Intro to the Polish
The Polish Opening
Many openings that are played involve basic chess principles of controlling the center such as e4 or d4. However, there are some openings that look completely wack and violate all principles, yet are still played, especially online blitz or bullet games. One of those openings is b4 or the Polish opening.
The Polish Openings strongest asset is that it is unconventional and can throw players off guard. The best response to the Polish Opening by far is e5 and sticking to the basic principles of the opening. e5 also hits the b pawn that white decided to play first.
White has two main ways to respond. The most aggressive and popular strategy is to play Bb2 to hit black's e pawn and typically the two players will exchange pawns. Black does have the option to play the simple d6, the Czech Defense and play defense, but this blocks off the black's diagonal and allows white to play c4 and take control of the queenside. Alternatively, after blacks play e5, white can defend their pawn with a3 before bringing his bishop, but this does allow black to play d5 and take complete control of the center of the board.
However, the most popular way to play the Polish is by trading the pawns. This especially is good for white as they get a central pawn and threaten to take the g pawn and trade black's rook. This pretty much forces black to play Nf6. f6 could be played, but this leaves a big weakness for when the king castles, which is the main objective of black at this point in the game. White can respond with the development of his own knight to f3. c4 could also be played before Nf3, but white is going to try and take control of the dark squares in the center of the board, especially with the absence of black's e pawn.
At this point, black will begin playing more defense because he wants to keep control of the long diagonal. Playing too rashly such as with d4 will potentially leave the bishop stranded and lose control of the diagonal. So e3 followed by Be2 is typical for white to play and castle. On the other hand, the best way for black to more forward is to begin their pushback on the queenside with d5 and c5, followed by Nc6. Notice how if black knows the response to the Polish, the momentum of the game quickly turns against white as black gets rapid development.
The opening may come to a close with white playing moves such as d3 to open squares of development, while black continues their development by bringing their rook to the e file and optimizing the power of the bishops. From here, the game will continue with white usually playing a bit slower and improving their position, while black continues with more aggression, especially trying to break through on the queenside. Black usually has an easier game than white if they are able to come out of the opening due to central advantage and development, but the position is certainly holdable for white.
Master Games
The Polish Opening is a handy opening to have in your toolbox to throw off your opponent and its good to know how to respond to the opening so that you're not thrown off. As long as you are able to play solidly after knowing the first few moves of theory, you should be in good shape to play against this off beat opening. But what are your thoughts on the Polish? Let me know!
