Fiorentino-Bereng Attack (Opening Proposition)

Before it is attacked as poor, I urge you to remember that titled people in the modern day have actually used this opening! As a beginner/intermediate, I feel like there is a fair amount of potential in lower ELO levels for this opening, and even at a higher level, there is the opportunity for some cool play here. Either way, even if it remains a pretty odd opening with limited play and the theory stands to completely disprove white's advantage in the attack, it's still better than the Barnes, Grob, the Crab, etc.

Fiorentino-Bereng Attack

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b3?!

First played: 1964, Palmiotto Fiorentino–Paoli Enrico, 1-0
First proper examination/debate: 2014, by Chess.com user Bereng (from what I could find)

Variations:

Orlandini Gambit — 3…f5!
(The best move and a striking one at that; accepting the gambit poses extreme problems for white with 4…e4! and black beats white with ease. White’s best move is a countergambit, 4. d4, which allows for some strong play from both sides; Stockfish reads about -0.3 when the dust settles.)
First played: 1973, Dell’Anna–Orlandini E, 0-1

Jakubovic Defense — 3…Bc5
(An aggressive move, fighting for the center and targeting the wimpy f2 square. White can fianchetto with a light disadvantage () but will remain under pressure from a potentially overwhelming black attack. IM Aaron Reeve Mendes won a match with the white pieces in 2024 with 4.Bb2, lending credence to the opening’s winning potential in the modern era of computers.)
First played: 2002, Smajlovic–Jakubovic, 0-1

Enrico Defense — 3…Nf6
(Seemingly a logical move, continuing black’s development since white essentially gives away a tempo. Black maintains an advantage, but white can play 4.Bb5 and, if black continues to play passive, a draw can occur, as in Musalov–Kovalev 2024.)
First played: 1964, Fiorentino–Enrico, 1-0.

Ramsey Gambit — 3…d5
(As it has never been played before by titled/ranked players, I will take one for the team and put my name on what is arguably one of the poorest ‘logical’ defenses of the Fiorentino Attack. Any disadvantage of white can be avoided by accepting the gambit with exd5, after which 5…Qxd5 creates a Scandinavian-type development where after 5.Nc3, the queen is forced to retreat; depending on what square the queen ends up, this opening creates winning opportunities for white, but the best move, 5…Qd6, is a drawn position.)
First played: Never.

Liberian Defense — 3…g6
(This opening is perhaps the rarest of all! First played in a game between two Liberian female chess players in the mid-1000s ELO range, the Liberian Defense opens up opposite-side fianchettos at the expense of black’s advantage. In the only two games played with the Liberian, white won the first game and the second was a draw between an 2300 FM and a 2200 untitled. It is perhaps the last ‘logical opening’ within this attack.)
First played: 2024, Sambola–Amoah, 1-0.

“Systems”:

Hirneise Variation — 3…f5 4. Bb2 fxe4 5.Nxe5
(The only real system to play in the Orlandini Gambit was developed in Hirneise–Beerdsen 2024. Though black won in that game, it was not because the Hirneise system is a bad one; he made numerous mistakes and blunders that allowed the Dutch GM to checkmate him. After the dust settles, the Hirneise System has a number of variations in its own right, with 5…Nex6 and 5…Nf6 being the only two that keeps an advantage for black. When all is said and done, it’s only about according to Stockfish.)

Mendes System — 3…Bc5 4.Bb2 d6 5.Be2 Nf6 O-O 7. O-O
(Likely the best system to play as white in the Jakubovic Defense. The immediate fianchetto can prompt either a transposition into the Enrico with 4…Nf6 or into the Mendes System with 4…d6, depending on the nature of black. After all is said and done, black castles first but white can still have winning potential, as evidenced in Mendes–Slovineanu 2024, where Mendes sacrificed his queen (25.Rxe7!!) and traded his knight (29…Kg2?! 30…Bxe7?) for a win (black resigned after 56.Ke5, as it was a pawn vs. rook endgame where white had a forced mate), showcasing considerable potential for this opening.)