trade it off for a knight on f3 if you can.
2. Don't let white get too big of a center
White gets two central pawns in this opening most of the time, make sure to challenge the pawns with moves like d6, e6, and e5 if you need to break their structure.
3. Don't be afraid to be aggressive.
"There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones, and mine.
- GM Mikhail Tal
Don't be afraid to take risks! If you don't, you won't become good at chess.
4. Kingside space is key
Play it like the King's Indian Defense, and wait for a crucial f5 break in the position. Look for tactics in the center of the board.
A full-scale Modern Defense looks like this:
2. The Englund Gambit
This opening has started to become a trend due to its trickiness. Many chess players tend to think at first thought: "What an idiot, free pawn!" And sometimes it IS accidentally played and ends up being a free pawn. But if you know how to play the Englund Gambit correctly, it can be a nasty weapon to add to your opening arsenal.
Black gambits a pawn very early, but tries to make it up with more active pieces.
Fritz Englund
Englund Gambit Trap
Many beginners fall into this trap, I've fallen for it before too!
However, I do not suggest this opening above 1,000 elo due to its lack of strategic play, plus giving white an excellent position if they can sidestep the traps.
Englund Gambit with 6. Nb4
Nd4 is the proper (and only good) response to 6. Nb4. At that point, you must continue playing in a slightly losing position. This points out one of the downsides of offbeat openings, some of them allow counterattacks which can deny them before they can get into action.
I suggest not doing the Englund Gambit unless your rating is below 1000.
3. The Budapest Gambit
The Budapest Gambit has been played more and more over the last couple of years. It has an amazing ability to confuse players and throw them off of their game.
Budapest, Hungary
For those who don't know, Budapest is the capital of Hungary
D4 and c4 players can expect a King's Indian Defense, but the Budapest is different. It sacrifices a pawn and makes the knight move two times in the opening. How can this be good? We will see.
The Budapest starts like this
In this blog, we will only be looking at the two variations you are 95% certain to get, 4. Nf3, or 4. Bf4. Both of these moves have one thing in common, they both defend the captured pawn on e5. Let's see how to counter it!
Budapest Gambit with 4. Nf3
AKA: The Adler Variation
The main thing to focus on is getting your pieces activated as quickly as possible and trying to win the e5 pawn back.
My suggestion for you to respond is to play a quick attack that forces white to box in the dark-squared bishop.
Bc5!
I like this idea because it forces white to do one move, not a variety of options.
Now that we have blocked the white bishop in, we can attempt to win the pawn. The most simple and precise way to do this is Qe7.
And there is no way to protect the pawn for white, except for Qd5, which can be dealt with easily with Nc6, attacking the e5 pawn once more.
Not bad for black.
Budapest Gambit with 4. Bf4
AKA: The Rubinstein Variation
Let's deal with this line the same way as Nf3.
Well, maybe in a similar way.
White has a bit more freedom in this line, which may be the reason why Bf4 is the most common response to the Budapest Gambit. Winning back the pawn may take longer than you may be comfortable with, but stay with it.
You may think that black should go Qe7 in this position since we did it last time, but the best option is to go Bb4+, which I did not expect.
After this, the opponent will play Nd2, and THEN we do Qe7, pretty straightforward after that.
That will wrap up the Budapest Gambit, have fun playing it!
4. A Interesting Idea I Invented
My "opening" has no real name, but I think the idea of it could be cool. The idea of it is to fianchetto the light-squared bishop and launch a queenside pawn attack. Here is what the setup would look like.
Just a thought, I might think of future ideas for it not too far in the future.
On to the next segment...
Master Games WITH Offbeat Openings
In this segment, we will be exploring master games in which offbeat openings were utilized. There will also be an analysis of each game
Chess.com game featuring the Budapest Gambit
This is a game played in Titled Tuesday
The game featured the Budapest Gambit and GM Mamedyarov does an excellent job of finishing the game.
I think white had the advantage for a solid part of the opening and middle game, but white left a blunder in the endgame which made it hopeless for the opponent. In that game, black was not scared of white's massive space advantage.
Carlsen vs. Keymer Titled Tuesday featuring the Polish Opening
This is a game between GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Vincent Keymer
Something worth noting is how Carlsen was able to restrict most of Keymer's pieces to the back rank in the middle of the game. He also did a great job of opening up the queenside and using it to create attacks.
Nakamura is playing the Modern Defense in OTB
Hikaru Nakamura did a great job of maneuvering the knights to create confusion, making precise pawn moves, and striking in the endgame with the queen and rook.
Carlsen playing the King's Gambit in Titled Tuesday
Magnus Carlsen has started using the King's Gambit a lot more very recently, with lots of success. Here he is converting a winning position against Matei-Valeriu Mogirzan
Though Magnus entered the middle game up a pawn, he had to give it back mostly due to the safety of his king. However, he did a great job of protecting the king to enter a winning endgame, which he converted.
Moving on to the next segment...
Me Playing Games USING Offbeat Openings
Due to learning a lot about these openings by making this blog, I will now be playing games with some of the openings. My rating is probably going to go down, so enjoy!
Me Playing The King's Gambit
I think I played pretty well in that game, only one mistake, and the rest was smooth.
I suggest putting the knight on b5 in a lot of those setups to prevent Nd4 (which did happen in the game but I was OK with it in that case). If the game was more closed, I would have done a kingside attack.
Me Playing The Modern Defense
My opponent lost connection, but I think they panicked a bit when I played this opening and applied immediate pressure to their e5 pawn.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
1. Surprises the opponent, and catches them off guard.
2. Has interesting lines and variations that other openings don't have.
3. The opponent is often vulnerable if they choose to be greedy against many of these openings.
4. Quick knockout games are more common.
Cons:
1. Lower win percentage at higher levels.
2. Losing positions may occur if the opponent plays the correct response.
3. Work less in longer time controls.
4. Most don't follow opening principles, which may lead to not having space.
Outro
At last, the end. I hope that it wasn't too overwhelming to read. In conclusion, offbeat openings are a great weapon to add to your arsenal, and if you are stuck at chess, then this might be the way to get "unstuck." If that's you, then start learning one that you like!
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