Play 1… e5 Like a Drunken Uncle!
Introduction
This is not your typical openings blog post.
That's what most openings blog posts say. Then, they hit you with the 'Play the London!' or 'Play the Scotch!' No more! Let's spice things up with what I call the 'Drunken Uncle' 1... e5 repertoire. I took inspiration from the preposterous antics of my drunken Indian uncle at a wedding, and transferred the energy to chess openings. The result? Well, I can't wait for you to find out...
The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.
— Pablo Picasso
With that quote in mind, let's head into the most catastrophic opening repertoire you have ever laid your eyes on. Step-by-step, we'll cover most of White's main choices after 1. e4: the Vienna Game, the Italian Opening, the Ruy Lopez Opening, The Scotch Opening and Gambit, the King's Gambit, the Danish Gambit, and more. And if any of these questionable gambits lose you 100 elo... don't blame me!
Table of Contents
a) Decimate the Danish with the 3... Qe7 Variation.
b) Violently Vaporize the Vienna with my Epic Original Variation!
c) Kill the King's Gambit with the Egregiously Unhinged Zilbermints Double Gambit!
d) Squash the Scotch Opening with the Modern Main Line, the Schmidt Variation!
e) Smite the Scotch Gambit with the Rare 8... Qc4! Variation!
Note that this is Part 1 of my Drunken Uncle series! In the next part, I will cover the Italian Opening and Ruy Lopez. Since they're the most common and most challenging way to play for White, I thought they deserved a blog on their own. Without further ado, let's get started!
How to Use this Blog
Before I introduce each opening, I'll add some notes about the parent opening. For example, the idea of the Ruy Lopez Opening is to indirectly put pressure on the e5-pawn by pressuring its protector, the c6-knight. Then, I'll write a bit about the ideas of our repertoire variation, because ideas are more important than simply a theory dump.
Most of the content of the blog is in the diagrams, where I've tried my best to provide insights and visualized the ideas using lots of arrows. If you plan to use this, you should probably play through the diagrams a lot and maybe even export the PGN. You can load this into a website like StudyOpenings.com to make sure you don't forget your lines.
📸 StudyOpenings.com, a great opening study tool 
If the recommended variation isn't your cup of tea, I get it! That's why each section is punctuated with alternatives that I also enjoy. If you decide that you do like it, the Further Reading section will link you to some good sources to learn more about the variation. Note that some of the Further Reading material is thin because this repertoire is very cutting-edge!
Finally, I should add that if you do plan to use the Drunken Uncle repertoire seriously, you should probably test it in some unrated games first to get over the learning curve. If not, you may lose some games and rating and get discouraged before you achieve mastery of the way of the Drunken Uncle. And make no mistake - you will achieve mastery of the way of the Drunken Uncle!
WIthout further ado, let's get started and...
Decimate the Danish!
Danish Gambit Notes:
-The Idea of the Danish Gambit is to sacrifice two pawns to get lots of open lines. The two Danish bishops, on c4 and b2, are very well positioned and can become very powerful. It's very difficult for Black to defend in the Fully Accepted Danish even when he's two pawns up.
-25% of Danish Gambit games go into the Fully Accepted Variation. Objectively, it's the best line, but I can't recommend it because White is having all the fun.
3... Qe7 Notes:
-This move breaks chess principles by bringing out the Queen too early. However, it's still a strong move which Stockfish likes and GMs have played.
-The idea is very simple - to attack the e4-pawn. The e4-pawn is pinned to the White King, so we can often put more and more pressure on the pawn with moves like ...f5, ...d5, ...Nf6, etc.
Many Black players find the Danish Gambit scary. They capture pawn after pawn, and suddenly found that two deranged White bishops are breathing fire down the diagonals. But why allow White to have any fun at all? Here's a way to take all the venom out of the Danish Gambit and still retain an advantage as Black.
Alternatives: Sorensen, Sorensen Video, Sorensen Video 2, Eric Rosen's Sorensen, Danya's Sorensen, Schlechter Variation, Schlechter Model Game, Fully Accepted, Copenhagen, Fully Accepted Study
Further Reading: YT Video, YT Video 2, YT Video 3
Are you impressed? I can guarantee you an advantage as Black in all lines. The Danish players should be quaking in their boots right about now. Let's move and learn how to...
Violently Vaporize the Vienna!
Vienna Gambit Notes:
-The Vienna was known as a pretty passive way to play before Levy popularized it. However, it still does surrender easy equality to Black. One of the ideas of the Vienna is to be 'quirky' and put the wrong knight out to dodge lots of theory.
-The Vienna Gambit one of the few gambits that absolutely cannot be accepted or you'll lose.
My Variation's Notes:
-We can see that when White plays Qf3, they are threatening mate on f7 with the bishop. As Black, what we want to do is to play ...Nd4 to attack the queen and the c2-pawn, but if we did it we'd get checkmated. The idea of ...f5 is to forcefully get rid of the f7 weakness so we can launch that knight at d4 where it belongs.
-As you can see in the lines, we rarely recapture on f5 or g6!
-If White puts a knight on f3, it should always be met with a bishop on g4!
The Vienna is a trendy way to play 1. e4. Recently, it's been popularized by the self-proclaimed Internet's Chess Teacher, GothamChess, who has advocated it in many of his videos. However, for the prepared 1... e5 player, it should be no problem at all. There are many ways to counter the Vienna. One variation in particular, which Levy has dubbed the Copycat Variation, is considered the most vile and disgusting ways to play, reserved only for bumbling buffoons. I'm here to set that record straight!
Alternatives: Mainline, Mainline Video, Mainline Video 2, Quelle Gambit
Further Reading: Nothing As Far As I Know, I'm the Only Source
I'm very glad to publish this variation at long last, and I've been working on analysing it for a while. (if this gains any traction, let's call it the Anti-Rozman Gambit!) Anyways, let's move on to my personal favourite opening of all time, which it pains me to defeat.
Kill the King's Gambit
King's Gambit Notes:
-The King's Gambit is one of the oldest openings and the start of countless classic brilliancies such as the Immortal Game and the Evergreen Game.
-The idea is to divert the e5-pawn from controlling d4 so White can play d4. This is unintuitive, because immediately playing 2. d4 is bad, but we exchange the pawn for more central control.
-The King's Gambit is a huge, huge opening with centuries of theory in its mainlines. That's why it's good to get out of theory and have one line that combats every King's Gambit variation.
Zilbermints Gambit Notes:
-What's the idea of this opening? If anyone actually figures it out, I'll PayPal you $500...
Kill the King's Gambit! Kill the King's Gambit players! (wait, don't...)
The King's Gambit is known as a romantic, tactical opening. However, this was the easiest opening on this list to find a powerful response to. That's because there are very effective and dynamic solutions for Black. What I'm about to show you definitely, definitely isn't one of them. Some of you will see it and immediately consult the Alternatives section. That's okay, the Drunken Uncle style isn't for everyone!
Alternatives: Falkbeer, Falkbeer Video, Falkbeer Video 2, Abbazia, Abbazia Video, Schallop, Danya's Schallop Video
Further Reading: Source Material
I hope you liked that analysis! We're almost finished now, but next up is...
Squash the Scotch Game!
Scotch Opening Notes:
-The idea of the Scotch is to try and control the center as White. The trade of the d4 pawn for the e5 pawn, which is basically forced, gives White a pleasant space advantage. It also releases central tension very early, making the game very open.
-The lack of theory needed to play it means that it's often played by beginners. The lack of theory also means that Scotch players may not be familiar with theoretical wrinkles, giving you a good chance to outfox them right in the opening.
Click the above link to learn more about the Scotch Opening!
Schmidt Variation Notes:
-Black already gets ahead in development very early in the game, securing him equality. That's why the Schmidt has been growing in popularity for decades and is now the most popular way to fight the Scotch at master level.
-In the mainline of the Schmidt Black often plays ...g6 to put his dark-square bishop on the weak long diagonal. White's overextended pawn on e5 is often the target of attack.
-The Four Knights Scotch has the reputation of being one of the most boring, drawish openings out there. So much so that when i need half a point to win a tournament, I turn to playing this. However, there are ways to play every opening dynamically.
The Scotch Game has an odd reputation for being a beginner opening. That being said, it is definitely a beginner opening; I don't think many strong players play it. Many Scotch games get into boring positions, and it's tough to find a dynamic response that fits our 'Drunken Uncle' repertoire. That's why I have no good alternatives to this and have to recommend a terrible 'gambit' with a heavy heart. Anyways, we are going to cover one of the mainlines, the Schmidt Variation:
Alternatives: I Can't Find Anything! Maybe This?!
Further Reading: Hanging Pawns, Any Good Book
However, White doesn't have to recapture the pawn with 4. Nxd4. If the pawn is left hanging, we enter a different opening entirely, so we can...
Smite the Scotch Gambit!
Scotch Gambit Notes:
-The Scotch Gambit is a more exciting alternative to the Scotch. For White, the Double Scotch used to be the most popular way to play but back in the 70s and 80s it was replaced with the Max Lange Attack. In our study
-The Nakhmanson Gambit is probably the most aggressive and complicated gambit out there. Theory suggests that the 8... Kf6 refutes it. However, the theory required to play a move that risky is enormous and I don't think anyone below 2000 could work it all out over-the-board. Moreover, even if you know ludicrous amounts of theory, the resulting positions are so complicated that it's very easy to blunder and lose. Sure, with perfect play you could win the game, but with perfect play you can win any game. That's my logic in declining the Nakhmanson in our repertoire.
Anti-Scotch Repertoire Notes:
-Our 'innovation' of 5... Ng4 has been played 252 times at master level. Its winrate is considerably higher than the mainline, showing that the Drunken Uncle repertoire is rock-solid even for a GM (that was a joke).
-Our innovation of 8... Qc4 has been played once at the master level, but Black (a 2200!) forgot their theory and played 11... Bd6?? losing on the spot. However, at the amateur level it has the highest winrate compared to moves like ...Qa5 and ...Qh5.
The Scotch Gambit is definitely one of the more dangerous ways to play for White. However, there are ways to counter it which are relatively unknown and lead to great positions to Black. Here's my favourite sideline of it as Black, known only as the 'Kingside Variation':
Alternatives: Great Sideline!, Mainline Scotch Theory, More Mainline Theory, Some ...Bc5 Stuff
Further Reading: Beat the Nakhmanson!
When handled well, these variations could definitely get you a 60-70% winrate against the Scotch Gambit. Anyways, good job for getting all the way down here - the blog is almost finished. Stay tuned because Part Two will come out in 2-3 weeks at most! Have a look at the below image to see my other blogging plans:
Conclusion
Always play like a Drunken Uncle.
— Former World Champion Mangoes Caprisun
That repertoire was a lot of fun to make and even more fun to play. I do encourage my readers to try it before they head to the comments and crack jokes about my awful opening recommendations. I think if we all played more like drunken uncles, the chess world would be a better place. Until you see 'goofy ahh uncle productions' getting a co-author credit in my blog, thanks for reading the Daily Rat!
