Sokolsky opening

What do you think about 1.b4 e5 ?

 It's good for White!

Just finished a game with 1 b4 e5  Bb2  f6  e4  Bb4  Bc4  Ne7  Qh5 Ng6 as the opening moves --- it went quite well!

It's an opening I am trying to discover. I only play this opening now when I am playing white. It's interesting.

I play it now and again.

I have avery cool line:

I used to play the polish until someone played 1. b4 d5 2. Bb2 Qd6 where black doesn't really have any problems. However it is a lot of fun against anything else, and many people don't play that defense.

I think 2...Qd6 is an excellent counter to the polish. It builds up a center and doesn't allow the play that white was probably looking for. However, since it's a queen move blocking the dark squared bishop to some extent, it's not very natural for someone facing it for the first time.

I like this opening and imma look more into it

I discovered a lovely line for Black. The most played second move Bb2 is weakened by the following line.

The outflanking variation, not so good as you might think.  I generally just play 2. e3 when I see it, but 2. Bb2 is supposedly fine as well, although I don't know the lines.

i also play the c6 line as black!

In Beating Unusual Chess Openings by Palliser, the main line goes 4.c4 axb4 5.c5! Qc7! or something like that.

I posted a topic in here about 1e4 b5..... I've actually won a few games with it.....

Please explain why is Bb2 is still fine, because when I see this position, white will loose a pawn and white's queenside is weakened. Black can still easily develop it's peaces.

Well, as I said I don't know the line, which is why I play 2. e3 but I looked it up in my database and it runs as follows:

1. b4 c6 2. Bb2 Qb6  3. a3 a5 4. c4 axb4 5. c5 Qc7 6. axb4 Rxa1 7. Bxa1

White retains his pawn.

If 5. ...Qxc5 then axb4 and black loses material due to the simultaneous attack on his rook and queen. 

If you are going to play c6 you'd be better off changing the order of operations with 2. ...a5 as it seems to lead to a good position for black.

IM Richard Palliser wrote about the ...c6 line in his book Beating Unusual Chess Opening, and he digs out a equal, sometimes an equal over plus even. And he refuted the claim of NCO which says that white is slightly better after Bxa1.

I don't really get alot of the strange moves later in the game I posted (hung pieces etc.), but I thought that white played the opening phase well, and maintained an advantage.

Here's Andrew Martin's take on this line

http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_bits_pieces/041001_h_t_,mt_plsh_grb.html

lol.... strange..!

1.b4 c6 2.Bb2 Qb6 3.a3 a5 4.c4 e6

Now if 5.c5 Bxc5 and black wins a pawn due to the mate threat.

What should white do after 4...e6?

5. c5 Bxc5 6. bxc5 Qxb2 7. Nc3 and now look at the black queen's freedom.  She has none.  Black is forced to play a4 or white will play Ra2 and win material. 

White's down a pawn but black's queen is trapped in the corner, if he screws up he might lose it, and white has nice positional compensation. 

Fritz put white ahead at +1.18 when I had it look at your choice.

Konikowski & Soszynski in Theory and Practice of the Sokolsky (pg37) had this to say about 1. ..c6

"It's hard to understand why 1...c6 should be so well thought of, except for the significant fact that some of White's best lines require him to gambit a pawn."