Parham Attack

I originally created this account to try out the Bongcloud opening (1. e4 e5 2. Ke2?!) in quick/blitz games to surprise my opponents (see for example http://blog.chess.com/Graw81/my-boungcloud-attack-games), but I wasn't that good at it.

However, the Parham Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Qh5?!) gives me positive results; it is rarely seen (since it is not a good opening in chess under regular time controls) and requires a specific response (2...Pc6) which not many people see in a quick game. The opening isn't really that dangerous for me to play, costing me at most a few tempos when my opponent responds correctly. Usually, I'll just make scholar's mate threats to force an exchange of queens and then continue as norma

l. Look at these games:

 

Last game, move 28 from white = "For some reason my browser didnt let me promote my pawn."

 

You were in check -.- 

Black just has to play Nc6 followed by g6

White will just lose time with his queen and allow black to equalise for free, unless he loses his head. I think the trick with this opening is it's bluntness and surprise factor. A two piece attack cannot, by sheer chess law alone, break through an unbroken fortress. Black by no means gathers up a devastating countreattack, but White doesn't accomplish much with his early running around. I would be curious to see the results of Hikaru Nakamura, where a Parham or two may show up in databases. Either that or run two computer programs against each other and see the solid lines comes out. I don't remember finding any sustainable attacking initiative as white when I hacked it out against Fritz 6.

Indeed, Munchies, that is why the opening is almost never played in regular chess. However, as those games showed, in quick chess (2 minutes each), many people blunder in these kind of positions, which is why I love to play it :)

 Chesser777, lol, I didn't see that ;)

Look up MCO-14. trivial for black to equalise or more. bad opening.

yes, it is true that these openings are completely unsound, but in a two minute the more your oponnent thinks, the better. if he has to respond to check or mating threats, you can win every game purely on time.

There are lots of good moves to use against e4 e5 to gain an advantage. Boundcloud attack works for e4 c5 also, Qh5 not so much.

2...Nf6 is a good answer, provided that 3.Qxe5+ is answered by 3...Be7. Black has ample compensation.

But of course, 2...Nc6 is much more natural and "sound".

How many Parham forums are there?

i wonder if it is worth our time to play very fast games knowing that speed results in bad chess. 

And unfortunately, now it seems that it has been resurrected.

I really hate this opening. I'm trying to learn good chess... Everything I've learned says the Scandinavian is solid as long as 3...Qd6 or 3...Qd8, but this Parham just seems cocky and aggressive. There's nothing scholarly about a Scholar's mate; it's a cheap trick used by novices to pick on newer novices who don't know what to do, and it doesn't make the game fun one bit.

I'm actually trying to gather as many pgns of Parham (and other early queen openings) as I can, since there's so little data out there. I DO get tripped up (I always hover somewhere around 850, so i'm not good enough to completely escape) sometimes.

And one thing I tend to find is that the cheapos who run this more often then not lose their attention span on their queen as soon as I stop attacking, which let's me snag their queen with a revealed attack.

How do I post a PGN here?

I think The Qa5 Main Line After Nc3 is best.

kco - Thanks!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, another Parham thread resurrected from the dead!!!!