Bird Opening: Most Underrated Ever

I've just played 3 games starting with this opening, and I can say its great, for protection of your pieces, and controlling the center during the midgame.
It also lets you open up your queen and queenside bishop's right diagonals.

Feel free to tell me anything I could have done better, I'm always open to improvement.

There's a difference between using a great opening and your opponent being rated 1158.

I used to play the birds opening alot when i first started, with the main line i fell into some troubling situations if i didnt do the move order right, but if i were to see it this is how i would defend..

 caesarsecundus also wrote:

"There's a difference between using a great opening and your opponent being rated 1158."

Reply: Don't you understand the term beginner? If you seriously think ratings are everything, you're dead wrong. You never know how good someone is until you play them.

That's not the point, the point is its great for beginners, and that he couldn't have done much anyways due to my control of the center.

Okay, Positive or Gameplay feedback only please...

And thanks for the other games guys

 I am sorry.

But, n-g4 was why u got control of the center and then he hung the knight and then the bishop was hung etc etc.  You took advantage of it well.  But, it had nothing to do with the opening.  Any opening at the beginner level is okay to be played

Why is it even called the birds opening?

because they flip the f bomb...I mean pawn

It's called Bird's Opening because it was popularized by Henry Bird in the 19th century.

The Bird is okay. I definitely wouldn't call it underrated though!

i use  the bird opening when i play with black , i see it is more defender than attacker

I'd say beware of From's gambit! 

Here are some common pitfalls: 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1007090

i think bird opening is passable.

I think the Bird-Larsen has some merit (1.f4, 2.b3) as it gives White a different way to develop the dark-squared bishop, i.e., on b2.  I used to play the Bird as White and the Dutch as Black (1.d4 f5) thinking there would be some synergy between the two.  I started to dislike the Bird in positions where I would follow 1.f4 with later moves such as e3 and d3 -- Black could then harrass the pawn on e3 with ...Ng4.  (This happened to me again recently when I played 1.f4 in an OTB tournament.  I got a losing position, which I was only able to save due to some inaccurate play by my opponent.)  In the end, I abandoned both the Bird and the Dutch as they just didn't fit my style.  It felt like my pieces were always getting in the way of each other so I moved on to more dynamic openings, including gambits.

One other variation of the Bird involves the moves 1.f4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3, 4.Bg2 -- a reversed Leningrad-Dutch.

It is also very important to know the From's Gambit mentioned above.  After 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 White can find himself under a lot of pressure due to his exposed kingside.  It has been said that From's Gambit put the Bird out of business.  Note that White can decline From's Gambit by playing 2.e4 (after 1.f4 e5), and now it is White who is offering the gambit, i.e., the King's Gambit, with dynamically equal play.

I agree OP, it's an underrated opening at the club level. The Bird is the word!

When I play the Bird's opening, I always play 1.f3 2.b3, unless I need to do something else, for Bb2. I find that if I keep playing, and my development is not disturbed much, I end up being able to castle either queenside or kingside. Which is perfect, considering they see the nice hump at e3-f4-g3 as a nice place to attack, only to have the tables turned around with O-O-O

But underrated? maybe not.