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1. e4 b5?!
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Alright, so I was recently reading a post on blacks worst response to e4, and guess what? The majority rule: b5! So, naturally, today I'm here to show you why b5 is not at all a bad opening, and in fact playable in levels up to 1700 and maybe a bit higher.
Reason #1: Obvious - The move is unexpected! Play b5 in any bullet game or even some shorter blitz games, and your opponent will lose precious time in his/her opening, leaving you to plan out a decisive attack to gain compensation in your midgame/endgame.
Reason #2: Your opponents response, which is almost always going to be Bxb5, will leave his white-squared bishop in a place where it is basically useless. (One common mistake for black after Bxb5 would be a6 or c6, which immediately allows white to move his/her bishop back to a better square such as e2 or c4). Instead, as detailed in the game below, black can immediately play a counter attack with Bb7, and gain a strong tactical advantage with good tempo.
Reason #3: Your opponent will be completely caught off guard, as the move is unexpectable.
Reason #4: Suicidal? I think not! Stockfish evaluates the position after 1. e4 b5 as +1.85 for white, which is more than enough to win a game. However, after I made Stockfish play a 10 minute game against itself as black and white with this opening, at move 10, the computer rated the position as +.93 for white, at move 25, +.07 for white, and on move 41, the game was drawn by repetition.
Other reasons include: Playing the move forces you to think tactically and will easily make you a better player with a better understanding of the game, the move is unexpected, your opponent will have no clue what is coming, you can launch a vicious counter attack, and oh yeah, THE MOVE IS COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED! Got that? Great! I know this as a lot to read, so now its time for an example game to prove everything I said.
My recommendation: Play this opening a couple times in unrated games, against a computer or a friend! You'll be surprised at how well it can work, and it really does make you a better chess player by making you think very tactically. If you find that its working for you, start playing it in rated games! Also, take these games and post them on this forum, and I'll try to analyze some of the more interesting ones for everyone to see! Good luck!