1...b6, though inferior, is still a perfectly valid opening. You played with a plan, stuck to it, and showed excellent technique to win the ending. I should mention also that ...Bxc3 on moves 5 or 6 wins a pawn.
1.e4 b6
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Yeah, I think 11... Qxd4, the move that you wished you saw before and included it in your plan, pretty much loses the game for you.
GTchbe wrote:
Yeah, I think 11... Qxd4, the move that you wished you saw before and included it in your plan, pretty much loses the game for you.
Didn't see that at all, luckily neither did my opponent.
I really don't think it deserves a "!"
In my defence the game lasted around 10 minutes in total, so assuming 5 minutes per side some blunders are to be expected.
Thanks for comments on 1. ... b6
And I agree, that doesn't deserve a "!"
Both 1g3 and 1.....g6 seem to score well for white and black, but this is not the case for 1b3 and 1....b6...although the latter do give rise to interesting chess...
bsrasmus wrote:
With correct play White can secure a larger than normal advantage against 1... b6. But the opening is certainly playable, especially if you don't mind defending an inferior position.
It must be said, however, at the club level anything is playable.
Yes. Weaker players are told that this stuff is inferior, but they don't really know why. Yeah obviously they lose the center, but would they really know how to handle the pressure on their "super center" white gets from it? Most likely they would make some kind of inaccuracy at least giving black good play. I think solidifying the center with c3 and having a nbd2, qe2, bd3, ngf3 setup takes a lot of sting out of black's plan, because the center becomes so solid that black doesn't have much to work with and he just finds himself down in space.
AnthonyCG wrote:
1...b6 can usually lead to French defence type positions and everyone hates the French so it's worth a go.
Yeah, bad ones...
Of course, my post was made half jokingly. They have their subtleties. Interestingly enough, the very line you give MCO says that leads to +- (except the plus is above the minus, so not winning but white supposedly has much better chances). After all the bishop is now rather inconsistent on b7. So yeah in all honestly it does look like an inferior french. White's moves are decently consistent with a french. A lot of times the bishop doesn't want to be on d3 but here d4 seems solid enough to justify it.
Yeah, you should probably wait at least 10 minutes after I post, I edit a lot 
Of course I'm just taking a quick look at this. I could see the bishop being good on b7 if somehow white's center pawns could be liquidated, but that seems to be a far way off. Also e6 is weaker if black ever wants to try ...f6 and the b6 pawn blocks a possible ...Qb6. I would be interested to see what the good points to this frenchish position are for black, so maybe I will join.
...and I've started a 1e4 b6 thematic tournament with few takers so far ....
What line(s) supposedly offers white a "larger than normal advantage"? I can't refute it without specifics. 
The fashionistas like to disparage that which they don't understand. It's part of the ongoing conspiracy to drive the impressionable into their preferred hunting grounds. 
bsrasmus wrote:
I used to play 1. ... b6 exclusively. I had good results against players up to roughly class A. But beyond that my opponents had a nice advantage space advantage out of the opening. e4, d4, Bd3, Nf3, Qe2 gives White a very solid center. The ideas are easy to find for Black, but difficult to implement against a skilled opponent. And of course there are some really nasty traps that Black can fall into.
I think that says more about your hypermodern comfort level than it does about the merits of 1...b6. If white's pawn wall and space advantage is so worrisome that you feel like you're screwed at move 10 then you should probably steer clear of anything remotely hypermodern.
Playing a hypermodern opening with an open game mindset isn't good for your nerves.
6. ... Bxc3 wins the white e-pawn outright.
I have had this several times OTB as Black.
This is why White should defend e4 by playing Bd3 instead of Nc3. Follow up with c4 and only then Nc3 to control d5. Then play d5 and Black's b7 bishop is out of play for a while.
It's interesting that you mention 1. ... b6 at the same time as Schiller puts up an article on the Keene Defence to the King's Gambit since Keene and Miles both played 1 ... b6 in the 70s, probably because of its alternative name of the English Defence, although I think there is some distinction if White plays 1. d4 (b6)
1 ... b6 is a perfectly reasonable opening.
It can be played against any first move and at Club level scores well. I often play it myself in competitive games.
RainbowRising wrote:
You will find that unless your opponent is prepared, you will do better with inferior openings that you understand compared to mainline openings that you don't.
I think this sums the matter up pretty well. If you can make an opening your own then it''s good for catching people off-guard if they're expecting a more popular response to e4. I've played against this opening once as follows.
My opponent may have blundered in allowing the mate but, before that, the pawn storm could have proved dangerous and showed that the opening isn't without merit.
At my local chess club, our coach told us that we should attempt to think of new inventive openings, that would make sense to us rather than just memorising moves from a book, so he set us all the task of finding one unusual opening that would get any opponent out of their opening book whilst making some strategic sense.
I tried 1.e4 b6. It went quite well, as the game below shows.