1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Rb1 O-O 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.O-O

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Well, I would also enjoy a Benoni or Benko, but I think White can rather dampen things down with 4.Nc3.

Okay, not really. But seriously, so we don't go throught his every move:

Black is not a person. It is somewhere between forty and eighty people. Generally very smart people. And if our team is any indication, quite a few strange people with warped imaginations and a wicked sense of humor. Never mind Sneaky.

Do you honestly think that *no one* over there thought, "hmmm, what about 1. Nf3?" Do you really think *none* of them have any literature on it? C'mon, think about it.

We're not going to surprise them on the next move. I doubt we will at any point at all during the game, ever, let alone the opening. Someone will have thought of whatever our move is, one move ahead.

If we're going to win this thing, it'll be because one of our more creative thinkers will see something three moves ahead in the middle game. And the best chance of that move being there is if we're looking at a *strong* position. Not an interesting one, or a fun one. A strong one.

If we're bored at move three, we need another hobby. Believe you me, this one will get interesting soon enough.

<dusts off coat>

Okay,

Although 1.Nf3 is obviously not the grob, the thinking could go along mostly the same line of thinking ("Hey, I've never tried 1.Nf3 before...")

That said, I do agree that we need to stop "surprising" them for the sake of surprising them and trying to get a win off that. Why? Because it won't work.

My concern is that when we did 1. Nf3, the whole way it was sold to me was as a way to get to a d4 in an un-orthodox manner to begin with. As it rolled around in my head, I kind of dug it.

So when I come back and we're griping about playing d4 on the *third* move, it kind of worries me.

Believe me, I'll be right there barking to get off the main lines soon. Just not for the sake of doing it, and not so much this early. There's a reason that the main lines are the main lines.

But enough of that. We'll be fine all around. I'm just glad to see the forty or so people are back, regardless of their opinion. Actually, because of it. I hope no one took offense; I was just arguing, nothing personal.

Besides, like I said, I suspect the "d4" types will get us to a stong middle-game, but the "b4" type minds will get us to a winning endgame.

Now that black has committed to the fianchetto and hopefully the KID, we may still be able to play b4 and e4 both- which I think may be fundamentally better than our double fianchetto 'target' if we delay the development of our f1 bishop and get it to say, the unambitious looking but dangerous e3. Hopefully the KID faction of black is in control right now. I'd love to see a line like this- it can only be good for us.