Bird opening

How is the Bird opening made? What are the first few bids? And what is the general idea of openness?

after Bc5, what  is best for White ?

I see Bird opening as just Dutch Defense with extra tempo, and Dutch Defense has a pretty solid theory behind it, so I would study that if you want to learn more about the general ideas behind the opening.

From your line, I wouldn't play 10. exd4. Black has an ugly pawn structure and an extremely weak c4 field you can put your knight on. With Nb1-a3-c4 and Nf3-e5 maneuvers you effectively shut down your opponent's counterplay, and can prepare to start pushing on the king side, with him being unable to do  lot about it. This is worth far more than a pawn, I'd say. If you do get after the pawn, then it's better to take with the bishop on the 11th move, and, similarly, try to get your knights on c4 and e5 - although this time, due to the open d line and lack of doubled pawns on the c line your opponent will be able to apply some pressure with rooks and the queen.

@maycaesar Nb-a3-c4 ? ou Nb-d2 what is best ?

thanks

@camiladoce 

Nbd2 could work too, if you move the d2 pawn, but if you don't take on d4, then you need the d2 pawn to guard your e3 pawn. In any case, whatever route you choose, c4 is where the knight wants to be.

Although I agree with MayCaesar says, I think that keeping the Bb2 line open is a viable option.  There are the questions:  Is the knight on c4 helping attack the black king?  and Doesn't the knight on c4 allow Ba6 and Bxc4?  

@jones Nc4 tihink to be for Control or fight the house e5

#6 Yes, but only knight can sit there at a time.  The king side knight can go to g5 allowing the queen side knight to occupy e5.  I'm just saying that the black light square bishop has nothing to do, so Ba6 and Bxc4 is a good plan for black.  This can be accomplished before white can play Na3-Nc4-Ne5.  Part of playing good chess is stopping your opponent's plans.

After 11.,, Bc5, white must play 12. c3 or lose the knight, then 12... Bxd4 will ruin white's pawn structure. This is why it was better to take with the bishop.

When I was a teen, I used to play the Bird's and the Dutch, including both Stonewalls.

@jonesmikechess This is a tricky one. I suppose you could play more aggressively and start aiming at the king from the start, and then 10. exd4 is reasonable. But I think black has good defense resources, and, since white's white-squared bishop is gone and black's has a good potential position on b7, if d4 and c5 pawns are gone, I personally wouldn't risk giving my opponent good chances for counterplay and try to further fix his position in place. I suppose we just have different styles; I prefer to play more carefully, while you like a more aggressive approach.

The main idea of the Bird's opening is to take control of e5 and use that to support a king side attack.  One theme to promote this objective is to exchange the LSB, which can't control these squares, for the Nc6, which does control these squares.  My preference is to retain the Bishop and pressure black on the b1-h7 diagonal.  

Of course, the queen shift and the rook lift are playable with either plan.

https://www.chess.com/blog/brahman99/the-bird-s-opening-1 is a video discussing the Bird's.

Bumping this thread. Just started experimenting with this opening this week. At first I was trying out 1.b3 but in the games I really liked? It seemed like it was just like the Bird opening and 1.f4 would be a better way to reach the position. So a few questions.

1.)What's the best thing to do with the LSB? There's a video where Lasker put it on d3 with amazing results. When is the best time to do this? Is there any reason to save it and leave it on e2 or would I be better off playing Bxc6? If the knight hasn't been developed, should I check the king and trade off both LSB's?

2.)Should I play a specific move preparing for the d4 pawn push or should I just react when he does it? Someone previously said not to take and let him take it... so I'll try that for a while.

3.)The queens knight, in Lasker's game he went c3-e2-g3. Is a3-c4 better? What do I do if the pawn is staying on d5? Should I not develop the knight until he pushes d4?

4.)I started out playing mostly my own ideas. So I castled queenside in one game and gambited the g4 pawn and lined up my rook and queen against his king. I kind of like the way it's working out (still ongoing game). But what's wrong with castling queenside? Seems like a safer alternative. Thanks in advance for any help.

Possibly of interest:

Bird’s Opening

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627093720/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen83.pdf

Bird's Opening: Move by Move

https://www.everymanchess.com/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/99/

The Complete Polar Bear System

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7633.pdf

@comeaux 

1)  The place for the LSB depends upon how your opponent defends.  Against a fianchetto, the bishop is useless on d3, although it can be used to support an f5 push.  (I sometimes leave it on e3 to support an h5 break, and I even played c4 on the third move to be able to use that square for my bishop.)  http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1026352 is the famous Lasker double bishop sacrifice.  If you trade on c6, a useful strategy is to play d3 to both limit his bishop and control the c4 square.  Since his LSB is his bad bishop, you should avoid trading them off.  One of the problems is that after Ne2, black can play Nb4 getting rid of your attacking bishop.  It is suggested that a3 be played first.  If you really want the bishop on d3, I suggest the stonewall attack and the Nb1-d2-f3 route.

2)  Preparing against a black d4 push.  Normally black doesn't have enough supporters to play this move.  The major thing to worry about is a weakness forming on e3 and f4.  Because of the hole on c4, most players won't play d4.

3)  The point behind the Nb1-c3-e2-g3 is to trade off the Nf6 defending the king and to support f5, if necessary.  The other route, Nb2-d2-f3, supports the knight on e5 and may hop into g5 to attack f7.  If black pushes d4 at a time that you can safely push pass, the knight can also go Nb1-d2-f1-g3.  

 4)  Castling queenside is considered bad because you weakened the pawn structure by playing b3, or, if you want, you created a hook.  Of course, when there is opposite side castling, material doesn't mean anything, only who gets there the fastest with the most.  The g4 sacrifice should give you a winning game, especially with the bishop look down on g7.  Without the acceptance of the pawn, it would be hard for you to open lines against his king, whereas he can push a pawn to a4 and open lines. 

 #17:  The From's gambit is very dangerous because white weakened the e1-h4 diagonal.  The gambit is even more dangerous with an extra tempo, and the f4 pawn, supported by the Bd3, weakenes the e8-h5 diagonal more.