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Uncommon Opening (A00)
1 g4, a3, h3, etc.

Number of games in database: 16025
Years covered: 0 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 37.8%
   Black wins 33.7%
   Draws 28.5%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening  |  Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White Pieces With the Black Pieces
Tomasz Markowski  222 games
Peter D Lalic  167 games
Zvonimir Mestrovic  119 games
Thorsten Michael Haub  36 games
Nona Gaprindashvili  29 games
Bernd Feustel  29 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White Wins Black Wins
B Larsen vs Geller, 1960
Botvinnik vs G Szilagyi, 1966
Anderssen vs Morphy, 1858
Reti vs Alekhine, 1925
B Fleissig vs Schlechter, 1893
Rybka vs Nakamura, 2008
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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 14 OF 16 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-26-08  Nikita Smirnov: Andersen's Opening looks interesting if you want to play black with white.But I feel that it looks a bit silly.And not serious played by white.But I recommend black to play d5 or f5.Maybe even Nf6.Or even c5 looks interesting.But if I where playing black against it I would put up a position like: d6,e5,f5,Nf6,Be7,0-0 and Nc6 with an good position for black.
Aug-03-08  refutor: i have no problem playing 1.g3 with white but i'm always confused about what to play v. 1. ...d5. there are a few options. either i play a reversed-averbakh type with 2.Bg2 3.d3 and maybe even Nh3 like Suttles :) i could play 2.Nf3 and go to a real Reti, or i could play 2.f4 and go to a Bird. i prefer playing the bird with e3 and b3 than fianchettoing, but a reversed Leningrad is not so terrible. since i have no problem playing 1.g3 e5 2.c4 i probably should just play 1.c4 on the first move :) anybody else have thoughts on 1.g3?
Aug-03-08  parisattack: <refutor: i have no problem playing 1.g3 > I played nothing but 1. g3 and 1 ... g6 for years. Curiously I had better success with 1. ...g6 than 1. g3. I think your post makes a point - white has so many options; perhaps too many. I normally wound up with a KIA against 1. ...d5 but was happy with a reverse Pirc (ala Benko-Fischer) or even a reverse Grunfeld. If black ops for ... e5 also you can go for a reverse Robatsch - Hippo or Gurgendize.
Aug-03-08  parisattack: I think the trick for white is not to get too passive or too clever. With all the options it is easy to mix plans...
Aug-03-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <refutor> I tried 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. Nf3 several times after I learned about this game, which is written up in OMGP IV: Larsen vs Geller, 1960

Playing Alekhine's Defense reversed was appealing. Somewhat to my surprise, I've done reasonably well with it and gotten interesting games. This is probably my favorite -- we took turns getting the advantage then giving it up:

Event "Chessgames.com 5th Anniversary Tournament"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2007.12.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "keypusher"]
[Black "azaris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1907"]
[BlackElo "1859"]

1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. Nf3 e4 4. Nd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. d3 Qe7 7. dxe4 dxe4 8. Nc3 f5 9. Nd5 Qe6 10. Bf4 Na6 11. c4 Ne7 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Qd4 O-O 14. Qc3 Ng6 15. Nd4 Qe7 16. Bd2 Bd7 17. O-O f4 18. a3 c5 19. Nc2 Bc6 20. b4 Nc7 21. Bc1 Rad8 22. b5 Bd7 23. Bb2 Bf5 24. Rad1 Rf7 25. Rd2 Rxd2 26. Qxd2 f3 27. exf3 exf3 28. Re1 Qd7 29. Qxd7 Bxd7 30. Bh1 Ne6 31. Re3 Ng5 32. Ne1 Be6 33. h4 Nh3+ 34. Kh2 Nxf2 35. Rxe6 Nxh1 36. Re8+ Nf8 37. Nxf3 Rxf3 38. Kxh1 Rxg3 39. Re7 Rg6 40. Rxb7 h5 41. a4 Rg4 42. a5 bxa5 43. b6 Rxh4+ 44. Kg1 Rg4+ 45. Kf2 Rg6 46. Re7 Rxb6 47. Rxg7+ Kh8 48. Rb7+ Rxb2+ 49. Rxb2 Nd7 50. Rb5 Kg8 51. Rxa5 Kf7 52. Kg3 1/2-1/2

6....f5 for Black looks strong, though.

Aug-04-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <refutor> This game is in the notes to Larsen-Geller:

Larsen vs J H Donner, 1959

Aug-27-08  ravel5184: It's funny, but whenever I make a Chessmaster personality with depth <4 and strength of play 100 with opening book NoBook (or something similar) they always play 1. Nc3.
Aug-27-08  newzild: Keypusher: I think the critical test of a white fianchetto in the reversed Alekhine would be a d5, e5, f5 pawn formation by black

keypusher: <refutor> I tried 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. Nf3 several times after I learned about this game, which is written up in OMGP IV: Larsen vs Geller, 1960

Playing Alekhine's Defense reversed was appealing. Somewhat to my surprise, I've done reasonably well with it and gotten interesting games. This is probably my favorite -- we took turns getting the advantage then giving it up:

Aug-29-08  WarmasterKron: I've been playing around with the 2.Na3 Sicilian recently, so I thought I'd give 1.Na3 a go. Plenty of messy positions in the opening - lovely!

Kron (1451) - NN (1293)

1. Na3 e5 2. b3 d5 3. c4 Nf6 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 e4 6. Ne5 Nxe5 7. dxe5 Nd7 8. Qxd5 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxa3 10. b4 Bb2 11. Rd1 c6 12. Qxe4 Bxe5 13. f4 Nf6 14. Qxe5+ Qe7 15. Qxe7+ Kxe7 16. Bc3 Nh5 17. e3 Re8 18. Be2 Nf6 19. O-O Bg4?


click for larger view

20. Bxf6+! 1-0

Sep-15-08  Cactus: M Basman vs D Gurevich, 1994 Possibly the coolest name for an opening.
Nov-12-08  thebribri8: Why does this page have "1. b3" listed as an uncommon opening? 1. b3 is A01.
Nov-12-08  apple pi: I think they meant b4
Jan-19-09  thebribri8: Someone should fix that.
Jan-20-09  WhiteRook48: why is 1. Nc3 g6 2. e4 Bg7 an uncommon opening?
Jan-22-09  WhiteRook48: why is 1. g4 uncommon? 1. g4 is the Grob Opening.
Feb-17-09  WhiteRook48: I'm fond of 1. a3
Feb-23-09  blacksburg: omg, 1.Na3, 94% wins.
Feb-24-09  chessman95: <blacksburg> That's only in 16 games, and if they were played at all at high levels most of those games were probably played against much weaker opponents. Does anyone know what a knight on a3 can do? I've played very few openings with knights on their side posts, so I wouldn't know how to play against it. An interesting reply to 1.Na3 would be 1...Na6, which gives an equal position and cancles out any tactics that a knight has on a3.
Feb-24-09  MaxxLange: 1 e4 g6

and 2 Nc3 is not common compared to 2 d4 or 2 Nf3

any more questions?

Mar-17-09  whiteshark: Opening of the Day:

<Orangutan Opening (Polish Opening) <1. b4>>

aka

<Sokolsky Opening>,

as Alexey Sokolsky wrote a monograph on it.

--> http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

Mar-17-09  parisattack: As in the English white often gets a central pawn majority in the Polish. Curiously, it almost never gets mobilized...
Mar-18-09  swarmoflocusts: <WarmasterKron>

I must say, that game may be an unwise example of the opening 1.Na3. After 4.d4, right away black can play 4...Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxa3 and you're dead lost. He missed it, but so did you, and black can still play 5...Bb4+, winning again. (If 6.Ne2, then 6...Ne4 wins.) Black missed the win again, and again so did you, with 6.Ne5. Again, in this position, 6...Bb4+ wins completely. However, black gives you a way out after 6...Nxe5, after which Bb4+ is far less winning than it was before. Black, however, misses the tactic yet again, and you kindly give him one more opportunity. At last, on his 8th move, black plays Bb4+.

However, your opponent then committed a series of blunders that allowed you to win, for which you should be grateful. I am commenting on your game not because I am rude and enjoy pointing out the mistakes of others but because I wanted to warn you against showing this game as an example of 1.Na3, as it is in fact a perfect example of what can go wrong tactically in this opening.

Apr-01-09  Alphastar: I have played both the white and the black side of the Hammerschlag, and I must say it should not be underestimated.

Players who become victim of the Hammerschlag often think that with the early king sortie, they should try to attack the king as soon as possible. Only, the a7-g1 and h4-e1 diagonal are not as weak as supposed, with the king giving pawns on e3 and g3 extra cover, besides which it is quite hard to get a knight in since the f3-pawn crucially covers e4 and g4. All in all, the attack on the white king is an illusion.

My advice is to play 1. .. c6 and 2. ..Qc7 so as to confuse the Hammerschlag player, who cannot grasp this mysterious set-up, so you will be at a psychological advantage, besides which you will actually retain the possibility of castling.

Apr-01-09  chessman95: <My advice is to play 1. .. c6 and 2. ..Qc7 so as to confuse the Hammerschlag player, who cannot grasp this mysterious set-up>

I don't think anyone who plays the Hammerschlag is going to have trouble 'grasping' strange peice set-ups.

Apr-01-09  chessman95: I've got an interesting gambit that I think was posted by <blacksburg> on another page (it's also in my bio): 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Rg8?! 3.exf6 gxf6


click for larger view

and now you could do the same thing on the other side: 4.d4 Nc6 5.d5 Rb8?! 6.dxc6 bxc6


click for larger view

and a possible continuation: 7.Nf3 e5 8.Nc3 d5


click for larger view

and black has incredible control over the board. I admit that for 4 points this gambit is very tempting.

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