Orangutan Gambit

Good Morning Chess Players!

In round 4 of 2025 Daily Chess Championship, I started all my games with 1. b4. 

If you don’t believe me, take a look at the screenshot I took right after the round started.
Overall, the result wasn’t bad, but nothing special either — one loss, three draws, and seven wins, including three on time. It was an interesting experiment, though. However, I’m used to getting better positions with White, so this time I often had to fight just to equalize after the opening.

1. b4 - one move - various names.

According to chess.com, this is the Polish Opening.  But in Poland this opening was most often called the Orangutan Gambit.

Both names fit 1.b4 very well :

But that’s not all. Third less popular name - but preferred by Wikipedia - is Sokolsky Opening . Alexey Sokolsky often started his games with 1.b4 and even wrote a monograph on the b4 opening in 1963.

And to make things even more complicated, there is also the Polish Defense, which can be played by Black in response to 1. d4 b5.

Gambit definition:

What Is A Gambit In Chess?

Based on https://www.chess.com/terms/chess-gambit:

A gambit happens in chess when a player gives up material during the opening to seek some kind of compensation. Most gambits require the sacrifice of one or more pawns, while a few of them involve sacrificing more valuable pieces.

So why is the Orangutan Gambit a gambit?

In seven of the eleven games I played as White, I was down a pawn after two moves. It's true that I captured Black's central pawn on the third move, but it was a gambit until the second move .

Gambit

Now let me show 5 of the games started with main line:

1. b4            e5

2. b2        b4

3. e5

• 1. My best victory with White in this round:

Here the best is final tactics:

• 2. My second win:

• 4. Then I lost against the group winner who was also this year finalist:

• 5. And a draw:

Although 1... e5  is the most popular, three of my opponents chose 1... d5 as an answer to the Orangutan Gambit.

And here we have Simple Trap Gambit .

1. b4            e5

2. b2        b4

3. g7

• 6. Draw with some difficulties. 

• 7. Second draw with some winning chances:

• 8.  Rook endgame victory

As you can see, in most games right after the opening, White's advantage was no longer an issue.  Rather, I had to think about how to equalize, and sometimes even how not to lose quickly.

The variant I found particularly difficult was 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 Bb4, in which Black quickly castles and then occupies the center with pawns on c5 and d5. Immediately after the opening and the capture of the e5 pawn, it might seem that White would occupy the center. Nothing could be further from the truth. Black is the first to develop his pieces.

After the pawns occupy the center, Black classically deploys Knights on f6 and c6 before castling. And if that weren't enough, cleverly shifts his Bishop from b4 to c7 (the shortest route through a5). Since White doesn't have a pawn on b2, a short castling is right into the attack of the sometimes waiting Black bishop on c7.

But there are also advantages. Many interesting and unusual positions rarely seen in tournament halls. New structures, new traps. That is exactly what the Orangutan Gambit can offer.

It might seem like I played every game as White. Of course, the tournament system in the Daily Chess Championship is clear. Each match consisted of two games: one game as White, one as Black against each opponent. So, I lost 3 points as Black, 2 losses, and 2 draws. Regardless of the calculations, I scored half a point better as White.

However, I played my best game as Black. There were even lines where 4 queens could appear on the board.

Let me present it. Comments are not necessary .

• 9.  Crazy endgame

Here I am in the second group of Round 4 of Daily Chess Championship.
I'm tied for second place in my group. The final is underway. The winner of the first group is playing against the winner of my group. Unless the rules have changed, I'll be tied for third place in the entire tournament.

So, another bronze medal at the Daily Chess Championship is on the cards.  

Here I originally planned to finish my post about round 4.

However, for those who expected to find a few puzzles to solve in my blog, I’m including some exercises below as a quick recap.

If you prefer you can watch it also on YouTube :

Puzzle  #1

Puzzle  #2

Puzzle  #3

Puzzle  #4

Puzzle  #5

In this form, solving 100% of the puzzles is the absolute minimum.