Have you seen this "Empty Fishing Pole" trick?

Here's a type of move I have begun seeing recently, though not very often, which resembles the Fishing Pole Attack of several openings (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian), though without the "fish" (P-R3) on the pole. I've started calling it the "Empty Fishing Pole" for that reason. I'm curious if anyone else has seen it, and if so, if you can show the game or opening where it appeared, and if you know of how to respond to it.

Here are the openings in which I've found it...

White's most popular book options here are:

5. g3 {#1 pop. n 36%. Ignore the bishop.}
5. Nc3 {#2 pop. n 43%. Ignore the bishop.}
5. a3 {#3 pop. b 41%. Biff the bishop.}
5. Qc2 {#4 pop. w 38%. Ignore the bishop.}
5. e3 {#5 pop. n 43%. Ignore the bishop.}
5. Bxb4 {#6 pop. b 54%. Voluntarily exchange the bishops.}

Black's most popular book options here are:

4...Nc6 {#1 pop. w 40%. Ignore the bishop.}
4...Nf6 {#2 pop. n 47%. Ignore the bishop.}
4...a6 {#3 pop. w 53%. Biff the bishop.}
4...g6 {#4 pop. w 50%. Ignore the bishop.}
4...e6 {#5 pop. w 46%. Ignore the bishop.}
4...Bxb5 {#6 pop. w 50%. Voluntarily exchange the bishops.}

What got me thinking about this recently is a comment made by a guy at our chess club, who said he should have played that move at the following position of the Caro-Kann Defense, in a game he ultimately lost as Black:

That got me wondering if the move were good, especially if it turned into the usually deadly Fishing Pole Attack, and how to defend against it.

I've done some research on it in the last two days, but so far I have found it occur in only those two book openings shown above. I found two more openings where it *could* have occurred, but the database showed that nobody had tried it.

From what I have gathered I would make the following conclusions:

1. It is never the preferred move for such a position of mutually threatening bishops. (Note it is only #2 in popularity in both book examples.)
2. The most popular responses, in descending order, are: (#1) Ignore the bishop; (#2) Biff/poke the bishop to try to motivate it to exchange; (#3) Voluntarily exchange bishops but get an annoying pawn standing where the bishop used to stand.
3. The move is not particularly dangerous, since the opponent can largely ignore it, and it typically does not turn into a Fishing Pole Attack.

And it's not a tactic, I guess.

Thanks for sharing!

But I don't play closed openings much so I don't consider this pawn support much.

You're wecome. That was part of my intention: in case nobody has seen this trick, my post may make people aware of it. Only a few months ago did I learn what a Fishing Pole Trap was, so maybe others have never seen it. Per one YouTube video, the following are two examples of a Fishing Pole Trap, which can be very deadly very fast:

Chess Traps #4: Fishing Pole - Ruy Lopez & Sicilian Defense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1tc7wwhLNY

i saw this from ChessNetwork on youtube

I had never heard the term 'fishing pole attack' before, but I am familiar with this idea.  For a while, I was in love with a variation of this in the Sicilian Kan.  It went something like this:

What about g3 or Nf3?

The a5 line in the Bogo, which is one of the more interesting lines in that opening, is not conceptually similar to fishing pole tactics. After 4a3 don't think there is anything better than BxB, then choose a pawn structure were the inclusion of a3, a5 doesn't help white. So probably d6, then e5, rather than d5.

Yes, one big difference between a true Fishing Pole Trap and the "Empty Fishing Pole" is that in the Fishing Pole Trap the attacker starts an attack where the attackee's king has castled, which in the Bogo example and Canal-Sokolsky example don't apply since neither king has castled yet.

There were some examples of the Fishing Pole Trap in "Chess Traps and Zaps," though they were not identified as such (which is one of my complaints about that book's organization) that I'll have to look it up later to see if they show other openings where that trap occurs.

I wouldnt consider it a fishing pole as I dont see a winning continuation after taking.

I just see a positional compensation in form of an open a-file.

A semi fishing pole that you forgot (I am amazed you did) is the Alekhine-Chatard attack in the Classical French.

One should always be careful of opening files. In particular along the h, or a files. If your king is castled there.

Nice one! I don't believe I've seen that continuation, but that's a perfect example of what I was calling an "Empty Fishing Pole." Thanks, I'll save that one in my files.

It occurs in the Nimzo Dutch.  Perhaps not quite what you're looking for, though.

Yes, another example of exactly what I was looking for, thanks. I'll have to look these up later in a database to see if my earlier concluded patterns still hold.

Another example I know of.

Thanks again. I'm surprised to see so many examples in this thread of a pattern I thought was fairly rare. This is the kind of topic I wish opening books would cover: what to do when a certain thematic pattern like this appears.

The thematic ideas behind the two examples I posted are well known; to stop a PQN4 push. In the Benoni example I posted, even after Nbd7, White plays a4, so after a6 kicking the bishop, Black can't easily get his b5 move in that he normally fights all game for.

I actually never heard it called the empty fishing pole trick. I don't recollect it that often either, however I have utilized the bait to open a file to attack quickly with the rooks. In particular the h file. I beat an expert of the Vienna with it before.

Well, those themes weren't "well known" to *me*. Most of these variations I never play, so this topic is mostly new to me. Thanks for the insights.

That's my own name. I like to name patterns in chess. Chunking and all that.

Its cool Spod, its pretty clever, How about chuming. Like how they fish for sharks. lol. Good luck man.