How do you tackle unusual openings

I see a lot that players tend to play sometimes irregular openings, like fianchetto both bishops play e6,d6,c6 and nd7,ne7 etc. I know that these are not regular openings but I find it hard to get an advantage against these guys because I get so disappointed i make rash decisions and want to get an immediate checkmate to punish their deviation from the book.

How do you face these kinds of players?

Eye-opener incoming: Don't make rash decisions and don't play for an immediate checkmate since their deviation isn't that horrible. Boom!

I found my problem was that I was being too ambitious in response to these openings. Usually ill just choose a setup which gives me a slight space advantage ex/ Nf3-c4-g3-bg2-d3 and maybe e4 later. I can then work restricting their poorly placed pieces.

Usually, this problem is restricted to low rating range. At higher ratings there are less deviations from the book. It is just one reason I want to increase my rating so I get to play the real chess players.

Oh, pdve, irregular openings do not exist, neither do regular openings.  Whether you find it hard to respond, is your case, I am sure you will find a solution.  So : no punishment against their moves.

Deviation from the book : please realise that the book-theory is frozen practice, simply because these moves were played so often.  Let's be glad each player can decide what to play, that makes the game interesting.

Now practical : what is your answer to 1.a3, 1.Na3, 1.a4, 1.b3, 1.b4, 1.c3, 1.Nc3, 1.d3, 1.e3, 1.f3, 1.g4, 1.h3 and 1.h4 ?

Or, in two moves : 1. c4 b5, 1.c4 f5, 1.d4 b5, 1.d4 Nc6, 1.e4 a6, 1.e4 b6, 1.e4 d6, 1.e4 f6, 1.f4 e5 ?

It simply costs more time to decide, might be a problem in bullet and blitz, and that is mostly in the opponents advantage ( who knows how to play this).

I am glad not everybody plays say ten or twelve predictable moves, like in d4 d5, Sicilian or Spanish, ( haha, but often it saves a lot of time...)

Your last question : how do you face... Just play your own game !  Ger.

If someone plays an opening that I am not familiar with I play KID.

actually, the problem is that you can become a better chess player only by playing the good openings. this is why i tend to prefer playing high rated opponents. also, it is easier to take the game seriously when both sides are trying their best. some of these players who play irregular openings don't really care whether they win or lose, their objective is simply to annoy you. i am sure that eventually they give up chess and move on.

I know that I'm much lower-rated than all of you here, but when someone plays an unusual opening against me (ex. g3, g7, b3, b7), I try to attack their weak areas of the board. For example: if they don't grab the center initially (finachettoing instead, like with g6 then Bg7), I try to get a firm hold on the center first.

I'm sorry if this is rudimentary advice for your level of play, but I thought I'd share my thoughts. :)

Without wishing to  hi-jack this thread, I have a similar question - how do people deal with slightly sub-optimal openings that require exact play to properly get an advantage? For example, as a QGD player I can encounter the Baltic defence: 1d4 d5 2 c4 Bc5. Now if White developes routinely Black can play 3...e6 and he's got an orthodox QGD position but with his problem Bishop outside the pawn chain - very good for Black. Apparently the "best" move for White is 3 Qb3 - which leads to a tactical contest where both sides need to know the moves, but White should get a significant advantage. Or I could choose a lesser line where I can get by on general principles but don't need to learn much. My question is: is it worth learning these best lines? (This is not really a question about the Baltic defence, as to how to approach this problem generally - I could have chosen the Albin Counter Gambit, Englund Gambit etc. )

If you want to become a good chess player, you won't just play the "good" openings, you have to know how to deal with patzers who throw you curveball openings.

I'm one of those patzers. As black, I'll use almost exclusively the hippo: that turtlish, provocative setup described by pdve. So listen up, when I play black, I play it TO WIN. I am trying my best, taking the game seriously, so you'd better treat the opening with respect because in the right hands, it can hit you back hard.

Advice on how to beat these whimsical openings: don't get cocky. The feeling of "I have to punish this rubbish" is strong, but that's why we use the openings. If you underestimate us, our job is a lot simpler. Just follow normal opening rules, play soundly, and soon the patzer's side will have some self-inflicted weaknesses to poke at.

In particular, some advice against the hippo. If you try to attack too early or rashly (like with some berserk f4 g4 h4 before castling or finishing development), strong counterpunches with ...c5 or ...b5-b4 will come and you will go down. Just finish development, get your king safe, and build up a slow attack. A slow but well-organised attack can bust the defender, so he'll usually panic and try for immediate counterplay which you could try to refute.

stormstout, fearitself, if youre online, can we go for a 45 45 or 30 30?

I think one of the best ways to learn good openings is to look at bad openings and understand why they are bad. If you can’t play against irregular openings, then it sounds like maybe you don’t understand what makes an opening good/bad. Not trying to sound mean about it. It’s something that I’m still trying to learn too! Also, just because an opening is out of book doesn’t mean that it is bad, it could merely be mediocre.

Welcome to Online chess!

I think people react to weird / unsound openings in three different ways:

A) Highly skilled players are either well-read enough to know the "bust" to this line or have accumulated enough "related patterns" cemented in their head to know just how to punish an inaccuracy or even just exploit passive moves. This is why a 1400-rated self-proclaimed "1.b4 " expert  will statistically get his butt handed to him 9 times out of 10 by an actual federation rated expert player who's just facing  this monkey of an opening for the first time.  

B) Less skilled but nonetheless competent players trust in their fundamentals and believe in opening principles/guidelines rather than just "know all the openings under the sun" . In other words, they don't panic! They prefer to continue to  play tactically safe chess   with the realistic expectation of reaching a playable middle-game no matter what. They may take longer to work out what to play in this unknown line, but they are certainly not going to topple over and surrender the game to you.

C) Then there's the type who just panic and act like the world is about to end because they didn't memorize this line.  They also have their head in their a## thinking that openings are a some guaranteed means to an advantage, when in reality all they EVER DO is  really only ensure safe passage into a familiar + playable middlegame with equality at worst, and if (and ONLY if) the opponent messes up early, a possible advantage at best. Unless you are a titled player, the nuances and inaccuracies being made on both sides are not going to be exploited all the time (like your favorite opening book likes to convince you that they are! :))

If you're not type A), but definitely not C), you still need to work hard on the board and burn your clock trying to make sure you're not missing tactical shots/traps ... which is why unusual lines are so effective at blitz/high-speed games when the clock often  decides things with impunity.  

I just think fearing "strange" lines or proclaiming them  the "reason" you lost is a cop-out excuse for not being confident that you can play safe chess / calculate out tactics or so-called traps ASSUMING you have enough time to do so.

It sounds dumb but... get your pieces out and control the center (hah!).  If it's passive enough (e6, d6, c6, b6, b6) then really just let their position punish itself during the middlegame.  You don't have to do (and usually can't do) anything special in the opening to beat them.

Sometimes outright refutation comes down to being able to find the key line at the right moment... very hard to do even if you're an accomplished player.  So in any case stay sharp and work hard at the board.  If they achieve equality don't feel bad, it's just a game of chess now, get excited about the position and keep working hard.

If that's your main opening weapon then sure, after learning the standard stuff take time to learn the odd but inferior sidelines. 

How do I deal with a difficult opening I've never seen before?  The same way I deal with difficult middlegames and endgames... play my best and probably make inaccurate moves.  That's part of what makes chess so much fun :p  You go back and learn why your idea was not best, and how other ideas are better.

Some hours ago a forum started here on the Crab Opening or Ware Opening, as follows : 1. a4 e5  2. h4.      Have a look !

Can also be the Ware Gambit 1.a4 e5  2. a5 d5  3. e3 f5  4. a6

Play positional chess.... don't try to be tatical.... the advantage can possibly be positional with u work the position...

The best way to play against an irregular opening is just develop your pieces logically. Some openings may not fight for an advantage, but unless there is some sort of trap present which usually isn't the case, you're not gonna refute the opening on move 5. So just follow opening principles when your opponent plays something weird and your position will be just fine. You will become a better player playing against these openings because it forces you to think on your own.

nice subject

Solid chess with centre control usually wards off the evil Bucker and Basman demons of the weird chess planes and realms.