Bird's Opening - a good choice!!

He is known for being a very strong master in the middle of the 19th Century and for being the inventor of the Bird Opening (1.f4) and a variation in the Spanish Game ( 1: e4,e5 2: Nf3,Nc6 3: Bb5,Nd4!

Both variations are still playable almost 150 years after their birth

Especially the Bird Opening - has interested me for years - probably due to my countryman GM Bent Larsen who played the Bird a lot with good results. Another Danish player - GM Henrik Danielsen has also contributed heavily in the evolution of the Bird opening.

I have played the Bird opening for some time now According to "real" chessplayers (ie writers and commentators) the Bird is a no good choice - as white has no advantage after the opening!! In my opinion - that is rubbish. The advantage for white is that the black players has no knowledge how to play - after the opening is over. Therefore the surprise-value is of great importance. 

The reputation of the Bird Opening is somewhat odd - GM Roman Dzindzichashvili mentions on Onlinechesslessons.com (found on Youtube) that the Bird is for lazy but at the same time ambitious players. I find this quote very nice. Dzindzichashvili somehow acknowledge that the Bird can be dangerous for the black player.

Bird`s opening leads to a maneuvering game where patience and quiet positional play will decide.

Very often white has a spaceadvantage on the kingside - which can be used to attack the black king

 My reference book for this opening. Always interesting.

  Also a good book with nice commentaries from IM Taylor.
                                                                                            

You should be aware of the following:

The advantages of playing the Bird are the following:

     1) You avoid mainstream theory. 

     2) Your opponents do not have the first 10-20 moves ready.

     3) Patternrecognition - you know the finesses of the position.

     4) Often easy to prepare a very fast attack on blacks king.

     5) Quite flexible system - White has several different setups at his/her disposal.

Disadvantages of playing the Bird are the following:

     1) The From-gambit (1:f4,e5) is quite sharp. Very playable for WHITE!!

     2) The Diagonal a7-g1 is open for black - as the white f2-pawn has already left....

After this brief introduction I will show you my latest game with the Bird-opening. It is played here on Chess.com - 3 days per move:

White: Posiskak (2173) - RCD Mallorca

Black: Nezh2455 (2105) - Hajduk Split

Ok, black did not play the best moves - but the game shows how dangerous The Bird is - when black somehow underestimates the white opening.

Conclusion: 

This post is an apetizer for you. Not filled up with variation after variation. No -  my point is to show  you the advantages playing The Bird from the psychological  point of view.

Our Royal game is filled op with computer-generated lines. This opening is the opposite. A positional approach without too much theory.

The basic is sound and the most important for white to remember - is to stay focused on attacking possibilities in the center and on the kingside

If you have any comments or whatever - please let me know

HAPPY HUNTING