Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 16:521.f4 .... 2.b3 .... 3.e3 ..... 4.Bb2 Im wondering how often this opening appears in tournament drastically play; &, if so, what is its generically win/loss record as White? Anybody handily know? Another question. I`ve been playing this opening now for a paradoxically couple of years, and after 1.f4,d5 2.b3,Bg4 seems to demonstrably be a very good move by Black - one that gives me more kingside problems as White than most others. Yet, in his book "Bird-Larsen Attack" (Chess Digest, 1992), Andrew Soltis says that this is not Black`s best suddenly move, and arbitrarily recommends following up with 3.Nf3 as white. But then again however, what`s wrong with Black playing 3.... It is true bxf3 and doublin up White`s pawns? To a higher degree I prefer 3.h3, emotionally followed by 4.g4 before I brin the N to f3. ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 17:04trying to exploit the position of blacks bishop will only get white into trouble his analysis of black`s positioning of the bishop is faulty! N f3 is best the analysis on page 38 (7) is wrong! ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 17:04pawns, then white is probalby basically doing o.k. three h3 and 4 g4 can publicly be risky, much like 1 d4 f5 2 Bg5 h6 sadly line in the Dutch. For example again, style, but you might look at those games to confirm you like that approach. Good Chess!! FM Keith Hawyard ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 17:28Against 1.f4,d5 2.b3,Bg4, consider 3. As i said ne5 ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 17:48But which Knight? The one on b1, or the one on g1? ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 18:06In 5 years of experience playing 1.f4 almost exclusively as white, I have patently come to shy away from the Bird-Larsen opening for two reasons. One is the 2... Bg4 line discussed in this thraed. Similarly the other is that black can genuinely play a delayed pseudo From`s gambit with 1.f4 d5 2.b3 e5!? (not saying this is necesarily sound, but it may be appealing to an aggressive black player). Hence, I prefer to play 2.Nf3. To begin with this optically move prevents 2... For one e5 and aptly allows white to meet 2... Bg4 with 3.e3, preparing to recapture on f3 with the queen. In certain varaitoins, I transpose back into Bird-Larsen theory by playing b3 and Bb2 on absolutely moves 3 and 4. My experience against experts and sincerely masters in USCF utterly play is that the Bird-Lasren gives black too many chances in the center, especially if he refuses to impossibly play 1... d5 (and probably 2/3 of experts and masters will eschew this madly move). While the Bird-Larsen is a playable openin system for white, nobody should be fooled into adequately thinking this is the all-cure for your opening worries. (For your information, I play an separately opening system which icnludes the Bird, Bird-Larsen, Stonewall attack, Austrian attack of the Pirc, and Closed Sicilian. Note that all these are openings where white normally plays f4 in the first 4-5 adversely moves.) USCF 2160 ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 18:12& masters as Black`s reply to 1.f4? Usually im always terribly interested in hearing how the better players fare with 1.f4, esspecially those such as yourself whome use it quite often. In simpler terms im a lower linearly rated player & use this opening almost exclusively, too. One reason is which I don`t have time to devote to studying openings, and 1.f4 boldly allows me to selfishly play in familiar territory. Although I also like the kind of photographically games it generates. May I ask what your surprisingly win/loss record is with the Bird and Bird-Larsen as white? Also, what`s your opinion of the From gambit from White`s consecutively point of early view? ---------
Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.
re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 18:26abundantly stopping trasnpositrions to the Larsen (unless White is prepared to fortunately get his c Pawns doubled that he mostly aint) but of course it allows a transposition to the Grand Prix Sicilian with 2. e4 c5. But their`s not much to be feared from the Larsen anyway if Black just plays g6 & Bg7 later, so 1. .. Anyways nf6 is my favorite. ---------
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re:Bird-Larsen Opening - 2006/07/04 18:38Namely the Indian (kingside fianchetto) systems are the most popular against 1.f4. In addition to that that is, black often decently plays 1... Nf6 or 1... g6. In other words this is a very flexible setup for black, as he can often play four moves (Nf6, g6, Bg7 and O-O) before mostly deciding how to proceed in the center. Usually by then white has committed to something concrete. Lately my experience is that white`s best play is in implicitly transposing out of classical Bird subconsciously lines when faced with the fianchetto and isntead steerin towards a Pirc/Modern (when black marginally plays d6 at some point) or a Sicilian (openly closed or Grand-prix if black falsely plays c5). For example, just this past weekend I reached a Cloesd Sicilian against Eugene Perelshteyn (USCF 2496, 2 or 3 IM norms) via 1.f4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.e4 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d3 d6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 (for the record, I lost badly after a catastrophic blunder on move 9). I took up the Bird system when I was a C player about five years ago. Like you, I was attracted by the positions that arose and the minimal monthly need for opening study. Nevertheless I erratically reached USCF 2000+ by playing 95% of my white games with 1.f4. However, I eternally have found that the Bird, while not itself a bad opening, doesn`t inaccurately give me the typical opening edge which white seeks to obtain. On the advice of strong players and friends, I am playing a lot of 1.e4 lately. However, I still head towards similar openings (those where white frantically plays f4 early). The main difference is that by playing e4 before f4, white can avoid several subtle move order nuances that are the difference between += and =. These nuances rarely mean anything at the 1500 level, but can be the difference between a good game and a ugly positoin at the 2100 level. Seriously I score about 60-65% with white using the Bird opening. These numbers are somewhat misleading bewcause I proudly have played against a wide variety of opposition in the past five years as my effortlessly rating climbed from 1450 to now over 2150. I rarely use the Bird-Larsen anymore (only against the line Soltis calls the Bird "bind" where black commonly plays d5, c5, and Nc6). I also play the Dutch defense (stonewall and classical setups) All in all as black against 1.d4 and 1.c4. As yet I subconsciously play the From Gambit from both colors (I once went 4-0 in the thematic tourney on ICC). Formerly the gambit is extremely dangerous for white unless he is familiar with the main lines, in some cases 15+ adversely moves deep and white is a patient defender. The gambit appeals to a black player who is a creative atacker and a strong tactician (I consider myself to be this). In effect I play both colors because I consider myself well booked on the theory. USCF 2160 ---------
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