Weird Knight sac opening

I've run into this a few times lately:

Opponent brings their knight out straight away and sacrifices it taking my F pawn. I take knight with King and restructure around that.

The first instance was in blitz against an 1800+ who had fallen to 1550. There was some smack talk going on in the chat. I won the first game easily, but then he completely dominated the next with that same opening. I thought he had just made the move and then turned on an engine to annoy me and bait me into multiple rematches. Still not sure, but looking at his stats, he definitely out ranked me by quite a bit so now I am wondering.

Now I see that opening in bullet, where the opponent uses the opening over and over. I won 9x in a row against it, but it made me think the person using it thought it as a legitimate opening.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I agree that it sounds like the Cochrane Gambit. I was like you at first: I didn't know the name of it, I'd see players play that a lot, they'd always lose, and each time I'd see it I'd think, "There's that darned thing again."

The Cochrane Gambit is supposedly sound and some people recommend it as a way of shaking up draw-oriented Petrov players since such a gambit turns the game tactical. However, as you've probably already discovered, although it typically forces Black's king up to e6 instead of allowing him to castle, Black just uses his free moves to castle by hand--...Be7, sometimes ...Kg8, sometimes ...Rhe8, etc.--and Black blocks the common bishop check Bc4+ with either ...d5 or ...Be6, and often emerges a pawn ahead in the endgame.

I guarantee that those knight sacrifices are unsound. He's not even getting two pawns for the knight, only one pawn, unlike the Cochrane Gambit. Also, he's moving the knight three times just so he can get behind on material! Your problem is obvious, however: you're making your queen the first developed piece, instead of the sensible and standard knight and bishop development, and then sometimes moving the queen around multiple times in the opening. 

Thanks for your comments!

Yeah, looking at it, not sure why I'm bringing the queen out like that, I usually wouldn't but actually didn't know that was a common rule of thumb. I think I was just confused by the weird opening. 

The only thing I know about chess is to try to control the middle and keep castling as an option. Thanks for the tip. 

That's why he's playing it and partly why he's getting away with it: it's a blitz game so he wants to push it into complications and tactics as soon as possible, and to confuse you.

As for early queen development, here's a list of opening principles that is more detailed than most such lists, since the quote is from a book about "unorthodox" openings, so the author defines "orthodox" in the beginning.

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(p. 26)

      SCALES OF UNORTHODOXY

   As we have seen in the preceding discussion, the term unorthodox

opening has not been defined clearly. In compiling this book, I tried to

come up with some way to quantify this somewhat subjective question,

and decided to apply a scale of penalty points which are applied when-

ever an opening violates conventional wisdom. This leaves open the

question of how good that wisdom is, and perhaps it is all the better,

then, to provide a large set of principles to choose from.

   In the following discussion, I'll examine a few old chestnuts of con-

ventional wisdom, discuss the consequences of betraying the principles,

and suggest a penalty that should be assigned for the violation.

   You will see that the most orthodox of openings, the Closed Varia-

tion of the Spanish Game (1.e4 e5; 2.Nf3 Nc6; 3.Bb5 a6; 4.Ba4 Nf6;

5.O-O Be7; 6.Re1 b5; 7.Bb3 d6; 8.c3 O-O; 9.h3) and Queen's Gambit De-

clined (1.d4 d4; 2.c4 e6; 3.Nc3 Nf6; 4.Bg5 Be7; 5.e3 O-O; 6.Nf3 h6; 7.Bh4

b6; 8.Be2 O-O) hold to these principles, and will be referred for the

most egregious violators imprisoned in the collection of unorthodox

openings in our book.

OCCUPY THE CENTER WITH AT LEAST

ONE PAWN DURING THE FIRST TWO MOVES

   Standard openings place a pawn in the center as soon as it is safe to

do so, which is at the first turn for White, and usually the first or

second move for Black, who can choose to first provide support for the

move with ...c6, ...d6, or ...e6.

   A good example of an outright rejection of this principle is seen in

the Creepy Crawly Opening for White and the Mongredien Defense

for Black. In each case the opponent is invited to take over the center

free of charge.

MATERIAL EQUALITY IS PRESERVED

   Ordinarily, neither side sacrifices material early in the game. The

exceptions are gambits, where the side sacrificing material receives

definite compensation, usually in the form of rapid development, con-

control of space, and a safer king. Most gambits involve pawns, as these are

the most expendable soldiers in the army. Nevertheless, they should

not be sacrificed recklessly, as in the case in most of the unorthodox

gambits in this book.

(p. 27)

RIM PAWNS ARE NOT ADVANCED PAST THE THIRD RANK

   Moving pawns to h4 or a4 (...h5, ...a5) is only acceptable in stan-

dard openings in response to a specific tactical situation, and this is

rarely the case in the first four moves of the game. I cannot agree with

Harding, who claims that 1.h4 and 1a4 [sic] do not lead to inferior posi-

tions for White if followed up correctly. The weakness at g4 or b4 can

be exploited by Blac, who can use them for minor pieces which can-

not be easily dispatched, for example if White plays Nc3 and Black plays

...Bb4.

ROOK PAWNS ARE ONLY ADVANCED TO THE THIRD RANK

WHEN ATTACKING AN ENEMY PIECE

   Advancing a rook pawn one square is usually reserved for an attack

on an enemy piece, where it can be especially effective in breaking

pins.

   Even when there is not enemy invader to be confronted, the move

can have a prophylactic value in preventing such pins. Yet there is a

penalty to be paid, in that the pawn structure is significantly damaged

by the advance.

KING'S KNIGHT PAWNS ARE NOT ADVANCED

TO THE FOURTH RANK

   When a knight pawn leaves its home square it creates weaknesses

immediately. If it moves up just one square, and is replace by a bishop

in the fianchetto formation, the damage is minor, because the bishop

covers the new weaknesses to the left and right of the advanced knight

pawn. If, however, the pawn advances two squares, the adjacent prop-

erty cannot be so easily controlled, and the weakness can quickly be-

come epidemic, growing in an attempt to support the advanced pawn.

   The problem is particularly important on the kingside, as it reduces

the viability of kingside castling, and in so doing also advises the oppo-

nent about the future location of the king.

NO PAWNS ADVANCE BEYOND THE FIFTH RANK WITHOUT

CAPTURING AT LEAST TWO UNITS OF ENEMY FORCE

   Although invading pawns can annoy the enemy force at close range,

in the opening, most advances are more like mosquito bites which can

inflict no serious damage. To get to the sixth rank, a pawn must make

at least three moves, and i this takes place within the first six moves,

then there are at most three moves left over for supporting forces.

Without such support, the pawn cannot inflict serious damage.

(p. 28)

THE F-PAWN REMAINS IN PLACE

   The second square of the f-file is a particularly vulnerable point. It

is guarded only by the king. If the f-pawn advances, the pawn itself is

less vulnerable but a serious gap appears in the kingside pawn struc-

ture. The diagonals near the king are compromised, and the effects

can be devastatingly rapid.

TWO MINOR PIECES DEVELOPED

   In the normal scheme of development, each player develops two

pawns and two minor pieces in the first four moves.

NO PIECE SHOULD MOVE TWICE EXCEPT TO CAPTURE

AN ENEMY PIECE

   This is a variant on the old chess maxim that no pieces should move

twice in the opening. The exception regarding capture is important

because when you capture an enemy piece, the reply is usually a forced

recapture.

BISHOPS SHOULD NOT ADVANCE BEYOND THE FOURTH

RANK EXCEPT TO GIVE CHECK OR ATTACK AN ENEMY PIECE

   Bishops should not swing in the air! If they advance to the fifth

rank without a clear mission, then an advance of an enemy pawn will

force them to beat a hasty retreat. Now you might well wonder what

sort of person would send a bishop on such a foolish errand, but in

this book you will find numerous examples.

THE ROOKS DO NOT MOVE EXCEPT TO CASTLE, OCCUPY A

CENTRAL FILE, OR ATTACK AN ENEMY PIECE

   Deciding where rooks should eventually be placed is one of the

trickest questions. Rooks belong on open files, but who can predict

while files will be opened early in the game. For this reason, rooks are

generally left in place except when it is time to castle.

   Keep in mind that if a rook moves before the king is castled, then

there is one less option for the king, since castling on the side of the

board where a rook has departed its home is illegal. After the

king, queen, and all minor pieces have been developed, the rooks will

have a great deal of freedom in choosing their home for the early

middlegame.

(p. 29)

THE QUEEN SHOULD REMAIN ON THE FIRST THREE

RANKS EARLY IN THE GAME

   It used to be suggested that the lady remain at home throughout

the early part of the opening, but in these more liberated times her

majesty has earned the right to choose from a greater variety of homes.

It is even acceptable to go all the way to the fourth rank, but this is

usually justified only when the queen has to capture a pawn at c4 (c5),

getting there via a pivot on the a-file. Nevertheless, such adventures

are still considered too unladylike for most circumstances. The queen

may be the most powerful piece on the board, but lack of patience can

get here [sic] into trouble. In the middle of the action she can find her

appetite whetted by pawns which turn out to be all too poisoned!

CASTLE KINGSIDE

   Getting the king to safety before the real battle begins is obviously

wise. Usually this is not a particular problem for White, who only castles

on the other side of the board if Black is also clearly going to do so, or

if opposite wing pawn storms are planned. A pawnstorm is much more

effective on the opposite side of the board from the king's castled home,

because in any pawn storm things tend to fly about and there is little protec-

tion from the elements. Black rarely castles queenside unless the

kingside pawn structure has already been compromised, or if White

has castled queenside.

Schiller, Eric. 1998. Unorthodox Chess Openings. Cooper Station, New York: Cardoza Publishing.

The knight sacs are absurd. He's giving away material for nothing. All you have to do is take the knight (and probably send him a "thanks" along the way) and then develop your pieces. Accept any exchange he offers, and try to exchange as many pieces as you can - but develop all your pieces as quickly as possible as your priority. Proof of development is always when your rooks can see each other. Enjoy your multiple future wins against this nonsense!