Bird's Opening
Encyclopedia
Bird's Opening is a chess opening
characterised by the move:
Bird's is a standard but never popular flank opening
. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-square without occupying it, but his first move is also non-developing and slightly weakens his kingside. Black may challenge White's plan to control e5 immediately by playing From's Gambit (1...e5!?).
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
assigns two codes for Bird's Opening: A02 (1.f4) and A03 (1.f4 d5).
and Elijah Williams
, among others. The British master Henry Edward Bird first played it in 1855 and continued to do so for the next 40 years. In 1885, the Hereford Times
named it after him. In the first half of the 20th century Aron Nimzowitsch
and Savielly Tartakower
sometimes played 1.f4. In more recent decades, Grandmasters who have used the Bird's with any regularity include Bent Larsen
, Andrew Soltis
, Lars Karlsson, Mikhail Gurevich
, and Henrik Danielsen.
(1.d4 f5) with colors reversed. White will then often either fianchetto
his king's bishop with Nf3, g3, Bg2, and 0-0 with a reversed Leningrad Dutch; adopt a Stonewall formation
with pawns on d4, e3, and f4 and attempt a kingside attack; or fianchetto his queen's bishop to increase his hold on the e5 square. Another strategy, by analogy with the Ilyin–Zhenevsky variation of the Dutch Defence, involves White playing e3, Be2, 0-0, d3 and attempting to achieve the break e3–e4 by various means, e.g. Ne5, Bf3, Qe2 and finally e3–e4, or simply Nc3 followed by e4. Timothy Taylor's book on Bird's Opening puts the main line Bird's Opening as follows: 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Be2 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 c5.
chess player Martin Severin From
(1828–1895). White can then transpose
into the King's Gambit
with 2.e4. If White accepts the gambit with 2.fxe5, Black must choose between the main line 2...d6 and the rather obscure 2...Nc6. After 2...Nc6, International Master (IM) Timothy Taylor, in his 2005 book on the Bird's, recommends 3.Nc3! Nxe5 4.e4 intending 5.d4, rather than 3.Nf3?! g5! when Black stands well. After the normal 2...d6 3.exd6 Bxd6, White must play 4.Nf3, avoiding 4.Nc3?? Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 5.hxg3 Bxg3 checkmate
. Then Black again has two alternatives: 4...g5 to drive away White's knight, and 4...Nf6, threatening 5...Ng4 and 6...Nxh2! Future World Champion
Emanuel Lasker
introduced 4...g5 in the game Bird–Lasker, Newcastle on Tyne, 1892, so it is known as "Lasker's Variation". Taylor considers 4...g5 dubious; a quiet response that he considers favorable for White is 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5! (6.Ng5? leads to a dubious piece sacrifice) Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Nc6 9.Nc3! Be6 (9...Nxe5?! 10.Bf4 f6 11.Nd5 Kd8 12.Nxf6!) 10.Bf4 0-0-0+ 11.Ke1 Nge7 12.e3 Ng6 13.Bg5 Rdf8 14.Bf6 Rhg8 15.Be2 Ngxe5 16.Rf1 "with the typical edge for White that is characteristic of this variation", according to Taylor. He also considers the sharper 5.g3 g4 6.Nh4 favorable for White, giving as the main line 6...Ne7 7.d4 Ng6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qd3 Nc6 (9...Rh5 10.Bg2; 9...Na6 10.c3) 10.c3 (10.Nc3? Nxd4! 11.Qxd4?? Bg3+ wins White's queen) Bf5 (10...Qe7 11.Bg2! Bd7 12.Nd2 0-0-0 13.Ne4! favored White in Taylor–Becerra Rivero, Minneapolis 2005) 11.e4 Qe7 12.Bg2 0-0-0 13.Be3. According to Taylor, White has a large advantage in all lines, although play remains extremely sharp, e.g. 13...Rde8 14.Nd2; 13...Rxh2 14.Rxh2 Bxg3+ 15.Kd1 Bxh2 16.exf5! Re8 17.fxg6! Qxe3 18.Qxe3 Rxe3 19.gxf7; or 13...Bd7 (threatening 13...Rxh2!) 14.Bf2!
's database, behind 1.e4
, 1.d4
, 1.Nf3
, 1.c4
, and 1.g3
. It is less than one-twentieth as popular as the mirror image English Opening
(1.c4). The move 1.f4 slightly weakens White's king
's position. ChessGames.com's statistics indicate that the opening is not an effective way of preserving White's first-move advantage
: as of February 6, 2009, out of 1,685 games with 1.f4, White had won 32.8%, drawn 25.3%, and lost 41.9%, for a total score of 45.45%. White scores much better with the more popular 1.e4 (54.25%), 1.d4 (55.95%), 1.Nf3 (55.8%), 1.c4 (56.3%), and 1.g3 (55.8%).
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
characterised by the move:
- 1. f4
Bird's is a standard but never popular flank opening
Flank opening
A flank opening is a chess opening played by White and typified by play on one or both flanks ....
. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-square without occupying it, but his first move is also non-developing and slightly weakens his kingside. Black may challenge White's plan to control e5 immediately by playing From's Gambit (1...e5!?).
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
assigns two codes for Bird's Opening: A02 (1.f4) and A03 (1.f4 d5).
History
The opening was mentioned by Luis Ramírez de Lucena in his book Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con ci Iuegos de Partido, published circa 1497. In the mid-nineteenth century the opening was sometimes played by La BourdonnaisLouis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century.- Early life :...
and Elijah Williams
Elijah Williams
Elijah Williams was an eminent British chess player of the mid-19th century. The first president of the Clifton Chess Club, and publisher of a book of games from the Divan Club....
, among others. The British master Henry Edward Bird first played it in 1855 and continued to do so for the next 40 years. In 1885, the Hereford Times
Hereford Times
The Hereford Times is a weekly tabloid newspaper published every Thursday in Hereford, England. Its offices are based in Holmer Road. The editor is Fiona Phillips...
named it after him. In the first half of the 20th century Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer...
and Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower
Ksawery Tartakower was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist of the 1920s and 30s...
sometimes played 1.f4. In more recent decades, Grandmasters who have used the Bird's with any regularity include Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
, Andrew Soltis
Andrew Soltis
Andrew Eden Soltis is a chess Grandmaster, author and columnist.He won at Reggio Emilia 1971–72 and was equal first at New York 1977. He was awarded the International Master title in 1974 and became a Grandmaster in 1980...
, Lars Karlsson, Mikhail Gurevich
Mikhail Gurevich (chess player)
Mikhail Naumovich Gurevich is a Soviet chess player. He lived in Belgium from 1991 to 2005 and since then resides in Turkey....
, and Henrik Danielsen.
1...d5
Black's most common response is 1...d5, when the game can take on the character of a Dutch DefenceDutch Defence
The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:Elias Stein , an Alsatian who settled in The Hague, recommended the defence as the best reply to 1.d4 in his 1789 book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu.-Theory:Black's 1.....
(1.d4 f5) with colors reversed. White will then often either fianchetto
Fianchetto
In chess the fianchetto is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward....
his king's bishop with Nf3, g3, Bg2, and 0-0 with a reversed Leningrad Dutch; adopt a Stonewall formation
Stonewall Attack
The Stonewall Attack is a chess opening; more specifically it is a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game. It is characterized by White playing 1.d4, 2.e3, 3.f4 and 4.c3, usually playing 5.Bd3 as well, even though the moves are not always played in that order . The Stonewall is a system White sets up,...
with pawns on d4, e3, and f4 and attempt a kingside attack; or fianchetto his queen's bishop to increase his hold on the e5 square. Another strategy, by analogy with the Ilyin–Zhenevsky variation of the Dutch Defence, involves White playing e3, Be2, 0-0, d3 and attempting to achieve the break e3–e4 by various means, e.g. Ne5, Bf3, Qe2 and finally e3–e4, or simply Nc3 followed by e4. Timothy Taylor's book on Bird's Opening puts the main line Bird's Opening as follows: 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Be2 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 c5.
From's Gambit
Black's sharpest try is 1...e5!?, From's Gambit, named for the DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
chess player Martin Severin From
Martin Severin From
Martin Severin Janus From was a Danish chess master.Born in Nakskov, From received his first education at the grammar school of Nykøbing Falster...
(1828–1895). White can then transpose
Transposition (chess)
A transposition in chess is a sequence of moves that results in a position which may also be reached by another, more common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in opening, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves...
into the King's Gambit
King's Gambit
The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves:White offers a pawn to divert the Black e-pawn so as to build a strong centre with d2–d4...
with 2.e4. If White accepts the gambit with 2.fxe5, Black must choose between the main line 2...d6 and the rather obscure 2...Nc6. After 2...Nc6, International Master (IM) Timothy Taylor, in his 2005 book on the Bird's, recommends 3.Nc3! Nxe5 4.e4 intending 5.d4, rather than 3.Nf3?! g5! when Black stands well. After the normal 2...d6 3.exd6 Bxd6, White must play 4.Nf3, avoiding 4.Nc3?? Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 5.hxg3 Bxg3 checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
. Then Black again has two alternatives: 4...g5 to drive away White's knight, and 4...Nf6, threatening 5...Ng4 and 6...Nxh2! Future World Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
introduced 4...g5 in the game Bird–Lasker, Newcastle on Tyne, 1892, so it is known as "Lasker's Variation". Taylor considers 4...g5 dubious; a quiet response that he considers favorable for White is 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5! (6.Ng5? leads to a dubious piece sacrifice) Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Nc6 9.Nc3! Be6 (9...Nxe5?! 10.Bf4 f6 11.Nd5 Kd8 12.Nxf6!) 10.Bf4 0-0-0+ 11.Ke1 Nge7 12.e3 Ng6 13.Bg5 Rdf8 14.Bf6 Rhg8 15.Be2 Ngxe5 16.Rf1 "with the typical edge for White that is characteristic of this variation", according to Taylor. He also considers the sharper 5.g3 g4 6.Nh4 favorable for White, giving as the main line 6...Ne7 7.d4 Ng6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qd3 Nc6 (9...Rh5 10.Bg2; 9...Na6 10.c3) 10.c3 (10.Nc3? Nxd4! 11.Qxd4?? Bg3+ wins White's queen) Bf5 (10...Qe7 11.Bg2! Bd7 12.Nd2 0-0-0 13.Ne4! favored White in Taylor–Becerra Rivero, Minneapolis 2005) 11.e4 Qe7 12.Bg2 0-0-0 13.Be3. According to Taylor, White has a large advantage in all lines, although play remains extremely sharp, e.g. 13...Rde8 14.Nd2; 13...Rxh2 14.Rxh2 Bxg3+ 15.Kd1 Bxh2 16.exf5! Re8 17.fxg6! Qxe3 18.Qxe3 Rxe3 19.gxf7; or 13...Bd7 (threatening 13...Rxh2!) 14.Bf2!
Other Black responses
- The flexible 1...Nf6 is also possible. Then if White plays 2.b3?! (2.Nf3 is safer), 2...d6! 3.Bb2?! (or 3.Nf3 e5! 4.fxe5 dxe5 5.Nxe5?? Qd4!) e5!, a sort of From's Gambit Deferred introduced by IM Michael Brooks, is dangerous for White, e.g. 4.fxe5 dxe5 5.Bxe5 Ng4! Then 6.Bb2 Bd6 "leaves White in huge trouble down the e1–h4 diagonal", and Black wins an exchange after 7.Nf3 Bxh2! 8.Rxh2 Nxh2. After the alternative 6.Bg3, 6...Qf6! (even better than 6...Bd6) 7.c3 (not 7.Nc3? Ne3! 8.dxe3 Bb4) Bd6 is strong for Black.
- Another popular response is 1...g6, a sort of Modern DefenseModern DefenseThe Modern Defense is a hypermodern chess opening in which Black allows White to occupy the center with pawns on d4 and e4, then proceeds to attack and undermine this "ideal" center without attempting to occupy it himself...
, which may transpose into a reversed Dutch Defense (if Black plays ...d5 and ...c5), or a Sicilian DefenceSicilian DefenceThe Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...
(if White plays e4 and Black plays ...c5). Black thus prevents white from playing on the a1–h8 diagonal.
- Also reasonable is 1...c5, hoping for a transposition into the Tal Gambit, a favorable variation of the Sicilian DefenceSicilian DefenceThe Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...
, after 2.e4 d5! 3.exd5 (3.Nc3, the mellifluously-named "Toilet Variation," is also possible) Nf6, but White need not oblige, and may build up more slowly with 2.Nf3, followed by g3, Bg2, d3 and possibly a later e4.
- The offbeat 1...b6!? is also known, and more soundly based than the same move after 1.e4 or 1.d4, since 1.f4 does not aid White's development, and weakens the a8–h1 diagonal as the move f3 is no longer available to shore up White's center. Taylor recommends 2.e4 Bb7 3.d3 e6 4.Nf3 Ne7 5.c3 d5 6.Qc2 Nd7 7.Be3, with a spatial advantage for White.
- Also possible is 1...b5!?, a form of Polish DefensePolish DefenseThe Polish Defense is the name commonly given to one of several sequences of chess opening moves characterized by an early ...b5 by Black. The name "Polish Defense" is given by analogy to the so-called Polish Opening , 1.b4. The original line wasas played by Alexander Wagner, a Polish player and...
. After the natural 2.e4 Bb7, White has no good way to protect e4 while maintaining his attack on b5, since 3.Nc3? b4 4.Nd5 e6 wins a pawn.
- If Black chooses the symmetrical reply 1...f5, Taylor considers White's best line to be quiet play with 2.b3 b6 3.Bb2 Bb7 4.e3, when 4...Nf6 5.Bxf6! exf6 6.Nf3 left White with the better pawn structurePawn structureIn chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus largely determines the strategic nature of the position.-General observations:Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such...
in Larsen–Colon Romero, San Juan 1969. Instead, 4...e6 5.Qh5+ forces the weakening 5...g6, with a slight advantage to White according to Taylor. Also possible is the aggressive 2.e4!?, when Taylor analyzes 2...fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 (5.g4 is well met by 5...d5, when after 6.g5, 6...Bg4 and 6...Ne4 both favor Black) 5...d5 6.0-0, when he considers White to have some, but not enough, compensation for the sacrificed pawn. Another possible continuation is 2...fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g4, the Swiss Gambit. This gambit was named by Alexander WagnerAlexander WagnerAlexander Wagner was a Polish chess correspondence master and theoretician.He studied law in Lemberg , playing chess in the Lvov Chess Club...
(1868–1942), a PolishPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
chess player and openings analyst who introduced it in the Swiss correspondence gameCorrespondence chessCorrespondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
Wagner–Kostin, 1910–11. The term "Swiss Gambit" is often used to refer more generally to 1.f4 f5 2.e4. Chess historian Edward WinterEdward Winter (chess historian)Edward Winter is an English journalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. He writes a regular column on that subject, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase.-Chess Notes:...
has criticized that usage, pointing out that 1.f4 f5 2.e4 was analyzed by F.A. Lange in the June 1859 Deutsche SchachzeitungDeutsche SchachzeitungDeutsche Schachzeitung was the first German chess magazine.Founded in 1846 by Ludwig Bledow under the title Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft, it took the name Deutsche Schachzeitung in 1872...
, and was played by many players, including Adolf AnderssenAdolf AnderssenKarl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
, in the nineteenth century.
- An aggressive but rare response is 1...g5?!, the Hobbs Gambit, with play possibly continuing 2.fxg5 h6, a sort of mirror image Benko GambitBenko GambitThe Benko Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense arising after:- Origin and predecessors :The idea of sacrificing a pawn with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Karel Opočenský applied the idea against, among others, Gideon Ståhlberg at Poděbrady 1936, Paul...
. White can simply return the pawn with 3.g6, leaving Black with a weakened kingside after 3...fxg6. A variant is the Hobbs–Zilbermints Gambit, 1...h6 intending 2...g5; against this, White could proceed with 2. e4 g5 3. d4, when Black has lost time and weakened his kingside.
- Another offbeat try is Martin Appleberry's 1...Nh6!?. The idea is to meet 2. b3 with 2...e5, another deferred From Gambit, and 2.e4 with 2...d5, when 3.exd5 Qxd5 would result in a Scandinavian DefenseScandinavian DefenseThe Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The Center Counter Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as being played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia in 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess,...
where White's pawn is oddly placed on f4. However, 2.Nf3 avoids both of these lines.
Popularity
Out of the twenty possible opening moves, 1.f4 ranks sixth in popularity in ChessGames.comChessgames.com
ChessGames.com is a large chess community on the Internet, with over 156,000 members. The site maintains a large database of historical chess games where every game has a distinct message board for comments and analysis. Basic membership is free and the site is open to players at all levels of...
's database, behind 1.e4
King's Pawn Game
The King's Pawn Game is any chess opening starting with the move:White opens with the most popular of the twenty possible opening moves. Though effective in winning for White , it is not as successful as the four next most common openings for White: 1.d4 , 1.Nf3 , 1.c4 , and 1.g3...
, 1.d4
Queen's Pawn Game
In the most general sense the term Queen's Pawn Game can refer to any chess opening which starts with the move:It is the second most popular opening move. The name is now usually used to describe openings beginning with the moves 1.d4 d5 where White does not follow through with an early pawn...
, 1.Nf3
Réti Opening
The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose traditional or classic method begins with the moves:White plans to bring the d5-pawn under attack from the flank, or entice it to advance to d4 and undermine it later...
, 1.c4
English Opening
In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
, and 1.g3
Benko's Opening
Benko's Opening , is a chess opening characterized by the moveIt is named after Pal Benko, who used 1.g3 to defeat Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal in rounds one and three of the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao, part of the 1963 World Championship...
. It is less than one-twentieth as popular as the mirror image English Opening
English Opening
In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
(1.c4). The move 1.f4 slightly weakens White's king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
's position. ChessGames.com's statistics indicate that the opening is not an effective way of preserving White's first-move advantage
First-move advantage in chess
The first-move advantage in chess is the inherent advantage of the player who makes the first move in chess. Chess players and theorists generally agree that White begins the game with some advantage. Statistics compiled since 1851 support this view, showing that White consistently wins slightly...
: as of February 6, 2009, out of 1,685 games with 1.f4, White had won 32.8%, drawn 25.3%, and lost 41.9%, for a total score of 45.45%. White scores much better with the more popular 1.e4 (54.25%), 1.d4 (55.95%), 1.Nf3 (55.8%), 1.c4 (56.3%), and 1.g3 (55.8%).
External links
- Opening Report. Bird, Williams Gambit: 1.f4 d5 2.e4 (47 games)
- Grand master with many OTB games in this opening, also same player's YouTube channel with many Bird's Opening lessons and live games