What do you think of the transvestite attack? Could Carlsen beat an IM with it you think?

No, there is no clear advantage in the position you showed. This position looks similar to London or colle(btw, I would put out my bishop before playing E3). And in London, it quite common to keep king in the centre.

Why play this? 

Novelty...surprise factor.

Well, there is no surprise anymore for you. I will wait sometime before trying against you.

Oh, another reason to play such openings is to sharpen your play. It's a good training method.

It's pretty common in many asymmetric openings for one side(generally white) to get some development lead, but it doesn't translate into any real advantage. As for castling, I think there are mainlines in some respected openings where castling is voluntorily given up. If I remember correctly, then bogo indian is one such opening. Kings Gambit also has such lines.

Oh, I just played one more game with this opening as black. And I won. It was hard, but not unplayable. It is definitely harder to play as black. 

Lichess post game analysis shows +2.5 after 7 moves. So, white had clear advantage. I was playing as black. But after 15 moves, it shows +0.3 which means black equalized.

It's like athletes training by running in sand or running with load tied behind. 

Diedre,

You know that's the biggest drawback of chess coaching. Coaches and books tell beginners and intermediate players to play safe and sound. The problem is that when they are in a real game where things get messy, they don't know what to do. They never develop those attacking or defensive skills because they play 'correct' chess. Coaches should tell their students to play gambits. Sac pieces. Try out different openings. All that will develop chess skills much better and faster than playing 'correct' chess.

I respect Leon, she has a otb rating and she a strong player over 1800. I might not like her opening selection but she plays to win and she has some undertstanding about the game.  

  Deirdre,you are different, you have not proven you have a otb rating and players like you playing the Hippo attack, you are afraid to play real opening and like close opening to avoid tactics. Amateur who play the Hippo attack lack chess understanding, they avoid open game 1.e4 because it require real skill to handle these opening; not some lazy hippo attack setup you can do in your sleep. 

You say you play Leon three games but I see any games you played her. She challenge you two games, maybe you are afraid she beat you in the Transvestite Attack.  Or you can't play your boring hippo attack. Yawn!

We are not talking about her other accounts but your credentials as a chess player. What is your otb  rating, Leon is over 1800 uscf. You always express yourself as a expert on chess in all areas but you lack the credentials; any amateur who play the hippo attack lack chess understanding..

People, people.....lighten up.

carlsen won some nice games with the transvestite in the lichess titles arena nine : )!

Deirdre: I watched Simon Williams beating a IM (or it was a GM?) with this stuff, go to youtube and check it if you don't believe me

I think its sarcasm.

It's a very appropriate name, given that the king and queen have "changed clothes" as it were. Indeed, the name is the only point of the opening. It was an invention of Jack Young – at least the idea was; he actually started with 1 e3 iirc – who made up all sort of daft openings just for the hell of it. There's no chess logic to any of them, but he won games anyway because he was a lot stronger than his opponents. Would Carlsen beat most people here with this opening? Yes, he probably would, and for the same reason.