I used to play this. I scored a win versus a 1900 USCF in OTB chess with it ... after he chuckled aloud when I played the move. I guess I had the last laugh.
Of course, it can transpose into some standard lines, so it's not quite as bad as it looks. Well, maybe. At least someone with Basman's skills can manage to make it look OK.
The Borg is an interesting defense. Obviously not the first choice for most but the surprise value is great enough to get you through to the middlegame if you just wing it.
I can't find much analysis on it. A little in Chess Explorer, but the games are usually outside of those lines rather quickly and MCO doesn't seem to mention it. So after 3 or 4 moves all I can do is wing it, but I figure white has to do the same.
Thanks for the tip, DrawMaster. I checked it out, but alas, they are asking more than I want to pay. While I was at Amazon I found one named the Gorb Attact which I purchased. Hopefully, it will be helpful.
I really like your 'Profile Page'
Thanks for the input and what you say is true for that sequence. However, lets play 1.e4 g5 2.d4 e6 3.h4? gxh and here we have a different story. e6 seems to be the best #2 move for black.
Cool profile page.
Yes, 3. Nc3!....., is an excellent move, but, 3.......Bb4, does not work out well for Black. Instead Black should play, 3. Be2. Then the game might continue something like this: 4. Be2,d6 5.Be4 h5 6. Nf3 g4 7. Nd2.... Now Black has secured the flank attack he can concetrate on the center, probably with a 7......e5.
Note: White usually develops the Kingside Knight before the Queenside Bishop and the c1 Bishop is locked in and of very little use afterwards.
Thanks for the input and what you say is true for that sequence. However, lets play 1.e4 g5 2.d4 e6 3.h4? gxh and here we have a different story. e6 seems to be the best #2 move for black.
Cool profile page.
I play this exclusively (black and white) and learned it in the park to hustlers who took my money. I learned it slowly in correspondence chess and it truly works when you figure out the lines. Tactics galore, hesitation on the opponents part who is seeing this usually for the first time (true novelty alert), most crucially, it puts the fun & fight back in 2 chess and does what the opening's supposed to do: creates a difference around which you build your army, not the other way around. Besides who the hell doesn't know 20 moves deep into the sicilian or Ruy, that's not chess, that's memorization. How unfun. This style is a fight and makes people think from move one; not to mention all of the traps in it lawdy lawd, you can win pieces in 5 moves, checkmates in under 10, and 1/7 games end by move 8 with a piece lost and a big fat resignation take my word for it if you are under 2000 you can learn tons playing this old Genoa style. Tartakower played it in simuls, and it is offbeat enough to send shivers down the spines of the booklearned. Eric
cripe, the last thing you do is waste a tempo with h6. You sack the pawn right out of the gate for piece activity and attacks on the d4 and b2 squares. Firstly, you are creating a difference and coordinating your army around that difference, not the other way around. Secondly, it lures opponents into a false sense of security, but guess what they're suddenly out of book.
the defense also has a chance of error
if black plays f6 like a fools mate instead for white
there's a line that basman plays where black sacs a pawn ,by playing g5-g4 and after qxg4, black plays d5 all of a sudden , it is not great, but its only like 0.8, and messy.
i of course woudnt recommend it and its objectively just quite bad, but i have seen Basman do some amazing things with it.
1.c4 g5 however is borderline playable.
as you can see, it gives white the lead
Yes but your opponent will not have his pet engine with him when the clock is ticking. Although on this site you never know.
it comes down to understanding in the end and who recognises the unusual patterns better, and that is likely to be the guy that plays it all the time, and not the person meeting it for the fist ever time.
They probably sat down hoping to get you in their pet line of a Morra gambit or whatever, instead they have to spend the evening trying not to be a laughing stock by losing against g5
Here is a game where Basman defeated a grandmaster with it
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1026276
as you can see, it gives white the lead
I have played this a few times and have a lot of fun with it.
Does anyone else play this defence? It usually leads to some very shape play, with excellent chanches for black.