The Four Main Chaturaji Openings (Pick Up Bishop)

The Degenerate Variation

Fianchetto Variation

Forum has been unlocked, it was getting a bit inactive.

I've decided I don't like this opening. It fails to Green's attack far more often, in my own experience, that it works.

Assuming yellow doesn't do anything to attack green here, what can red do to not lose the bishop? I see ba3 but that doesn't seem great. We could also do b4+ to create an escape square, but no matter how you slice it, you're either losing the bishop or putting it in a terrible spot.

OR I'm probably just missing something obvious here....!

It also really depends on what others are playing, but I don't have what it takes to go through and analyze 4 players.

In hindsight, there are a bunch of moves red could probably do to keep the bishop, but all of them seem kinda unnatural. What might be the best option here?

Maybe d3? So the king can get to d1 or d2? Then we get to worry about the pawn barrage along the 1 and 2 line, which I am always really scared of.

I really feel like I'm just missing something obvious.here....

It seems to me that if yellow does nothing, there actually isn't a good way for red to keep the bishop. I don't really see a reason for yellow to do nothing though, given that green and red doing a knight-bishop trade is much worse for yellow than yellow and red doing a bishop-bishop trade.

Yeah yellow can sometimes be underdeveloped or not push h paun. This is a problem for red in two different ways. One is If you don't push d paun green will eventually win bishop. You dont have time for bc3. Two is if you pust d paun and move king to d2. Yellow can be super selfish and form a mating net with bishop on h6..

Just play bb2, get 3 points, and tow blue