Unorthodox opening

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Jaguarphd

White to play

It was a 5 minute tournament.

He played 1. f3 Then I play the normal d5 move. He then played and even more shocking 2. kf2

I would mark both of them with question marks. The guy is a rated 1800+ member. This was an open, unrated tournament. His opening through me off.  I lost.

How would I handle this one?

m74m2008

I would probably play 2...e5, then perhaps follow with Bc5+ or Qh4+

An interesting opening, that...The Game Explorer suggests 2...e5, with 3...Bc5 or 3...Nf6 to follow. I'd think that if you just played solid developing moves, you would probably be alright, even if the opening was a bit bizarre.

CarlMI

Simply, classically, grab the center, develop your pieces, don't look for an instant win or huge advantage.  d5, e5, Nf6, Bc5, etc. The guy probably plays this all the time for blitz with the idea of disconcerting his opponent, taking him out of the book and comfort zone.  It works.  How much time did you lose just from "What the @#$ is that?  OMG What do I do now?"

Jaguarphd
The instant Bc5+ losses to d4. Blocking the attacking, controlling the center, and developing at the same time. I played that.
IrishChessWizard

Just play normally... that is the best advice. But you should also be aware of tactics which may occur so take your time. By the way, don't think that because your opponent has played 1.f3 that you should be able to punish him for it. All this move does is show that White does not want to play opening theory and try to seek an advantage from the opening. Pretty much anything you play should equalize pretty quickly, and as Black, you should be happy with that from the opening.

If you push too much for an advantage or even a mate! it may, and probably will backfire on you. Then again, if you see chances for a win, don't sit back. Take them chances if they are plausible.

CarlMI

So who said anything about instant?  Play classically, develop, dominate.  If you've done this then Bc5 does work. f3 d5 kf2 e5 g3 Nc6 Bg2 Bc5+.  I really have no idea of what White's plan was/is, maybe e3, Bb5, Ne2, d4 targeting e5.  If you want some patterns look at the f3 lines in the Indian defenses, possibly some colle lines.

Skipp

I played a game earlier this week with Fritz, and it played Kf2 on move 5. I didn't understand the purpose of the move either. I have included the game if anyone would like to look and see why it might have been made. Remember, I just a beginner, trying to move up to the exalted level of patzer.

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vwang

wow Skipp you owned Fritz.

JG27Pyth

@skipp -- You were playing some ultra handicap level, certainly -- Fritz at full strength is 2700+ and yet you won...so I'm pretty sure it was handicapped heavily. Kf2 was a "random" move brought on by the handicap. Kf2 is not book of anything. It's just Fritz being weird and giving you concessions you haven't really earned.

Skipp
JG27Pyth wrote:

@skipp -- You were playing some ultra handicap level, certainly -- Fritz at full strength is 2700+ and yet you won...so I'm pretty sure it was handicapped heavily. Kf2 was a "random" move brought on by the handicap. Kf2 is not book of anything. It's just Fritz being weird and giving you concessions you haven't really earned.


I was playing at the "friend" level and it showed a 100 pt level [whatever that means].

Skip

Skipp
SouthernMan wrote:

Isn't this the bongcloud opening?


What in the world is the 'bongcloud' opening? I haven't started studying any particular openings, just the basic principles.

Skip

ivandh

Skipp, the bongcloud is named after one Lenny Bongcloud, and is particular to chess.com.

Traditional bongcloud is 1. e3 ... 2. Ke2, but this follows the same developing principles (aiming to develop the king to the 8th rank). It is a sharp line that is not for those who are obsessed with the whole "winning" idea.

I would disagree with the claims above, of trying to dominate the center, especially as black. When I am confronted with an unusual opening and can't see an obvious counter, I give my opponent a little room in my development, with the idea that the opening must be unusual for a reason, and at some point weaknesses will emerge. On the other hand, outplaying an 1800+ may not be realistic depending on your own skills, whatever opening is used.