@ jkarp - 1.c4 is the English Opening. 1.f4 is Bird's Opening.

What does the Bird have going for it, other than surprise? 1...e5 seems dangerous for white.

@matticus93: Not an awful lot, though it is rather fun to play. And yes, 1...e5 is the From Gambit, which is a popular and very sharp response for Black.

YES ! 1... e5 is the best response to bird, and then it turns in king gambit, which is not good for white as it is refuted for a long time. so e5 is the risk ...

Could transpose to Sicialian, if e4 is played by white. Probably just "Nameless Bird Opening" for now.

The real point on 2.Nf3 after f4 is not just to support the center, but also to protect key squares around the slightly weakened kingside.

e5, gambitting the pawn, is a legitimate concern in the Bird, due to the openess of the kingside. Part of why I don't like the opening. Nf3 has to be played some time or another.

It's not. Black's anticipating threats that aren't there...unless I'm missing something, which I could be.

No, you're right. Ng5 is not a legitimate concern.

@jkarp - both e3/g3 are perfectly acceptable. There's three main formations in the Bird - the classic (e3 with a queenside fianchetto), the Leningrad (g3 with a kingside fianchetto), and the Stonewall (f4, e3, d4, c3)

Or transpose to Grandprix Sicilian with e4, which I prefer.

Yeah but he is wasting valuable development time with these silly h6 a6 moves...

Not to mention that White's KB probably belongs on e2, not b5.

@ zwarwiz : careful plse "silly" is not a nice appreciation, better choose "inaccurate"...

Be2 was better - Bc4 is met with 4...d5

I have to agree with tisamon Bc4? d5! and black now has a strong center after Bb3 b5 c3 and black doesn't look half bad.

i agree with you both, BUT : So how threat f7 with my LSB ? because that's what i want to do ?

As others have mentioned, 4...d5 was much better.

Actually I think the king is fine here however I would have delayed this castle as white is way ahead in development and should pushing this advantage rather than seeking safety at this point.

@ zwarwiz : the pushing advantage is there ! the f colon (f1 rook) is pressuring F7. not exactly for the moment because of the f4 pawn, but this pawn is not going to stay there all the time... this is the philosophy of the bird in my opinion.

It would have been better to get the other pieces developed - too early to decide the queen belongs there.

I would have gone with b3, Bb2 here. With the Classic Bird variation White gets excellent control over the dark squares. The exchange will leave you with less control, and a weak e-pawn pinned to your King.

Agree with tisamon. Your c1 bishop needs a place.

it's coming soon ! be patient !  

@ jkarp : SURE, I rember you told me the the same in a last annotation ... but you know, I'm stubborn !

@ jkarp : At the moment the strategy was NOT TO LOOSE !

Don't know if you saw it, but he could have played Qxf4 and won the pawn (your e-pawn cannot recapture).

@ tisamon : no, I didn't. anyway i loose the f pawn ! Taking with the queen could be dangerous because she would be exposed to a discovered attack (Rf1)

This is a mistake. Far better was 10...Qxf4 with a free pawn plus heavy pressure on e3.