Sokolsky Opening (The Orangutan)

I've been wondering if anyone is using this opening at all. 

It was one of the first I learned as a kid and it stayed with me a bit, in training mostly. 

It's fun for the surprise effect.   

The beauty of 1.b4 is that it is both ambitious and unique.  Sometimes you get tired of playing Ruy Lopezs or Queen’s Gambits and want something completely different.  1.b4 does that.  We get an unorthodox position where White may hold his centre pawns back and his dark-squared Bishop becomes the most important piece on the game, a relative rarity.  In many openings the light-square Bishop is very important (think Ruy Lopez, Catalan, King’s Indian Attack, Italian Game, etc) but the dark-square Bishop doesn’t do much more than the pin the Knight on f6.  Already we have an interesting dynamic.

Personally, I’ve always preferred playing 1.b4 e5 2.a3, ignoring the mainline of Bxe5 Bxb4.  I would generally continue with e3, Nf3 and potentially c4, depending how Black responds.  One problem with 1.b4 is that Black can do virtually any set-up he wishes, not to mention Black’s clear superiority in the centre.  On the other hand, there’s virtually no theory and the better player will win, which is pretty good as far as openings go.

I must say that I myself haven't played it in years, but I recently found my way back to it. 

It's a opening for training ground I think, not so surprising, but still refreshing  

I've played it about 100 to 200 times as White in over the board tournament competition.  Went thru about a 2 1/2 year stint in the late 2000s, and scored 3 1/2 - 1/2 with it as White in the 2008 US Open in Dallas, Texas, drawing a master and beating a high expert (2173) and 2 A-Players with it.

Used it again in the 2014 US Open in Orlando.  Lost to a master in round 2, beat an expert in round 4, and drew two players over 2300 in rounds 6 and 8 with it.

Also crushed and drew many masters in North Carolina tournaments with it, including taking down a local rival of mine that is 2300 in the 2013 or 2014 NC Open (not sure which year it was) in the third round, and in that same event, Virginia Loud Mouth Rusty Potter could do nothing more than flail around with his open King after missing what he called a "zig-zag" tactic and was able to "hold on" on the weaker side of a draw.

I also took down a 2250ish player in Reno with it in 2008!

The Sokolsky (or Polish or Orangutan) is no joking matter.  If Black knows all the theory, he can achieve equality without a sweat, but it is not busted, and below the IM or GM level, it will catch a lot of players off guard, including 2300+ players as shown above.

My opinion is that White's position might be even worse after the move 1.b4 than before it.

Thank you! I think one always remembers the openings you start with, it's why I keep coming back to it.