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Learn the unorthodox Polish Opening.

Learn the unorthodox Polish Opening.

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ZanderVanHornRdrgz
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The Polish Opening begins after 1. b4

The Polish Opening, sometimes referred to as the Orangutan, or Sokolsky(named after GM Alexey Sokolsky) opening, is a rare opening, considering it happens once in about 220 games. The first thing you might notice we're doing is a fianchetto of the dark-squared bishop. This opening is similar to the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, but unlike that, we push the pawn 2 spaces forward, rather than 1, gaining more queenside space.

Without further ado, let's start learning. Our main setup will go like this: we will likely play Bg2 next turn, c4 to control their queenside, e3 to protect c4, a3 to defend b4 if this pawn hasn't been attacked after move 5, develop the knight to c3(sometimes it may go to d2), our other knight 99% of the time will go to f3, the light-squared bishop always goes to e2, castling and finally the queen goes to c2. Later we will play d4, striking in the center.

That's the main set up we will have, but, what if they attack our pawn with e5(an indirect attack)? We still play Bg2. Now their e5 pawn is attacked. If they play something dumb after Bg2 like Nc6, we will push b5, kicking the knight, if it goes to d4 to counterattack, play e3. If they play d3, the Czech Defense, we're going to go for our main setup. If they attack b4 with a5, we shouldn't take, instead we push b5. If they ever kick our knight with e4, bring it to g5(if possible).

Last possible dumb move, if they play f3, the light-squares around their king become weak. We have several options, option 1: a3, option 2: b5, or option 3: e4. Option 1 first, a3 is just very solid, in this we will go for our main set up. Option 2, b5, where if they try undermining with a6, we defend with a4 and if they keep undermining with c6, defend with e3 and c4 if necessary.  Option 3 is called the Tartakower Gambit. If they accept, we play Bc4, to stop kingside castling and control the weak diagonal.

If the opponent knows what they're doing, they will take on b4. After that we take on e5, now we threaten Bxg7, winning their rook. Best move to block is Nf6(if Bf8, play c4), so after Nf6, we should play c4, controlling the center, gaining queenside space, just what we want. From here they have 3 options, castle, d5, or Nc6. 

If they play Nc3, play Bb2, after they play e5 trade, we're gonna try going for the same set up without gaining queenside space. If they play d5, we play e3 to defend our pawn. Back to the mainline, castling. Play e3, opening the light-squared bishop.

If Nc3 now, Bb2 again and remember what I said previously. If they attack with Re1, defend with Nf3. Their best move is d5, in which we play Nf3, and after something like c5, we first push a3 to kick the bishop, then take on d5. If they recapture with the queen, take their f6 knight, forcing them to expose their king and created Double Isolated Pawns or have them be down material. Their better move is clear, Nxd5, recapturing with the knight, and after we play Qc2. From here moves are standard, after they play Nc3, bring the bishop back to b2 and they play a random move like Bg4, we play Be2 and castle soon.
Right now we have the semi-open b and c-files to support a queenside attack later on. We have good chances in the mainline. Let's reel it back, after we play b4 what if they play e6/d5/Nf6? If they play e6 just play Bb2 like normal, they can't take on b4 because if they do we take on g7 and win the rook next move.
Instead of them taking our pawn, they probably play Nf3. We play b5, doing what we sought out to do(grab queenside space) and now we stop natural development of the b1-knight. This is likely going to transpose into the Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation. From here they have two options, the previously mentioned Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation with d5, or the Queenside Defense with a6. If they play a6 immediately, support the pawn with a4.
a4 is what we will near always do when we have a pawn on b5 under attack. From here if they trade pawns, then rooks, we have e3, c4, and will follow the same plan. If they keep undermining with c6, play e6 to defend.
If they play d5 instead of e6, still Bb2! If they play e6... does this look familiar? It should. We play e3 this time. After they play Nf6, we push b5. This is near identical to the last one except there's a pawn on d5, this is finally the Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation! If they undermine with a6, I just told you that! If they play and random move, we play c4(protected by the f1-bishop) and Nf3. Make sure before bringing out the dark bishop, you take on d5.
If they play Nf6 and ever try Bf5 business, we have c4. If they try the King's Indian Set Up, with g6 and Nf6 like moves, someone conveniently made a blog about that set up, we will still play Bb2(seeing a pattern with our second move?), c4 and follow our main set up. Remember, never to trade the b4-pawn for the a-pawn, if they attack a pawn of yours on b5, a4 is best.
The last real variation they have is the Outflank Variation, with c6. You'll never guess our second move, in fact, I'm not telling you. After our move if they play Qb6, play a3 to defend and when they play a5. We will play c4, if this looks like a blunder, that should be on the Captchas, at first glance it does look inaccurate, but when they take our b-pawn, we push c5, to attack the queen. Queen can't take because if she does, we recapture our b-pawn, the rooks stare each other but their queen is attacked.
 Their better move was Qc7, after which we recapture and trade rooks.
Instead of them doing Qb6, what if they immediately play a5?  We have a nice little gambit, with b5, after they take we play e4. This is the Schühler(Hey! I think that's the name of the doctor I go to!) Gambit. If they try defense with Qb6, we play Nf3, if they push Nd6 threatens Nc7+ and the queen. When it retreats to d8, we play Bd4 to make the queen move away from defense of c7. If they play Qc6 instead, we will develop(we have three minor pieces in the game, he has none.)
If instead of them play Qb6, they play b4, we play a3. They can't really defend the pawn, so they trade, and we recapture with the knight. On the next move we can play d4, and we have the full center and a lead in development, what more could you want?
The last trick black has up their sleeve is the Birmingham gambit, with 1. ... c5. We accept and their move should be e5. If they play otherwise, with e6, we have d5. This is why they play e5. After e5,  we play e3, just give the pawn back. Once the bishop takes, push d4, if they don't trade pawns and play Bd6, we can play Bb2. They should trade, and after the trade, we have a pawn in the center and their bishop has to move. If they check us, block with c3. After their bishop goes anywhere else we play Nf3.
If you read this entire blog, I wholeheartedly appreciate and thank you. This blog takes a while to read and took a heck of a lot longer to make(a few hours). I hope you enjoy this unorthodox opening, and with that, goodbye!