Unusual chess openings (Pawn moves from B-F ranks)

Unusual chess openings begin with anything other than 1. e4, 1. d4, 1. Nf3, or 1. c4. 

Bird’s Opening 

The bird’s opening is a standard flank opening. White’s plan is to control the e5 square at the expense of weakening his own kingside. Black could challenge White’s plan to control e5 immediately by playing the From’s Gambit (1. e5)

 Barnes Opening

Out of all the openings in this blog, this one is probably the worst. It does not control the central squares, opens no lines for pieces, and hinders the knights development on f3. After (1. f3, e5), some  players continue with the nonsensical 2. Kf2.

Saragossa Opening

Since white usually plays more aggressively in the opening, the Saragossa is considered an irregular opening. The opening of 1.c3 seems to be an unambitious move. It opens a diagonal for the queen, but takes the c3 square away from the knight.

Polish Opening

This opening is largely based on tactics on the queenside or the f6 and g7 squares. Black can make claims to the center with d5, or e5. One variation is (1. b4, e5 2. Bb2), where white is attacking the b-pawn at the expense of the e-pawn.

Van’t Kruijs Opening

The opening 1. e3 is not popular according to ChessBase, it ranks eleventh in popularity out of twenty possible first moves. It releases the king’s bishop, but the move is somewhat passive. Play may transpose into a Queen’s Pawn Game or reversed French Defense.

Mieses Opening

White’s 1.d3 releases the c1-bishop and makes a modest claim for the center, but it does not stake out a large share of the center. 1.d3 is playable as white and it could easily transpose into a King’s Indian Attack.

Now, let’s rank the openings from worst to best

6. Barnes Opening (Weakens the kings position and does nothing to help develop the pieces)

5. Saragossa Opening (Unambitious and blocks the knights square to c3)

4. Bird’s Opening (Risky move that weakens the king’s position)

3. Polish Opening (Tricky opening but White does nothing to control the center)

2. Van’t Kruij’s Opening (Passive but helps develop the pieces like a normal opening would)

1. Mieses Opening (The only thing that separates #1 and #2 is passivity)