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The Orangutan

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Jenubis
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So hello everyone! This is my first blog post. I'm not an extraordinarily amazing chess player, but I do have some nice ideas and stuff that I feel like others would like to read about. I read an article not too long ago, about an opening that was coined the "Orangutan" opening. The opening is a bit odd, giving white early expansion on the queenside as opposed to immediately taking the center. I've had nice success with it, it takes people out of the loop immediately and can bring along some nice tactics. Here is a game I played on Xbox Live.

Not my best game at all. In fact that was one of the hardest games I had to play against with the Orangutan. My opponent, although a few of their moves made no sense, was smart enough to cut off my plans from the beginning. Let's look at one more game, one where the opponent played a bit differently.

 

So in my experiences of using this opening, it is more for the positional player then the dynamic destroyer. You really need to show a great deal of knowledge to make flanking games work right from the beginning with no clear path to taking over the center. This opening is one to use against a novice or intermediate player, likewise it is one to be used by a novice or an intermediate player. It can and will throw people for a loop if done right, however the intricacies involved are too abundant and strenuous to really attempt using it in competitive OTB matches. Still, it might make for a nice repertoire to have backed up. Play around with it, experiment some. It never hurts to understand how these types of openings work, if only so you won't be thrown for a loop when someone like me decides to use it out of nowhere!