Its not a bad defence but sicilian najdorf , kan or pelikan are much better
Owen's defence ?
I don't think a3 is a good move. It wastes time and runs into c5 where you say bye bye to your centre.
imo you should delay the development of the b-Knight, just play Bd3, Nf3 and Qe2. Ready to support your d pawn with c3.
Owen is strategically flawed. A fianchetto is meant to either protect your king or support a pawn advance on the other side like in the closed sicilian, Pirc, modern Benoni, Grunfeld, etc. Note that in every reputable opening after a fianchetto you try to push pawns on the other side, so that they are helped by your bishop (harder for the opponent to line up rooks on those files for example).
Fianchetto and then castle in the opposite side it's a bit of a contradiction. And if you want to castle queenside, it doesn't make sense to spend so much additional time (as black) to do so, as white can 0-0 much more quickly and dedicate himself to a faster pawnstorm.
Fianchetto queenside, Owen and Larsen, are inferior openings.
This does not mean that the other side should expect to win by force though...
Larsen is definitely not an inferior opening, but the extra tempo is crucial, hence why Owens is never seen at the top level. Although Rev. Owens did absolutely destroy Paul Morphy with it.
I agree. Nimzo-larsen has an extra tempo compared to owen's defense, so it's much better and is actually played at top level.
The name of the person who played it was Owen, and not Owens. Hence Owen's Defence. When I googled it just now there are some gms or whatever showing us how to "obliterate it" but, unfortunately, they are using the wrong move order for black. The correct way to play it as black is not 1.... b6 and 2.... Bb7. Correct is to play ...e6 before Bb7.
Anybody who knows about Owen's Defence and has read up on it will know to play 2. ...e6 or 1. ...e6.
One hidden strength of the Owen Defense is that black generally has the more solid pawn structure and, if the game ever gets to the endgame, he should have an advantage. This is a characteristic it shares with the French Defense.
it is good if your opponent comes unprepared and is utterly confused by such a unusual move. however it does not achieve much and if your opponent does know about the opening, then you are in big trouble. I do not reccomend it but it is still very much usable
My question is, after all the analysis of the opening, is, what if M. Carson played this opening and achieved a draw or better yet a win; what or would the analysis change?
@JackRoach - After 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Bg7 7.gxh7+ Kf8, you gave a wrong move for white. 8.hxg8=Q+ is unclear, the correct move is 8.Nf3! and white wins. This has been known since the 1970s.
@JackRoach - After 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Bg7 7.gxh7+ Kf8, you gave a wrong move for white. 8.hxg8=Q+ is unclear, the correct move is 8.Nf3! and white wins. This has been known since the 1970s.
That's an incorrect move order for black. 2. ...Bb7 is wrong. Funny they don't even know how to play it because the computer says Bb7's alright or whatever.
@JackRoach - After 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Bg7 7.gxh7+ Kf8, you gave a wrong move for white. 8.hxg8=Q+ is unclear, the correct move is 8.Nf3! and white wins. This has been known since the 1970s.
Actually 8.Nh3! is a bit better than 8.Nf3 (although both moves should win).
The reason is that 8.Nh3! Nf6 9.Qg6 Bxh3 10.Rg1 Rxh7 11.Qg3 wins outright, while after 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.Qg6 Bxf3 10.Rg1 Rxh7 11.Bg3 Be4(!) white is still winning, but not outright.
As far as I know the Owen's is a pretty trash opening. I used to play it for fun in blitz, but almost never had good results with it. The board below shows what is probably the easiest way to get an advantage as white.
@JackRoach - After 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5 4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Bg7 7.gxh7+ Kf8, you gave a wrong move for white. 8.hxg8=Q+ is unclear, the correct move is 8.Nf3! and white wins. This has been known since the 1970s.
Actually 8.Nh3! is a bit better than 8.Nf3 (although both moves should win).
The reason is that 8.Nh3! Nf6 9.Qg6 Bxh3 10.Rg1 Rxh7 11.Qg3 wins outright, while after 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.Qg6 Bxf3 10.Rg1 Rxh7 11.Bg3 Be4(!) white is still winning, but not outright.
This isn't how to play Owen's, of course. In the 80s, the conclusion was reached that black must start with the moves e6 and b6. One reason for that is that playing e6, which is a solid move, prevents some of the calamities which can befall black through not knowing the variations properly. I don't know about nowadays; but I would prefer to trust the pre-engine analysis of the 80s, in such a potentially sharp opening, because engines don't do deep positional stuff at all and one of the points of Owen's is to try to reach a better ending.
Much worse than Nd2, usually, knights should be developed before bishops, as you don't know where that light-square bishop will be useful, maybe to defend the g2 pawn, maybe on d3, and maybe to give check on b5, at some point.