A Brilliant Opening: The Sodium Attack

Introduction

The Sodium Attack is an opening I discovered recently, and have been using it ever since for over 80% of my games as white. Whilst there might look like a disadvantage, I have found that the tables soon turn. In this blog, I'm going to talk about this particular opening that I find interesting; maybe it'll help you too!

How Did I Find It

I stumbled across this opening when studying one of GM Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen)'s games against GM Sahaj Grover: https://www.chess.com/games/view/14318891. I studied a few moves of this opening and realised I found gold. This method confuses the opponent at the beginning, but as the game progresses, white can slowly make deceitful attacks and rapidly gain control of the centre in the opening too.

Moves

The Sodium Attack begins with 1. Na3 which your opponent usually responds with d5, 2. c4 is then played, enticing the opponent to take, yet also threatening the opponent's pawn too. The opponent can not take the d pawn as it is guarded by the knight. Fearful of the attack on c4, (and forgetting that the queen is protecting it), they push e6, doubling their protection. In this case, I normally play 3. Nf3 to control the other 2 central squares. They normally respond with Nf6, seizing the other square. 

From there on, we are met with 2 paths. The first one is to take the c4 pawn (usually taken back with the e6 pawn), now we can fully develop our knight then the other pieces, preparing for an attack whilst black prefers to castle and stays on the defending side. Our other choice is to fianchetto the light squared bishop, playing 4. g3, preparing to attack the d5 pawn and protecting the knight. The opponent may develop their knight or bishop and we fianchetto.

Benefits

Chess.com might hate this opening:Sorry, Chess.com doesn't hate it, Chess.com absolutely loathes it. So I, as a player that uses this opening for the majorities of my games (and wins most of the time), am going to point out the 2 biggest benefits of the Sodium Attack.

1. The Sodium Attack Confuses People

Many of my opponents are confunded by the first move, half of my opponents try to control the centre, and ignore my move, and the other half think that I should be on 5 Elo. Nah, I'm just kidding. However, 1. Na3 confuses the opponent and can alter their descision, also controlling the centre in an indirect way

2. The Sodium Attack Affects The Game More Than You Think

Obviously, this opening affects the game in some way, but pulling out an unexpected opening that opponents have most likely never heard of can make them pull back, or become suspicious and more cautious, giving you the opportunities to attack in different ways. Here is one of my games that I made an opponent mad:

https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/DXoA9qtWS?tab=analysis

Note: I had to drag it out for his suffering.

Conclusion

And there we have it, an overview of the Sodium Attack. Hopefully you're going to use this opening. Also please give me some suggestions as this is my first blog. Thanks!

Peace!

danchessmoo(Sorry Magnus Carlsen, but I love this picture)