Crazyhouse Strategy & Advice

I almost never played Crazyhouse (And I still never played a game of Bughouse), but I started playing it more recently. As someone new to this variant, does anyone have any strategies or advice? I ask especially since chess.com doesn't support "analysis" for Crazyhouse. It still seems like a fun variant to mess around with though.

p.s. I am roughly 1800 USCF, but completely new to Crazyhouse - so right now I am only around 1400 for this new variant. My recent games were more experimenting than anything else. Any strategies, advice, or even well known motifs suggested would be greatly appreciated

Well a tip I learned the hard way, watch out for sacs on f7

yes and if u get pawns just surround ur kingside

Actually, I've been careful with exchanges. "Even" trades also give your opponent the same material in reserve too.

Trading happens in two steps, 1) take a piece, 2) get your piece taken. If you are the one taking the first piece, it's ok, but don't be the one offering the trade or taking the second piece.

Some tips:

1. If the enemy is casted, then try to trade for knights.

2. If the enemy isn't castled, try to trade for pawns and bishops.

3. Look for places to fork the king, as pins aren't as powerful in this variant.

4. Try to save pieces till you know you can force checkmate.

5. Do not trade queens ever (your opponent most likely can checkmate you right after).

6. Do not trade rooks in the endgame. 

7. Don't be afraid to sac a piece and check your opponent so you open up a file to check them again. Checking is your best move when your opponent is up on pieces.

Also I really want to get the two bughouse achievements, so if there are 3 other people on right now.. that would be great lol

Was playing crazyhouse for little time a year ago or so. If I remember well, pawns seemed really more strong than in chess. Generally speaking a gap on the 7th rank, and place there a taken pawn that is supported, seemed a strong common pattern

Thanks for the tips @Jomity. 

Also isn't Bughouse like Crzyhouse but with teams? (I never played Bughouse) If you want the achievement, I could play Bughouse with you.

yeah we could team up, but we would still need two other players

Yes, I've noticed Pawns being really powerful too. Dropping them on the 7th just feels too overpowered, but rules are rules

I'd love to play if you want to try anything out : ) I'm 1200 at it on another site, but I don't know many patterns, except things like try not to leave spaces around your king

oh i love bughouse also but am not good enough at chess to be any good yet, but it's so much fun in real life!

probably i started playing chess too late to get quick which could be frustrating for people, am still super fast at quiz shows so i guess you can't have everything in this world.

i did get a checkmate in a five minute game once in real life, but it seemed a bit lucky.

watch out for sacrifices not all of them are nice

If you can make a blank spot at the end you can keep placing pawns and get a ton of Queens.

1 and 2: It really depends on the position.
3: Pins are very powerful in Crazyhouse.
4: If you wait and don't place your pieces on the board, you're essentially not developing, and a good player will curbstomp you.
5: Um…ridiculous. There are plenty of good reasons to trade queens. For one, if you can trade Qs with check, and force the opponent's king to move, that can be the beginning of an unstoppable mating attack.
6: What? Since pieces don't ever truly go away, there are no endgames in Crazyhouse.
7: That's sort of correct, though attacking is not usually based on "files". Sacking can be good if it weakens the opponent's king position, and if you have follow-up moves to attack. (That's why Crazyhouse and Bughouse are so much fun!)

So, you got maybe 1/7, or 14.2857%. Not bad, for someone who's apparently never played Crazyhouse on chess.com.

@Kesetokaiba

ive played tons of bughouse otb and the team strategys are usually this

• 1 person trys to trade all the pieces on one board
• the other will sack on f7, expose the king, and summon all the pieces to attack and win

try to foritfy your king with pawns as much as possible, and be careful of knight forks because its hard to see forks and ideas when they can just summon a piece

Nice insights for Bughouse @AngryPuffer Thanks for sharing

For those unaware, Crazyhouse is the same as Bughouse, except without teams (it is one on one like regular chess). This means that there is no "team strategy" in Crazyhouse as there is literally no "team."

What opening is best?

edited moderator AndrewSmith 

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