20 opening moves. Which is worth switching for?

There is a technique in tournaments for games that are known to have a first move advantage that goes like this:

1. Player A makes the first move.
2. Player B then decides if they want to play as the first mover or the second mover.

What this does is force Player A to make a neutral first move.  One that is not too good or Player B will automatically take the first player, and one that won't be a total loss of a first move so that he is forced to play from a bad tempo staring position.

So my question... if you are Player B, which of the 20 opening moves would you switch for?

1. a3
2. a4
3. b3
4. b4
5. c3
6. c4
7. d3
8. d4
9. e3
10. e4
11. f3
12. f4
13. g3
14. g4
15. h3
16. h4
17. Na3
18. Nc3
19. Nf3
20. Nh3

D4, E4, NF3, C4. To me anything else is just stupid.

I switch for a3, a4, b4, c3, d3, e3, f3, f4, g4, h3, h4, Na3, Nh3.

An even better question thoughis which moves should player A play? I think Nc3, or b3 would be my choice as player A. Interesting technique.

*edit* DOH -- I did it backwards! dummy... oh well, you understand what I mean... those are the moves I don't like.

This is extremely boring. However, it reminds me of an exciting chess variant:

After each and every move the other player has the option of rejecting the move and insisting that a different move is played instead (if a move is rejected, the second choice must be accepted).

I think it's called 'second-best-chess' or something. Anyway, you tend to perhaps not play your best moves and then if a move is rejected you can play the strong move, it makes for interesting play.

It's Refusal Chess

http://www.chessvariants.org/other.dir/refusal.html

However I don't think this topic is boring.  In fact I'm fascinated by the prospect.

I don't quite understand what is meant by the second player being the first mover or the second mover. Can someone please explain?

The terms first mover and second mover aren't necessary IMO. we're talking about playing black or white.

Let's say both players are standing at the side of the board: Player A makes a move for White. Player B looks at the board and decides whether he will now sit down and take the White pieces for the remainder of the game, or will opt to take the Black pieces and commence playing Black for the remainder of the game.

but it really is an interesting question... upon further thought I think that as player A I would move 1.d4, my reasoning being that I am comfortable both playing d4 and playing against it.

But that's not the question.

The question is if A picked any of the openings, which would you switch on.  It appears d4 (#8) wouldn't matter to you either way, but what about b4 (#4)?  or Nh3 (#20)?

Here's my list.  I would switch on:

5,6,7,8,9,10,17,19

All those moves are playable, sometimes a weaker move is better than the main lines, If you only play the same openings all the time, your opponents could easy prepare, and you get stuck in your same rutines.

Play something differnt from time to time, and it will make you a better player.

G4 E4

Wasn't it Nigel Short who opened with h4 and won against one of the Soviet GMs.? I cant remember exactly who the opponent was. But it goes to show that even a non conventional opening can be used to topple your opponent if you have got the depth and the flair to go with it!

b3, c4, d4, g3, Nf3

You could extend this, too. Have player A pick the first n ply, where n is odd, and then player B picks whether to play white or black.

Now I'm going to go to the other site you posted this on, and give different answers just to mess up your data. : )

The ply move idea is already a variant I posted to chessvariants a long time ago.  ;-)