Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

[Kevin Pacey]

This thread is presently the latest addition to my Junkyard Openings chesstalk threads series, which often involves displaying my occasional attempts at rehabilitating suspect openings. Here I will suggest an offbeat repertoire for both colours that has both arguably tactical and positional options.

Junky Ops 5.0, Part I: Suggested Black Offbeat Repertoire

Coming up with a fair number of suspect, yet possibly not quite clearly inferior defences that all fit together nicely as a repertoire no matter what White plays on move one is something of a challenge, especially if one takes into consideration flank opening moves by White. I'll suggest what one might play against only each of the conventionally approved five first White moves 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and 1.g3 (with other moves White himself takes the game generally into offbeat territory), and I'll normally concentrate on what to play following White's main continuation after Black's first move in each case:

vs. 1.e4:
Offbeat Tactical Repertoire Options:
1...c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 (Nimzovich Sicilian): Lombardy, Oll, Dorfman, David & Seirawan are GMs who have at least 1 win with as Black
1...e5 2.Nf3 f5 (Latvian Gambit): Hector, Skembris & I.Sokolov are GMs who have at least 1 win with as Black
1...d6 2.d4 c6 with any of ...Qc7 (by itself, what Suttles refered to as the 'Penguin' Defence, with Black standing there as if in a photo of such a creature), ...e5, ...g6 or ...Bg4 (after Nf3) possible: Burmakin & Hickl are GMs with 1 or more wins with as Black
Offbeat Positional Repertoire Options:
1...c5 2.Nf3 a6 (O'Kelly Sicilian): Taimanov, Andersson, Hort, Dorfman & Eingorin have 1+ wins with
1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 (Bird Lopez): Malaniuk, Tukmakov, Ivanchuk & Hector have 1+ wins with
1...d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 (or Nbd7) intending Philidor's Defence: Kasparov, Tukmakov, Dorfman, Hodgson & A. Sokolov have 1+ wins with the Philidor

vs. 1.d4:
Offbeat Tactical Repertoire Options:
1...Nf6 2.c4 e5 (Budapest, including Fajarowicz optially) plus 2.Nf3 Ne4: Shirov, Speelman & Sherbakov have 1+ wins with the Budapest proper (3.dxe5 Ng4), while Bellon Lopez & Conquest have 1+ wins with the Fajarowicz (3.dxe5 Ne4); Keres is just one of the (strongest) old masters who won 1+ games with 2.Nf3 Ne4
1...f5 intending ...e6+...d6 (the 'Classical' Dutch, but nowadays an infrequent choice in top play): Naumkin, Maric, Lobron & Minasian have won 1+ games with
1...d6 2.c4 c6: Lobron has won 1+ game(s) with
Offbeat Positional Repertoire Options:
1...Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 (or e6 first) i.e. Black Knights' Tango: Yermolinsky, Shabalov, Bologan, Christiansen & Benjamin have won 1+ games with
1...f5 intending ...d6+...c6 (Antoshin Dutch formation): Vasiukov & Antoshin have won 1+ games with
1...d6 (or Nf6) intending Old Indian: Adams, Piket, Krasenkov & Movsesian have won 1+ games with

vs. 1.c4:
Offbeat Tactical Repertoire Options:
1...c5 (or Nf6) involving unusual Symmetrial English line(s), e.g. if 2.g3 (for example) Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nf3 a6 with an offbeat sort of Hedgehog possibly coming later on
1...f5 intending Classical Dutch formation
1...d6 intending 2...c6
Offbeat Positional Repertoire Options:
1...Nf6 intending Black Knights' Tango formation
1...f5 intending Antoshin Dutch formation
1...d6 (or Nf6) intending Old Indian formation

vs. 1.Nf3 or 1.g3:
Basically same six options as vs. 1.c4.


Junky Ops 5.0, Part II: Suggested White Offbeat Repertoire

There is no shortage of feasible ideas at all for suspect, yet possibly not quite clearly inferior White openings, nor is making them fit together a particularly difficult problem. I'll suggest a repertoire that suits my fancy, involving some offbeat White first moves plus a couple of 1.d4 choices against 1...Nf6/d5 (as one of my master friends once remarked when a book on 1.d4 deviations came out, it is 1.d4 that is the deviation. :D):

Offbeat Tactical Repertoire Options for White:
1.f4 i.e. Bird's Opening: Huebner, Movsesian, Malaniuk & Rogers have won 1+ games with
1.b4 i.e. Sokolsky's Opening: Akopian, Hort, Campora & Blatny have won 1+ games with
1.d4 Nf6/d5 2.Nc3 intending the Veresov Attack (3.Bg5 after 2...d5/Nf6): Aronian, Speelman, Hebden, I. Sokolov & Hort have won 1+ games with

Offbeat Positional Repertoire Options for White:
1.b3 i.e. Larsen's Opening: Arencibia, Sadler, Rogers & Timman have won 1+ games with
1.c3 i.e. Saragossa's Opening, including 1...e5 2.d4 (2.d3!?) 2...exd4 3.Qxd4, as was once played by Emmanuel Lasker in a simul - White is a tempo up on the Scandinavian Defence: Hort & Danielsen have won 1+ games with 1.c3
1.d4 Nf6/d5 2.e3 possibly intending the Stonewall Attack (involves f2-f4, arguably a more positional Bird/Dutch setup): Yusupov & Klinger have won 1+ games with 1.d4+2.e3 followed by a Stonewall Attack

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I have gone back and edited my previous post to add the names of 2500+ GMs who have won at least once playing the offbeat openings which I've suggested to comprise an offbeat repertoire (except for the Black flank opening defences, which are largely intended to transpose to the suggested 1.d4 defences if allowed).

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Don't forget the Ponziani, or is that main line these days.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3

[Louis Morin]

Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I have gone back and edited my previous post to add the names of 2500+ GMs who have won at least once playing the offbeat openings which I've suggested to comprise an offbeat repertoire (except for the Black flank opening defences, which are largely intended to transpose to the suggested 1.d4 defences if allowed).

Why not 1.c4 d5 or 1,d4 e5 ? This is real off-the-beat while making a developing move.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Why not 1.c4 d5 or 1,d4 e5 ? This is real off-the-beat while making a developing move.

I tried to put together a Black repertoire that all fits together neatly, and, though I suspect 1.d4 e5 may not be quite as bad as is generally thought, for example, it was tough finding corresponding openings in the case of, say, 1.Nf3, unless you're into 1.Nf3 e5, which I can't recall a 2200+ player losing to (though Emmanual Lasker did win with it in a simul).

[edit: true, there's a similar lack of correspondence between the Budapest and the Symmetrical English, though one can at least start with 1...Nf6 against 1.c4 and hope for a transposition, while 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 Ne4 again transposes to a desired opening and 1.g3 Nf6 2.d4 again reaches a possible 1.d4 line - a Snake Benoni/offbeat Symmetrical Englishes combo might be a more universal choice against 1.d4 and flank openings than the Budapest/offbeat Symmetrical Englishes combo, in hindsight]

Another example is that 1.e4 b6 has a similar problem due to nothing matching available to Black in the case of 1.g3. Similarly, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5 has no counterpart if White plays 1.c4.

In the case of 1.c4 d5 I must say I rejected it as being too suspect (from a positional point of view) for a repertoire I would dare to remotely recommend even on chesstalk ;) but I did give it a passing thought, and again it is probably not as bad as most people imagine.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Don't forget the Ponziani, or is that main line these days.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3

The Ponziani has been used by IM Lawrence Day on more than one occasion. It's still not very fashonable (ahem). I didn't include 1.e4 offbeat choices by White as a purely arbitrary decision (I could reel off any number of cool offbeat 1.e4 repertoire choices for White if people like), though some might argue playing 1.e4 is already irrecoverably a mainstream choice, unlike playing 1.d4.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

It was played by a lot of people. I have a book on it and notice I also have some analysis on a bust for one line by Gutman amongst the pages.

It's a game.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

It [the Ponziani] was played by a lot of people. I have a book on it and notice I also have some analysis on a bust for one line by Gutman amongst the pages.

It's a game.

Last I remember looking at it, the Ponziani required in some key lines for White to be willing to defend, say against material invested by Black. This is not a comfortable situation for many players to be in when they have White, especially if they're not high rated to begin with and thus may often feel more comfortable not defending (and/or they feel it shouldn't ever be White's lot if they can help it).

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I went back and edited my post #5 of this thread, after re-thinking Mr. Morin's prompt to me above.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Last I remember looking at it, the Ponziani required in some key lines for White to be willing to defend, say against material invested by Black. This is not a comfortable situation for many players to be in when they have White, especially if they're not high rated to begin with and thus may often feel more comfortable not defending (and/or they feel it shouldn't ever be White's lot if they can help it).

Nobody said it was easy. If chess was easy everyone would play.

I'd assume if white is playing the Ponz, he'd know the lines. Know what's bust and be familiar with Gutman's analysis.

On the one hand, Estrin - Spassky, 0 - 1 Riga 1951 would likely be no surprise.

On the other hand there is LaBouronnais was winning with it in the 1800's. Euwe, Tarkakower, Ljubojevic vs Karpov and Pachman, Dreev defeated Kamsky and so forth. Certainly not a frivolous opening, although probably more or less forgotten. I'd sooner play a nice Spanish opening.

Oddly, some of the white loses by strong players came in what's now known as the busted line. Don't ask. :)

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

[In the case of 1.c4 d5 I must say I rejected it as being too suspect (from a positional point of view)...

This is one of those lines where it's a bit of a challenge to explain to players rated, say, below 1600, why Black's opening is highly suspect, but I'll give it a try.

After 1.c4 d5, following the natural sequence 2.cxd5 Qxd5 (if 2...Nf6 then 3.e4 is possible) 3.Nc3:



Once Black's queen moves somewhere reasonable, excluding retreating to d8 (say 3...Qa5, 3...Qd6 or 3...Qh5) Black will actually be even in terms of development (similar to in the case of the main line Scandinavian Defence).

Looking at the position, both sides will have an equal number of pieces developed (Black's queen, White's knight) and both sides will have an equal number of diagonals open for pieces that can develop diagonally (Black's bishop on c8 and White's queen).

However Black has committed his queen early, and White can try to develop to take advantage of this, say by eventually making [in]direct threats to it (again as in the case of the main line Scandinavian). If Black feels the need to move his queen again he may fall behind in development by a tempo at that stage. Unlike in the case of the main line Scandinavian, here White also has a better pawn structure for the middlegame since he has 'won' a central d-pawn for only a c-pawn, without paying a compensating price for it such as a tempo.

Thus Black's prospects might well be seen as being in fact dimmer in principle than in the main line Scandinavian, which even these days is still regarded as a slightly suspect opening itself, as opening theory (analysis) I have seems to confirm. At least the main line Scandinavian has the merit of avoiding the simplifications of a Caro-Kann, and White can sometimes overextend against it.

[Louis Morin]

Re : Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

This is one of those lines where it's a bit of a challenge to explain to players rated, say, below 1600, why Black's opening is highly suspect, but I'll give it a try.

After 1.c4 d5, following the natural sequence 2.cxd5 Qxd5 (if 2...Nf6 then 3.e4 is possible) 3.Nc3:

So Black should not play 2...Qxd5 or 2...Nf6.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Re : Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

So Black should not play 2...Qxd5 or 2...Nf6.

What might he play instead? If 2...Bf5 or 2...g6 then again 3.e4 is possible.

[Louis Morin]

Re : Re: Re : Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

What might he play instead? If 2...Bf5 or 2...g6 then again 3.e4 is possible.

Didn't you write about gambits in another thread?

2...c6 of course.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Speaking of gambits (ahem), the Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5) that you mentioned earlier may not be such a bad one, as I alluded to earlier in this thread.

ECO devotes only a footnote to 1.d4 e5, which goes: 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7



at which point a two-pronged branch is given:

A) 4.Bf4 Qb4+



5.Bd2 (ECO doesn't mention it, but 5.Qd2?? loses after 5...Qxb2, e.g. 6.Qc3 Bb4 0-1 Reichert-Feng, CAN-ch op Calgary 1996 [edit: not the 1996 Canadian Closed] - I wonder how often such a disaster would have happened under the old elite RR Canadian Closed rules? ) 5...Qxb2 6.Nc3 Blaser-Grob, corr. 1966. Here ECO stops and evaluates the position as much better for White, but I had fun with my databases and an analysis engine looking at ways Black might skirt disaster in the ensuing complications;

B) 4.Qd5



4...f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Qb3 d5 (ECO doesn't mention 6...b6 intending to castle queenside, though no one has tried or recommended it before possibly) 7.Nc3 d4 8.Nb5 Bg4 (E.Lundin-Stoltz, Stockholm 1932/33) 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 0-0-0 11.c3 +/- ECO.