Smiley Face opening and Knight sacrifice trap

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/22198737971?tab=analysis

It's great for bullet, symmetric and fun, and has a trap that often works. What do you think?

Woah this is called smiley face opening? One time my opponent played this against me and I thought they were trolling

That's just what I call it. I have been trying out all kinds of stuff and found this is actually not a bad opening for bullet. It makes a lot of your initial moves automatic and takes the opponent into unfamiliar territory.

your mom

This probably won't work (unless your opponent is a noob) but it's funny and interesting lol

New deployment sequence of the Smiley Face put to the test:

https://www.chess.com/game/live/34999272847

This is a similar trap that I play as well all though not that lately or often it came out of an Italian as Black

Well what's the trap?

Ok, I see, but the Ng5 trap is incredibly slow. It's not likely going to work much, especially if your opponent just castles queenside or smothers you with their space advantage.

on the first game you missed taking a free pawn:  10.axb5

better off playing in the center... wing attacks usually only work if you have the center stabilized (or under firm control) & if the opponent gains a pawn wedge in that sector you'll lose communication between your flanks & become dangerously cramped.

you should focus on sound principles & strong moves rather than blindly following a bad system, hoping your opponent will blunder.  it might work against novices sometimes, but you're forming bad habits & experienced players crush poor openings every time.

"better off playing in the center... wing attacks usually only work if you have the center stabilized (or under firm control) & if the opponent gains a pawn wedge in that sector you'll lose communication between your flanks & become dangerously cramped."

that's exactly what happens when i lose, which is half my games

the thing i find interesting is the countless ways this can play out despite starting out unsound but symmetrically aesthetic. i usually succeed in taking the opponent into uncharted territory in more than half games. when i lose at least it's fast and dramatic

Yes, but if you lose half the time with this opening, why not use a book opening like the Ruy Lopez or Italian Game, etc.?

the problem with having your army split in half is that it becomes virtually impossible to funnel defensive resources to a threatened wing when the opponent controls the center... your cramped pieces will lack the necessary manuevering room:  you'll be thrown into an impossible defensive task & overwhelmed with no counterplay.  😬

Pretty much. Gaining maybe 50 points will make you feel good until you realize that now your opponents can counter your opening, and then you'll fall back down.

getting out of book is my favorite part!

there are better ways to get out of book than neglecting basic precepts to try out traps which no strong player would ever fall for.

much better to play the opening according to sound positional principles:  control the center, develop your pieces & castle quickly, move your queen to a safe, half-open file to connect your rooks & only THEN start thinking about attacking.

i forecast that if you follow this advice & pay careful attention to all the threats each move you'll start winning the majority of your games rather easily against anybody under 1,000.

Yes, I like to play d6 in the Italian as black to go out of book, but at least that move has a point and still follows opening principles.