Welcome to my Ruffling the Birds Opening Page!!

The Bird's Opening is an opening that I have used on occasion to surprise opponents who were expecting something normal like 1.e4 or 1.d4. Although in general it has worked out well, ultimately I don't believe in the Bird's as a reliable opening with which to use against tough competition. Below are ideas which I believe would ruffle any Bird's Opening's fans, myself included.

1.f4 d5
Choices are:
2.b3
2.Nf3
2.g3
2.e3
2.d3
2.c4
2.d4
Anything else seems a waste of time or ridiculous.








2.b3 Bg4

Molyneux,John -Walker,David 1993 Dundee 1. f4 d5 2. b3 Bg4 3. h3 Bh5 4. g4 Bg6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bb2 h5 7. g5 Nc6 8. Nh4 Be4 9. Rg1 Bc5 10. e3 d4 11. d3 dxe3 12. Be2 Qd6 13. Rf1 Bg6 14. Nxg6 fxg6 15. c3 e5 16. b4 Bb6 17. b5 Na5 18. Qa4 O-O-O 19. Ba3 Qd7 20. Bb4 Nc4 21. Rf3 e4 22. dxe4 Nd2 23. Nxd2 exd2+ 24. Kf1 Qe6 25. Qc2 Ne7 26. Rd1 Rhe8 27. Rd3 Nd5 28. R1xd2 Qxe4 29. Rf3 Qxf3+ 30. Bxf3 Ne3+

2.Nf3 Bg4

[2 ... Bg4 3 e3 Nd7 4 d4 e6 5 Be2 Bf3 6 Bf3 Qh4 7 g3 Qf6 8 c4 c6 9 Nc3 g6 10 e4 de4 11 Ne4 Qg7 12 0-0 Ngf6 13 Nc3 h5 14 d5 cd5 15 cd5 Bc5 16 Kg2 0-0-0 17 Qb3 ed5 18 Nd5 Nb6 19 Nb6 Bb6 20 Be3 Rd6 21 Rfd1 Re6 22 Rac1 Kb8, 1-0 in 28, KRH - Dan Perry, APCT 83R5 Jan83-Jan84]

2.g3

2.e3 g6

2.d3

2.c4

Bird Opening - Sturm Gambit A03

1.f4 d5; 2.c4.

This is a radical plan for White, offering a pawn to get access to the e4 square. The problem is that White's d-pawn becomes backward as a result. 2...dxc4.

 2... Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nxf4 5. d4 Ng6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bc4 e5 8. O-O exd4 9. Bxf7+ was Sturm-Martin, 1951. Such gambits should not be declined. But in Sturm's games I could find no case where Black accepted!

 3.Na3.

 3.Qa4+ Nc6; 4.Nf3 Nf6; 5.Nc3 is a more promising way of playing the opening. There is no rush to recover the pawn. Still, Black is better.

 3...e5; 4.e4 Bxa3; 5.Qa4+ Nc6; 6.Qxa3 Qd4 Black already has a clear advantage, Sanchez - Sarmiento, Las Palmas Open 1995.

Sources: