Bizarre pawn-heavy openings

Hi everyone,

   I'm fairly new to studying chess, this is my first post on the forum.  Glad to be here!   Anyway, I have noticed that some beginner players play some weird openings where they do almost nothing but move pawns up for the first 4 or 5 moves.  I'm guessing this has to be a terrible idea, and yet I find myself frequently unable to take advantage of it. I usually get a huge lead in development and then am at a loss for what to do with it.    I've inserted an example game below (obviously the bigger problem is that I blundered on move 11 or 12, I'm just looking for advice on the opening).  Thanks everyone!

I would think you first need to learn to use your pieces more effectively. 6.Bc4 - What future is there for the bishop on that diagonal? 10.Be5 - What's your reasoning behind this move? One look should tell you that the king can just castle out of any attack on the e-file. e5 in any case is a square best reserved for a knight. Then, in your haste to avoid a bishop for knight trade you blunder a piece...Nxg3 fxg3 gives you a nice half-open f-file to use.

When you know how to coordinate your pieces better it becomes easier to take advantage of your opponents lack of development and the weaknesses he's creating in his structure.

Thanks for the advice, Arctor, I'm starting to recognize that I have a habit of pushing the bishops out to the 4th and 5th rank thinking those are their best spots and I have trouble recognizing when they shouldn't be placed as far out.  Would Bd3 have been a better choice on move 6?  Or even Be2?  Your guess on my thinking on 10. Be5 was correct, I was trying to unclog that file for my rook.  What would have been a better move there, just moving my rook onto the open file as it is?

This doesn't answer your question, but I noticed you were quick to unravel your pawn-wall after you castled.  Those pawns are precious, and you can see how your opponent exploited your lack of a pawn defense.

I really enjoy pushing pawns down my opponent's throat. Here's a recent game, where I get 'em rollin' rollin' rollin'

King's Gambit Accepted, Becker Defence:

Play3r1, my thinking at the time was that he had just walked into a pawn fork and that it would be worth exposing my king to regain some material.  I did not see that he could get out of it by pinning the pawn.

Look at the position. Everything is on white, so d5 is coming. This costs you time. Bd3 is normal and usually better if your opponent is behind, since you target h7 right away. Just be on the lookout for a possible Nb4. (Which cannot happen here.) Bf4 was a normal move, but yes, then you should leave it there. Development Re1 and Ne5 is pretty typical. Just make sure that is really what you need to play, it's also completely predictable and unimaginative. In this position I see nothing against it.

Thanks for the advice everyone, this is very helpful!  Oddly enough, the computer says it is fine with 6.Bc4, but Dutchday, your reasoning seems to make more sense with Bd3 there.   Be5 was clearly a mistake and I see now why Re1 followed by Ne5 is much better.  Paulgottlieb, yeah I just blundered by missing 18.Kg2. 

If you need a good opening, try the Zukertrot: All Knights Opeing

Rule #1:  Don't rely on computer advice early in the openings.

I don't know what black was trying to do, but I do know that 6.Bc4 was a bad move(your bishop can't do anything unless you want to lose tempo).

It's how you use your bishops. For some reason, you can't use them properly. Your opening is okay.

Rule #2: Don't use a computer at all (untill you're 2000+ at least)

Seriously. Many of the guys we consider among the greatest chess players of all time never even had the word in their vocabulary

I mostly just like using the computer to show me when I missed a tactic.  It's got to be useful to use it just for that, no?

Exactly. Computers are a powerful tool to checking tactical errors in your games.

And to add a couple of points to your original question, how to punish too many pawn moves in the opening: when you have a big lead in the development, have pieces out and have castled, try some or all of the following, depending on the situation:

-try to open the position as much as possible, the ensuing tactics usually favor you.

-try to create direct threats (but they should not make your position worse or help your opponent to develop), hindering the opponent's development.

-prevent him from castling, and create an attack on the central king. Many times it's much easier than attacking a castled king.

 And how does that help?

To avoid repeating the same mistake in future games.

 How does it do that? Have you ever played two identical games of chess?

Ever heard of tactical patterns?

I have, and if the correct way to increase your store of them is to watch the computer playing chess then what use have we for tactics puzzle books and software?

I did not claim it is useful to watch computers play. Like I said in my first post, computers are helpful in checking tactical errors in your games. And even if you will never play an identical game, often there is a tactical pattern which you missed, which is hopefully reinforced after it is revealed by the computer, and you might not do a similar mistake so easily in future games.