My First Experience with Van Kruij's Opening - Feedback Welcome
Van’t Kruij’s Opening
- e3
Played by Martin Bot on Chess.com (White; 250) January 26th, 2023 vs. Carochere (Black; 800/Unrated) with a result of 0-1 Win for Black via checkmate on move 18
Pros for White - easy transposition, light square bishop and queen both free
Cons for White - weak central control
Pros for Black - somewhat ‘pick your poison’ idea for potential transpositions and can reverse tempo
Cons for Black - goes somewhat counter to Black ideas of playing closed, slow, positional games since it can create a role reversal feeling—attack or be attacked by the freed bishop and queen
Response: 1…g6 with the idea to fianchetto with dark-square bishop
Problem: I don’t know how to fianchetto LMAOOOO (I THOUGHT IT MEANT PUSHING A FLANK PAWN) and in fact did not move the g6 pawn again for the rest of the game and I moved the dark-square bishop unlocked by the g6 move in the first place last out of all the non-castling pieces. Even my queen moved before that kingside bishop!
Insight: if I had not moved the g-pawn, my knight on f6 and rook on h8 would have been safer. The knight was captured (2 turns after the attack on it was first available, no less!) and the only reason the rook was not captured was because the low-rated bot failed to see both it and the sneaky checkmate. I think I would have lost this game to a human hungry for material and highly aware of the delayed psuedo-scholar’s mate, even at this ELO. I also delayed castling for far too long and ended up not castling at all which could have been very dangerous if the knight had been taken immediately and then the rook and then the White queen is on the back rank with my other rook’s vision blocked by the king and my own queen somewhat far preparing for the envisioned mate. I had a losing position for most of the game until the mate became apparent.
Conclusion: I am sure 1…g6 by Black is a fine move if one commits to the fianchetto and has the skill to pull it off but I do not yet have that skill with bishops. And I would not play this opening as White because I would, at my current level, rather go outright for center control than be indecisive and hope for a favorable transposition.
Next Time: would not play as White; as Black prefer 1…Nf6 or 1…d5 hoping for a transposition to Réti or QGD-style play, respectively. I should also research From’s Gambit and its reversal.
