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 Some thoughts on the Bird's OpeningThe Bird can transpose into many other openings from the Kings Gambit,Tal Gambit1....c5(a variation of the Sicilian),1....b5(a form of Polish defense),1....g6 which resembles a Modern Defense and a number of other gambits like the Swiss,Hobbs and other more obscure lines. Lets see what the chessgames stat mentions about the Bird: www.chessgames.com Notice something immediately? White tends to win 36.6% of the time and black supersede's white in the win dept by 41.1%....significantly higher,may I add.Draws only at about 22%. This should raise a red flag immediately if playing the white side of the Bird.Again,theoretically white should have no problem,but it tends to be an uphill battle of sorts to maintain equality and/or an edge.The Bird,however is a great surprise weapon against the unwary and has won many beautiful games from whites perspective. Do I suggest learning the Bird when you actually begin studying openings,even though it is not the best opening out there? Absolutely! Why? 1.)Well,if you play a much stronger opponent,you will learn why and how you lost to that opening.Learning though losing is important.The stronger opponent will show you ways he exploited your weakened f2-a6 diagonal which you were probably not aware of. 2.)Also,there are several ways to lose in a fools mate fashion from 4 moves to 11 moves in at least one game I will show you below that I played at the Marshall Club last year.Others will follow in time. 3.)You learn about King safety from check attacks,usually on the dark squares. 4.)Whites Bishops(If fianchettoed) many times tend to have a decreased point value by "pawn locking" and blocking Whites Bishops.This is more advanced,so I will not be covering this issue immediately,but later on.But just seeing how useless your Bishops become by midgame,even if you do not understand immediately "why"is still a learning tool within itself. More later on the theory of the Bird. Now,here is a quick win of mine from the black side playing against the Bird.My opponent figured that it would be a surprise weapon since he knows me at the Marshall and knows I rarely play it or against it.But what he dosen't know is that I have researched the Bird from both sides,including all the gambits(like From's Gambit which is double edged)and many more obscure subvariations.And that knowledge paid off quickly! Game: Marshall Chess Club,NYC 7/10/15 Bird Opening White:Andrew 1965 OTB Black:Joe 2400+ OTB 1. f4 g6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d4 5. Ne4 Nc6 6. Bb2 Nf6 7. Nxf6+ Bxf6 8. h3 e5 9. fxe5 Bh4+ 10. Nxh4 Qxh4 11. g3,Qxg3# chesstempo.com Game over in 11 moves!My opponent choked a bit on his soda when I slammed my Q down on g3!Another Bird I said?No way Joe,he mentioned.He played me a second game using a Petrov Defense and managed a nice draw(which is common in Petrov's),so I give him credit for that! Just a quick summary annotation here with the game above. 3.b3 is already a weak move.My Fianchetto places firm pressure on that a1-h8 diagonal I described above.Notice the immediate attack on whites a1 Rook.Not good.Better would have been:3.d3... a better stat book move that supports that f4 pawn with whites c1 Bishop. On Andrews 4.Nc3 move,not good either.Why?Take a look below: This already creates a Knight check and chase move,similar to one of my Basman Defense games,but a centralized chase,rather than a wing chase. Whites game is beginning to fall apart,but he does not know it yet. On move #7,my opponent shows his lack of theory training.7.Nxf6+looks good,but is weak.After 7....Bxf6 the pressure still remains on that a1/h8 diagonal in addition to supporting my nicely placed d4 pawn.Better for white would have been 7.Ng3.The slight loss of tempo is still superior to the exchange move.That is the "theory"part!If you check via a program analysis,that will be confirmed through pawn value assessments of the position. 8.h3 I have to give a ?.It loses whites safe position and a pawn and brings white closer to mate.After the ? h3 move,whites best response would have been: 8.h3,e5 9.e4,Bh4+ 10.Ke2(losing castling rights),exf4 11.d3,0-0(my better castled position).A strong disadvantage position for white but still not losing badly. But he sets himself up for a mate with my poisoned pawn on e5 (8.h3,e5)...which becomes a mate in 2.My Q and Bishop combination on the dark squares,then capturing his last pawn blocking defense,seals whites fate in the final mate position below: Notice how things became reversed?In the Bird,it is white that should be controlling the dark squares.With this game,it was black that controlled the dark squares and won in only 11 moves.Take final note to how I exploited that f2 square...the weakest square on the white side!!!This is critical in understanding the pitfalls of the Bird if not handled precisely with the better opening book moves. A quick lesson to an "A"rated Bird lover. Again,with proper opening book study,the Bird can be played with relative safety,even though the stats are not good on the Bird.Much of those bad stats are based upon not studying the best opening moves and/or not using the better opening books like Hiarcs which is upgraded every 3 months.Its not free,but its worth it! Again,I suggest playing the Bird on the white side,well,eventually,not necessarily right away. Losing to it can also be a lesson.But then,you may win with it if your opponent is equally rated to you or lesser rated....so it depends. TA Slight correction from above.... I mentioned that white sets himself up... "But he sets himself up for a mate with my poisoned pawn on e5 (8.h3,e5)...which becomes a mate in 2.". Just to clarify,I meant to say white sets himself up for a mate AFTER 9.fxe5,Bh4+ and 10. Nxh4 Qxh4. Tired tonight. |
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Lets see,what else can I add for now on the Bird? 1.f4,e5 Should you accept the gambit?The stats do bear out that,yes,accepting the gambit with 2.fxe5 gives white a slight advantage in theory,but some stats list it as very close for black wins as well. www.ianchessgambits.com Alternatives are transposing into the Kings Gambit with 2.e4 but again,you would have to be comfortable with a Kings Gambit which,of course,has problems of its own,from that "bust to a Kings Gambit" and more. MCO-15 on page 732 is quoted as saying that,"honorable acceptance of the gambit leads to tactical situations".So,even though the acceptance of the gambit has one of the highest stat win capabilities for white,you must be prepared for as tactical onslaught of problems,unless you have done your opening book research using a good opening book and side by side program analysis. |
