How to beat the Bird

There are many resources black has at his disposal to deal with the worst non-A00 opening (and even some of those such as 1.e3 1.Nc3 1.g3 and maybe even 1.a3?! are vastly superior)

I would think that 1. ...e5 would play into the hands of the white player. However, this variation and some variations with ...c5 and ...g6 seem to lead to comfortable positions for black.

this is bs, the bird can't be refuted and the from is mostly a bunch of cheap tricks. you sure can achieve a bunch of quick wins against your typical 1800- that doesn't really know his stuff though.

I covered the king's gambit.  The Bird isn't refuted per se but if black knows what to do and adopts a sound solution that fits his style of play then he can give white plenty of trouble. 

i can agree that black can reach easy theoretical equality, but nothing more.

I played the From a few times and it turned out really bad for black.

It seems that if white knows a couple of moves (and an 1.f4 player certainly will) the From yes, it's just a bunch of cheap tricks.

That's because you don't have a deep enough understanding of the nuances.  1...e5 against the Bird is a positional sacrifice.  It's a long term investment against the Bird. 2...Nc6 and 2...d6 are both excellent options.  Black's bishops point right at the white king and black usually has a firmer grip over the center. 

I personally prefer 1...c5 like stated in the sub variations but the From is a sound weapon for those in the mood for it.  If you do play it however just make sure you're booked up on Fischer's bust.

i like a kings indian when facing the birds opening f4 Nf6 stops e4 then kings indian formation to put alot of speedbumps to slow down any kingside pawn storms if after Nf6 Nc3 i play d5 yet again stopping e4

Also, what do you think of my 1...d5 2.Nf3,Qd6 3.d4,h6 4.e3,g5

and 1...d5 2.Nf3,h6 3.e3,g5 4.fxg5,hxg5 lines?  Please reflect on them with an open mind I know I put many variations in the analysis so they may have gone unnoticed.  Both variations are reversed Manhattan gambits of sorts.  It's hard to be original and survive in the opening.  It's okay if you think those lines are bad, but please come to a conclusion with an open mind. 

1...Nf6 can be good too.  It's usually very transpositional.  I welcome e4 especially in 1...c5 lines.  It's not often one gets to play the Tal "gambit". 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1008674

Please explain, if the Bird is so terrible, how:

1. Employers of the Bird include such famous players as Lasker, Korchnoi, Alekhine, Capablanca, Chigorin, Aronian, and Larsen.
2. Deep Fritz, Blackburne, Spielmann, Smyslov, Spassky, and Marshall lost to the Bird.
3. In Marshall's case, he lost against an NN playing the Bird.

If the Bird can be so easily refuted, why would it be played by people of such prestigious caliber?

6.g3(?) is a problem for the From. Black is reduced to long castling and playing for cheapos. 

There are so many ways to get a comfy game that a gambit seems a bit drastic anyway.

The irony of starting a thread to let people know the Bird's Opening can be beaten, while claiming it has no merit at all to begin with...well...it's pretty funny.

If it were that bad, you would have no need to post.

P.S. There's no way that f4 is anywhere near as bad as a3/a4, h3/h4, f3, etc.  It's about the same as b3/b4, c3, or g3/g4.

I don't think any first move can be refuted, not even the ugly step-child of the Bird opening, 1.f3.  

I think b3 and g3 are better than the Bird, personally, but the Bird is clearly better than b4, c3, and g4.

Marshall also played the Wing Gambit.  It's a fun opening but 3...d5! can be a challenge for white. 

The Bird again doesn't lose by force for white, just gives black easy equality.  It's the worst non A00 opening and even some of those are better, though the Grob, f3, reversed Polish, h3,h4,and a4 certainly are worse, and I'm on the fence about 1.a3. 

It weakens the Kingside, doesn't help develop a piece, but does grab some central space.  The Nimzo-Larsen on the other hand helps develop a piece and aims to indirectly control the center with piece pressure and strike with flank attacks. 

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watching one of our younger players at my club play f4 opening was very entertaining he revelledin the frome gambit this caused a lively analysis session with no less than 15 players offering views general consensus after much debate swung us in favour of the kings indian v f4 

Saying that Bird's opening can be refuted because of a few dirty mating ploys from a gambit is like saying that QGA can be refuted because of the dirty ploy to play Qf3 if black tries to hold onto the pawn too long.  Yes, it can happen, but they're already playing off of main theory anyways, so it's their fault, not the opening's.  

I'm trying to change my opening repertoire to include 1. f4, both because it's irrefutable and because it's not too terribly common, so if I ever get back to club play it should be a valuable tool.  I'm making sure that I have my From gambit defenses ready to go.   

myself am not refuting just offering black an easy playable option when facing f4 that has less to do with books and more to do with playability whilst avoiding alot of whites ideas in birds opening

ie no stonewall to face no open diagonals to exploit equality in pawn centre good developmnt and paramount good king safety