White has the freedom to try many things. The fact that 1.f4 is fine is not a very interesting fact.
Is 1.f4 a playable opening?
Sort:
It´s better than 1. f3.
Today I posted my private analysis for the From Gambit Declined. 10 lines.
In the weeks to come, I will post the rest of my Bird repertoire. I have 46 lines total.
Please let me know what you think? Good Chess! Keith
Today I added two more lines to my Bird Opening Repertoire at:
And for fun, here is a Bird Opening game I played today.
Good Chess! Keith
Jan 15, 2024
0
#127
I enjoy playing this opening from time to time
I like playing this opening like so in the diagram above. It's actually a great opening if you play correctly.
Jan 15, 2024
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#128
I think Bird's opening is a top-tier 1st move. It takes control of the e5 square, unless black wants to play that silly gambit:
Where black barely gets any sufficient compensation for the pawn and all he can hope for is that white falls for
Jan 15, 2024
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#129
Drawyah wrote:
To present an even picture of the Bird Opening, I have had tough games too. Here Yudasin crushed me:
Many will recognize my opponent here. He ground me down in nice style!
But the Bird opening is aggressive, and I have gotten some nice upsets:
I will close with one more game. I am 66 and long retired from over-the-board chess, but I still work hard on my chess .... and the Bird opening can be fun with blitz chess!
Bro the 3rd wine was pretty good! U out smarted your opponent! He resigned cause he would lose the Queen. Good job! 👍🏻
Jan 15, 2024
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#130
Yeah Nepo beat Karjakin with Bird's Opening in a classical match
I am repeating a message I posted to the "Bird's Opening Lovers" club:
I have posted three more lines to my Bird Opening repertoire. These lines cover the Chigorin response. I have posted 20 out of 46 lines here:
Here is a Bird Opening game I played this morning:
Good Chess! Keith
I posted another two lines to my Bird Opening Repertoire:
And here is another Bird Opening game.
Good Chess! Keith
Bongoman2406 wrote:
Even though 1.f4 is given a bunch of bad press, I feel that it is completely playable in tournament games. On 1...e5, white can transpose to a king's gambit, and in the case of 1... d5, 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 Nc6 Bb5, intending Bxc6 to secure e5. The last reason is why Henry Bird plays 1.f4. After all these lines and facts, I feel 1.f4 is completely playable. What do you think?
it is, but playing a reverse dutch isnt exactly very challenging, and 1.e5 can be scary
Jan 19, 2024
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#134
Though there are multiple responses like Nf6 and d5 that do give black an engine advantage, you have to understand that you're playing into lines which your opponent could be playing every other game... if you're hung up on engine advantage consider the fact there are plenty of openings where black has an engine disadvantage but scores better than white simply due to blacks experience and the sharpness of the line. With the bird, even if you have put effort into studying the lines, which lets be honest you've probably forgotten the lines when you see it on the board, you're just never going to have the same level of experience in the opening regardless. And that's alot more true if you choose a mainline response and you can't manage to transpose it into something.
So that's a very significant disadvantage for black, and honestly in the game of chess that advantage matters much more than what the engine has to say... for that reason I give back the engine advantage on move 1 and play a very rare sideline, and I believe this is how many GMs recommend handling openings like this.
You ultimately have to embrace the fact you're not playing an engine.
yes, but it wold b difficult
I have posted two more lines to my Bird Opening repertoire.
Here is another Bird Opening game:
Good Chess! Keith
I added two more lines this morning. 26 out of 46 lines have been shared to my blog.
Here is another Bird Opening game.
Good Chess! Keith
Jan 21, 2024
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#138
1. f4 is entirely playable, and can lead to some interesting positions. However, it is a complicated opening, that takes a lot of experience to really get good at it (similar to the Dutch Defence for Black as Bird's is the Dutch with colours reversed; so if you play the Dutch and do well with it, Bird's might be something to consider). One problem for those interested in trying out Bird's Opening is that, because it has never caught on at the highest levels, it remains unexplored. As such, one will end up having to work things out one their own much sooner in the game. And because of the imbalanced nature of the positions, it is easy to go wrong. Investigations into the opening, such as what Drawyah has been posting, is what has been lacking with Bird's, while other openings, (1. e4, or d4 or c4) have so much more theory to guide players as to how to best get their pieces out, and lots of games upon which to evaluate middle game strategies to help understand the ideas behind the opening. While there is some of this for Bird's, relatively speaking, there is just less of it, so not surprisingly it is played less often at top levels, which just snowballs the whole thing. I'm not saying that Bird's is the best opening of all time, and all it would take is for more people to play it to demonstrate it would rival the Spanish or the Italian, etc, only that it is probably much more sound than it's reputation, but suffers from lack of testing relative to other openings. But then, unless you're a professional chess player, if you're just looking to have some fun, then adding some less explored openings or lines to your repertoire can be one way to mix things up.
So for that reason I occasionally will play Bird's, just to have a different game. I'm by no means a strong player, and far worse now than I was as I didn't have time to play chess for many years and have only gotten back into it in the past few years. Even now I don't play a lot of games (and generally only play the bots, which aren't rated).
However, for a while a buddy and I would meet at our local pub once a week to play a couple games, and while he was a stronger player than I am, I would win the occasional game (I think in the end he won 2 to my 1 type thing). I did play Bird's against him, and scored this win OTB.
Jan 21, 2024
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#139
LukeLol wrote:
I read all the posts and what I understood is the following:
- With Black avoid an early 3...c5 (after 2...d5) because White could play e3, Bb5, Bxc6/Bxd7 to increase his control over e5 (Ne5 later).
- With Black avoid 2...c5 because White gets a good version of the Grand Prix attack (without a Knight blocking c3 and avoiding the Tal Gambit).
But that only tells what Black should avoid. Not so much which ideas White has when he plays 1.f4...
- What are the general ideas of the classical Bird (with e3 and Be2)? To play Qe1, e4 later when he can? Or to attack with Qe1-Qh4, Ng5, f5, Bh6, Bxg7, f5xg6, Rxf6, Qxh7#? ;-)
- What are the general ideas of the Leningrad Bird (with g3 and Bg2)?
With 1. f4, White is trying to take control of the e4 square, and ideally, is looking to place a Knight there. If Black replies with 1. ... e5 (From's Gambit), that leads to some very trappy lines which can get White into a lot of trouble if they don't know their theory for it.
From here, White will be looking get their light Squared Bishop to g2, and manoeuvre their Knight to d2 then e4, develop their dark squared bishop, and castle long.
There are other lines, of course, but the Lasker Variation is pretty tricky if White isn't careful.
The Q to d3 is a key component of White's play here, as delaying that will get you in trouble!
Anyway, when I play the Bird, I like what is sometimes referred to as the "Bird-Larsen" variation, where White quickly fianchetto's their Queenside Bishop. In a fairly normal sequence, you might get something like this.
And, White will try and build a Kingside attack, utilising their central Knight and their dark squared Bishop is well suited to assist.
If Black doesn't play either the From's Gambit, or 1. ... d4, White can just probably just grab the e4 square on move 2. , and develop normally.
Jan 21, 2024
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#140
Sorry, not sure what happened in the first game image, showing the Lasker variation of From's Gambit, but here it is in working format (see, I did say From's was tricky! )
From here, White will be looking get their light Squared Bishop to g2, and manoeuvre their Knight to d2 then e4, develop their dark squared bishop, and castle long.
There are other lines, of course, but the Lasker Variation is pretty tricky if White isn't careful.
The Q to d3 is a key component of White's play here, as delaying that will get you in trouble!
u just transpose into a king's gambit declined playing f4xe5 which is clearly not the critical test for black...
If u just have this against From gambit, well black can be happy.
Anyone playing good chess can have good results with a pet line. This doesnt mean it is a good line, but sure 1.f4 is playable, its just the beginning of the game.