Winning with 1 f4 - download book

   For most of the 20th century the Dutch Defense was considered a form of "giving positional odds." It had a terrible reputation. But in the late 1980s its fortunes rose. The Dutch became mildly popular in grandmaster chess and all the "book refutations" of it turned out to be filled with holes.

   Yet the mirror image of the Dutch Bird's Opening has enjoyed no such rehabilitation. And you have to wonder why. There has never been a convincing plan of development for Black that solves all of his problems after 1 f4.

   Part of the reason for the Bird's lack of popularity is that few masters have been willing to play the opening the way Henry Bird did. Instead, they employ some sort of modern, strategic plan involving the fianchetto of White's KB and/or an attack on the center with the help of his c-pawn. In this strategy, White usually plays his QN to d2, after d2-d4, and leaves his QB at home until the middlegame.

   Bird, however, had many successes with an older, and simpler, plan. He fianchettoed the other bishop, with b2-b3 and Bb2, and then used his KB more aggressively, posting it at b5 (in order to secure control of e5), or at d3, where it takes aim at the key kingside point h7.

   We will return Bird's Opening to the Henry Bird strategy in the following chapters.

   We'll consider four responses by Black:

• Part One Black Doesn't Fianchetto His King's Bishop
  
• Part Two Modern Systems including ...g6
  
• Part Three From's Gambit
  
• Part Four Other Defenses.
  

Author: Soltis Andrew
Title: "Winning with 1 f4"
Released: 1992
Format: djvu
Quality: good
Number of pages: 99
Size: 4 Mb