1. f4 d5
2. Nf3 Bg4
<If black plays the other 'recipe order' with ...2 Nf6 3. e3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 Nbd7 we have a transposition to the main game, but that black cannot gambit the d-pawn with e5, since he has played Nf6 only earlier> 3. e3 Nd7
4. h3 here Taylor recomends <to hit back immediately or you'll be overwhelmed.> Bxf3 5. Qxf3 Ngf6 Here Taylor says that this may already be a mistake and that black should play e5 and gambit the d-pawn in an unclear sacrifice, he goes on to says that white does not have to take the proferrd pawn and can instead calmly develop. Danielson however says that he does not trust this pawn sacrifice as sound for black, so with the best current Bird player saying untrustworthy and the second best saying unclear, it's probably not all that sound. 6. g4 the bayonet! <All i can say for definite is that black must fight back quickly or the pawns and bishops will overwhelm him. If black succeeds in breaking up the pawns, some weaknesses might be left behind which the knights could exploit> ...6 e6 Taylor here reccomends the gambit with e5 again this time of the b-pawn with ...6 e5 7. g5 e4 8. Qe2 (best) Ng8 and Qb5 winning a pawn. Danielsen says that there is a good response other than Qb5 but it slips my mind right now, i also beleive that this line is very good for white. I spent an entire afternoon playing games from this position against a former FM and a 2000 (both substantially stronger than me i beleive) and i won 4 drew 1 with my opponents coming to the conclusion that white stands very well. Now back to the game...

7. d3! (simply planning e4 with a comfortable plus and space advantage) 7...Bb4+ (i would give this a ?! as the bishop goes to d6 anyway but with a lost tempo) Taylor also says Bd6 was more logical but doesn't give the move a ?! or ? or anything. 8. c3 Bd6 9. e4 dxe4
10. dxe4 e5 <This invites the pawns to roll forward but in the case of ...10 Ng8!? 11. g5 (11. Be3 is also good) ...11 c6 12 Nd2 intending Nc4 white drives black with advantage> 11. g5 Ng8 12. f5 h6 <Runnng to the queenside is black's only hope, s preferable is ...12 Qe7 13. Qh5 0-0-0 14. Bc4 f6 15. h4 and white is clearly better though black survives> I would also like to add how uncommon it is for a GM vs. Gm game to be described as "black's only hope" as early as move 12, lol. 13. h4 (according to Danielsen his next move played here would have been more accurate, although Taylor doesn't mind the move) ...13 Be7 <Again ...13 Qe7 is preferable. I imagine that black missed white's next move. With nothing but the queen developed one hardly expects that peice to move again - yet it does, and with devestating effect.> I would like to add before white's next move that here Danielsen has made 8 straight pawn movs, and only developed his queen, which makes his next move even more incredible IMHO. 14. Qh5!! <Immobilizing black's entire position with a key pin of the h6 pawn (f7 is monitored too.) White is practically winning in definace of every beginner's book that say develop your minor peices and not your queen> One of my favorite moves. ...14 Nb6 directed against the deadly Bc4 15. Be3 <the cramping 15. g6 f6 16. Be3 is also very strong> ...15 Qd6 16. Na3 c6 <Black's problem is that he can't flee with 0-0-0 because the f-pawn hangs while ...16 g6 17. Qf3 hxg5 18. hxg5 Rxh1 19. Qxh1 gxf5 (...19 0-0-0 loses to 20. Nb5 as ...20 Qc6 loses the queen to the fork on a7, while ...20 Qd7 allows 21. fxg6! , threatening a fatal pin) 20. Rd1 Qe6 21. exf5 opens up for white's attack> 17. Nc4 Nxc4 18. Bxc4 0-0-0 <black runs with his king. ...18 g6 19. Qf3 is just as bad as the ...16 g6 variation above. 19. Rh2! Beautiful! <Another unorthodox but extrmeley strong move. White prepares Rd2, nipping in the bud any counterplay. Black's kingside is destroyed in any case, so there is no need to capture material immediately.> ...19 Qc7 <Alternatives are no better: ...19 g6 20. Qg4 with too many threats, or ...19 f6 20. Be6+ Kb8 21. Rd2 Qc7 22. O-0-0 and black is wrapped up tight> 20. Bxf7 hxg5 <Desperation, which is elegantly refuted by Danielsen> 21. Qxh8 Nh6 22. Qxg7 Ng4 23. f6! 1-0 black resigns! This has got to be one of the most complete GM vs. Gm crushses of all time and a great game by Danielsen!

This is similar to the English Opening, 1. c4. Can you as black force white into normal queen-pawn openings? No. All you can do is get positions where d4 is the best move from white, and then attempt to punish him if he plays d3 instead.

Themofro: <Ziggy> If you answer with ...1 c5 then if white plays 2 e4 you can transpose to the grand-prix sicilian. Although most Bird's players will belay that to play Nf3, etc. often the Leningrad, THEN e4. As for the Pirc, i wouldn't reccomend it, you can but your would almost always have to play against the Pirc-Austrian Attack, in which you really have to know what you're doing to be comfortable playing it as black. The KID? Well black normally fainchetto's q-side anyway, and often times tries to get in e5, but in all actuality, white is a lot more KIDish, and can often times transpose into a good KID with reversed colors. All in all though, there really aren't any forced lines, and definately not a refutation. Also though, if your a sharp tactical player, you might want to try out the From, although it's probably not 100% sound, and sometimes white will just decline it. I often play against the Bird's, cause one of my friends also plays it, i usually persue a d5+c5+b6 pawn setup (this is only against the leningrad) and try to take it straight into an endgame (not really to be reccomended as white usually has a advantage endgame (suicide pretty much against equal, non-forcing, patient, player), just that i can almost always outplay my friend at the endgame. main reason why he switched to the English is because his endgame is bad and he won't improve it.)

If i was playing it against someone of equal endgame strenght though, i'd definately fanchetto k-side, probably pursue d5+c5. and basically wait to see what setup he does, if leningrad, main line polar bear (like Danielsen, he calls the system the polar bear system, lol. Advantage for white, yes, but black has his options), against classical, actively play for either complications or endgame (which i can hopefully draw. The classical is tough, well ny impossible to stop, and almost always will give white at least a small plus), against stonewall, attack with c5 immediately, and c4 usually gaining space on the q-side (usually white will gain space on k-side, and it will be a tough battle over which is superior). Against the Bird, the best you can really hope for if your opponent knows his stuff, is slight inferiority in the middlegame (usually, athough both sides definately have thier play), however in certain systems (most notably the leningrad, ans sometimes classical) you are down a lot in the endgame, so...

1 gives white too much space,
2 takes away time better spent on development, or claiming space on the q-side 3 and gives black a usually permenant space dis-advantage, the last thing you want in a stonewall position.

Seems Hannibal has put into his post that I claimed I agreed with exactly what I added to my agreement (follow that?). It's all good, just don't try to follow this chronologically...

A bit off topic, but I'm just bad at making close/useless decisions in life in general. What should I eat tonight, which color shirt, which synonym to use here, which puppy to sacrifice to the chess gods, etc. So the key to beating me in blitz in to achieve an equal, balanced position with no clear plans for either side. I will almost certainly run out of time attempting to figure out what to do unless I choose the right puppy that morning.

...1 d6, is logical in a way, but practically not good, gives white too much space, and gambles black entire hope on a pawn break that has numerous ways of having it's effectiveness chopped off (the large majority of it's effectiveness anyway), or white can simple play e4 in turn with a large space advantage and pleasent game. in the Dutch it's different because black is on the defense and white has the iniative, in the Bird's it's the opposite, and often by focusing so much on e5, black will neglect his development, at which point the worse thing to do is a central pawn break when you are underdeveloped. I firmly beleive that the best line for black in the Bird is ...1 d5 ...2 g6, with a k-side fianchetto and c5 eventually, going into a dutch type position, where white fights on the k-side, black on the q-side, and both for the center.

For those who are interested, i have recently posted IM Timothy Taylor's analysis of the classic game, Lasker vs J Bauer, 1889 on that page. It is an excellent game, with a magical double bishop sacrifice by Lasker (many claim the original double bishop sac), it is also a Bird's Opening game so i thought some here might be interested.

ganstaman: In another forum, <Themofro> said this (with editing done by me):

<1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 bxd6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 Ng4 6. Qd3 c5 7. Qe4+ Be6 and now white has several choices, 8. d5 is the best for those seeking a more controlled position, Qxb7 is also possible, in both lines black still has to demonstrate compensation for the pawn, but the funnest, wackiest, craziest and as such the one we'll continue to examine line is 8. Ng5, and now black simple has to go for broke with 8...Bxh2, everything else loses (8...Nf6 is met by 9. Nxe6! liquifying and leaving black with no compensation for the pawn).>

So that at the end there: 8. Ng5 Nf6 9. Nxe6. I imagine play must continue with 9...Nxe4 10. Nxd8 Kxd8 leading to:

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with white to play. This is good for white? How should he continue?

Themofro: <Ganstaman> According to IM Timothy Taylor, leading expert of the Full Mestrel in the world:

<8. Ng5 Nf6? 9. Nxe6 Nxe4> (even worse is 9...Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Nxe4 [10...Qxd2 11. Nxd2 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 finishes black] 11. Nxg7+ Kf8 12. Bxa5 and white is up two good pawns)<10. Nxd8 Kxd8 11. Nxd2 Nxd2 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bxd2 and black has nothing for the pawn.> This is the final position of his mainline:

click for larger view

Main line is highlighted, hope this answers the question.

BTW, do you think i should repost what i posted in the other forum here, or leave it there and in my chess-videos.com forum?

I think others would find those posts helpful and will much more likely see them here than anywhere else. I've already saved them to my own computer so I never have to search for them in case I need them. But hey, it's free information from you, so you can feel free to put it wherever you'd like.

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