Creepy Crawly Formation

i played it and won

great opening

There was a book published in 2021 - "You Cannot Be Serious" - by Basman and I forget who else.

Basman had 3 previously published books that are out of print. One on the St George, The Killer Grob, and The Creepy Crawly Opening. This book covers all 3, the last of which is now referenced to as the Global Openng.

These 3 parts are preceded by two tournaments Basman played in, as a kind of introduction, and then the final 100 pages or so covers these three openings in the 21st century.

All 3 can be played as both White and Black, though usually via different move orders. Like as Black, he advocates 1.e4 e6 2.d4 a6 followed by 3...b5 while as White, for the St George, it is usually either 1.a3 or 1.b4 and 2.a3, delaying e3 compared to what he did as Black.

For the Grob, it's 1.g4 as White, but Black it's 1.e4 g5, 1.c4 g5, 1.d4 h6 followed by 2...g5, or 1.Nf3 h6 followed by 2...g5.

I believe @ThrillerFan is referring to "U Cannot Be Serious! - Avant Garde Strategy in Chess" (Mike Basman and Gerard Welling; Thinkers Press 2021; still in print). This is among the books I own and if one is minded to take up these formations it looks like an excellent source. Full disclosure: I admire Basman's games no end and have tried to use his openings, but I don't have the right mindset to be able to implement his particular brand of oddity with any degree of practical success.

e4 what