Chess Openings: Learn to Play the Bird's Opening!

[@splnter648]

This video is a massive improvement over the old one you made! This teaches the opening quite well, thank you!

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you brotha! Ya that first one was when I just started with KZbin, and longer I've been on here the more I've wanted to make a better version. Glad you enjoyed it and always feel free to send me more Bird's Opening video ideas!

[@earlchristensen4795]

What is the most aggressive opening and most passive opening?

[@Factsnotfox]

As I expected, this is one of the best videos I've seen on Birds Opening. It filled a lot of holes in my knowledge of the opening, and I look forward to playing it.

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks Dennis! Let me know how it goes!

[@Factsnotfox]

@@TheChessGiant So far I have had one opportunity to play the Bird. I developed a king's side attack and kept finding resources, keeping up the pressure until black finally blundered and dropped a rook. Bird's Opening is going to be my main opening as white for the foreseeable future. Thank you, Solomon, you have made me a Bird believer.

[@PleepusPlopus]

I found the Bird's opening while playing around with Lichess's opening explorer and I've been in love ever since

[@TheChessGiant]

Respect.

[@theawesomelogan6729]

Always loved this opening, lots of options and leads the game in a direction i want it to go without having to know crazy theory

[@TheChessGiant]

Great thoughts in this comment! So many openings are memorization focused, which is fine, but some of us like good openings without all of that stuff. I'm one of those guys and the Bird's Opening is a ton of fun.

[@larspersson1546]

I'm so happy you made this video on Bird's opening - a gem! :)

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you lars! Happy to make it!

[@vikingjosh2174]

The only opening I play as white. I like experimenting with the different systems in my games (Sturm Gambit has to be my favorite!). Absolutely love this video!! Would you also be able to cover some of the variations after 1. f4 d5 2.c4 d4 3. d3 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. e4 grabbing a large center and en passant would give the dark squared bishop a nice developing move. I prefer this system over the g3 variation and think it might be interesting to cover

[@TheChessGiant]

Hey Josh! Great opening you got in the Bird's! You got good taste - and ya the Sturm Gambit is great I haven't studied that line a ton but it looks super interesting. I will make a note of this and would love to make a video on it!

[@Megan-ii4gf]

Ah my fellow sturm gambit enjoyer.

[@PeterBoelen-c3t]

Was looking for a nice Birds opening guide, thanks for sharing, this will definitly help 👍🐣

[@fanoflanguages7278]

Amazing coverage of the Bird's opening. One big advantage to the Bird's opening is that there are many different systems to choose from. This makes it more difficult for your opponent because they can't be sure which system you will play.

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you! Yes I love how many options the Bird's Opening has - many seem to think it's one dimensional but there are so many different options.

[@DenisLeVoyageur]

Great Bird's opening stuff Solomon! thank you.

[@1eingram]

I like the matter of fact way you present information.

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you Edward! Appreciate the kind words that's exactly what I've been going for and hopefully I can keep improving. Wishing you a great weekend.

[@uchihahamada]

thank you sir , i always have a problem when i face the Froms's gambit , and this video is really useful for me , Thanks again

[@TheChessGiant]

You're very welcome my guy! Ya it gives a lot of Bird's Opening players some trouble it seems. Just memorize these lines and you should be good to roll!

[@eifbkcn]

The best survey of the theory that I've seen on KZbin. I'm only around 1000, and at that level the Bird tends to be pretty fun. I thought I'd mention a few lines of my own: I'm mainly a Sturm player against 1. ...d5, and that's an opening I haven't seen covered elsewhere, so it was great to see that mentioned. The major difference for me is that I tend to respond with 3. e3 against 2. ... d4, which is decidedly dubious but can be fun at the 1000 level. If 3. ...dxe3, which often happens, then 4.d4! leaves white with a three-on-zero pawn center, and black with no development and a pawn that can't be defended. It is very much a one-trick opening line though, that often just leaves white cramped. Continuing on in gambit lines, the section on From's was perhaps a little misleading after g5, as there are a few variations that are playable. You went over g3, which is main line (but not authoritatively a 'key idea'), and sort of talked about the d4 line reversed in your section on the Swiss, but could have brought it up more explicitly. Looking at Lichess, d4 is played ~23 percent of the time, with an even better win rate than g3, with the main idea being to trade all the attackers off the board. I've played a few players with that as their main variation. There is also an equally playable move of d3, which is my personal preference, where you let black come in with g3, Qh4+, Bxg3, and Qxh1, but argue that a great bishop outpost on f4 and massively better development against Black's fairly exposed king is more than enough to offset the loss of the exchange. The White win rate for this idea is ~70% for white on Lichess, and yet Black will very often overestimate their position. It's a very fun sacrificial line. One last gambit that I've played, the Batavo, is fun even if it is rare. If Black plays d5 and c5 against f4 and Nf3, then the move e4?! seeks to plant a knight on the e5 square as soon as possible. If Black seeks to trade it off with their c-knight immediately, than your e5 pawn is a lot more annoying to black than their e4 pawn is to you, and the position is equal but I'd still take White. If they try instead to chase it away with f6, than Bb5+ wins at least an exchange (knight for Queen's rook), but if Black blocks with the bishop instead of the knight, than Qh5+ wins the King's rook for free. After g6 blocking check and Nxg6, Black can't recapture the knight because of Qxg6#, so the knight is safe to go Nxh8 the next move. Extremely obscure, but it's an interesting idea. The last major difference for me is that I often play 2.e5 when possible, just to try to get a larger center. The main time this happens is if the opponent responds 1. ... e6, which happens all the time at low intermediate levels. It then becomes a French Defense (La Bourdonnais variation), and there's a decent chance that Black isn't all that familiar with playing a French and so can make some inaccuracies, in addition to 2.e5 simply being the top response to 1. ... e6. All this being said, I certainly do use some of the setups in the video, and it was nice seeing such an in-depth video on a frankly extremely underrated opening.

[@irupcblacknight1666]

Thank you so much for this bird's opening playlist and it will be very helpful to me.

[@TheChessGiant]

You got it! More content on the way!

[@alcatrazep]

I really like to play a combination of two different openings. Polish opening and Bird's opening. Here is an interesting line: Bird Opening: Batavo-Polish Attack 1. f4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. b4!

[@TheChessGiant]

Wow, never heard of this but it looks fascinating! I will add this to the list!

[@pan8319]

dont stop uploading bro. you are my favorite chess youtuber

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you brother. I appreciate you!

[@skyeruddell3196]

One of the best Bird's Opening videos I've ever seen! One of the best KZbin chess channels out there, excited to keep seeing more KZbin chess content and hope you can continue to grow! I personally am a big fan of the Sturm Gambit and From's Gambit - in addition to the Polar Bear System and the simple Bb2 option. Very flexible and hyperdynamic chess opening for white (like you said) and I hope Birds Opening videos like this can help this great opening become popular again. Any plans on doing a Evan's Gambit video?

[@TheChessGiant]

Thank you Skye! Appreciate the kind words - yes I would love to make an Evan's Gambit video soon!

[@Ebobster]

Nice review of the defects of answering f4 with f5.

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks! One of white's strongest ideas is against 1. ...f5 from black! Glad you enjoyed the video and keep it up!

[@Robotic24]

The Bird Openning is aight but I for some reason REALLY love the Saragossa openning rn

[@TheChessGiant]

The Saragossa is SUPER underrated! Been playing it some the last couple days.

[@Zenocrat]

great video ... thank you!

[@TheChessGiant]

You got it! Glad you liked it, gotta love the Bird's Opening!

[@mustafadigdigi415]

Hello. Thanks for the video.

[@TheChessGiant]

Hey! You got it brotha!

[@salemtv5808]

Hey Solomon, thank you so much..i’ve been experimenting with this opening and was looking for a video to teach me how to face the From Gambit..i suggest you cut the first part that deals with it and post it on its own with a specific title like “Facing the From Gambit” thanks again happy to find and subscribe to the channel

[@TheChessGiant]

Thanks for the recommendation! I should release an individual video on curhsing the From's! Glad you liked it and thanks for subscribing to the channel!

[@salemtv5808]

@@TheChessGiant mummy pleasure and thanks for sharing your experience..greatly appreciated

[@thomasbrodie-sangsteredits5971]

hey, I was wondering with at 8:01 what if they play Nc6 instead of Bd7 im pressuming we take and then black had doubled pawns which is bad.

[@TheChessGiant]

Hey Thomas! Great question. So ya after Nc6 we can capture that knight off and create doubled pawns, or simply continue with b3 and Bb2 and keep that Bxc6 idea in the air going forward. Doubling the pawns is good for us but not winning by any means so really depends if you are willing to give up the bishop pair for that. One idea that works is interesting is capturing on c6 and then continuing with b3, Nc3, Na4, Ba3 and really going after that pawn on c5 - with a Qc1 and c4 push from us as another possibility... we could also just play normal but this is an idea in the Nimzo-Indian Defense which would also work here if we double those pawns up. Hope this helps!

[@thomasbrodie-sangsteredits5971]

@@TheChessGiant Thanks It truly does! :)

[@yaphet8574]

It's the opening I used doing King's Gambit wayback college 💯

[@gregoryiuzzolino5997]

I am a new subscriber and love the content on this channel. Keep up the great work!

[@TheChessGiant]

Hey Gregory, thanks for subscribing! And glad you are enjoying the content. Always feel free to let me know any other chess opening videos you'd want to see or really any chess related questions you have or need help with!

[@notyourdad]

Much appreciated!

[@TheChessGiant]

You got it brotha! Thanks for watching!

[@Quake3skorp]

Great video, thanks!

[@TheChessGiant]

You got it brotha!

[@Nexus-X001]

Another great opening :)

[@TheChessGiant]

Yessir! Gotta love the Bird's

[@claytonbenignus4688]

What about the Hobbs Counter Gambit? The Passive-Aggressive 2 . . . G5 seemingly gives White an advantage and even looks like a Blunder, yet White can get into big trouble really quick.

[@TheChessGiant]

Wow this looks interesting! I will take a look at this and would love to make a video on it.

[@nikolaivanov5526]

what if black long castles? how do we put attack their king

[@TheChessGiant]

At what point in the video? Could you send a timestamp? Thanks!!!

[@cesarg4328]

Brilliant

[@TheChessGiant]

Glad you enjoyed this! The Bird's Opening is a great system.

[@sonipolakian4256]

Nice video

[@miguelramos7108]

hey i have a question what happen if black copy our moves??

[@TheChessGiant]

Hey Miguel, if black copies with 1. f5, we have the option of going into the Swiss Gambit with 2. e4!! And it's not possible for black to keep copying at that point. Here are the links if you are interested. It's an older video so audio is eh but hopefully you get a couple lines out of it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWnMqqhvhZacebs

[@fhdangerfh9676]

Well against the from gambit i like to transform the position into a king's gambit

[@TheChessGiant]

Nice! Very valid option. The cool thing with that is you're probably not even going up against an e5 player. But, by playing 1. f4 first, you transposed them right into an e4/e5 opening.

[@KaRmaTheSchemer]

I asked my mentor for an uncommon opening that would catch people off guard and never looked back 💪

[@TheChessGiant]

Yessir!! 🦅 🦅

[@Ebobster]

Chess Giant briefly covers classical & Leningrad Bird

[@TheChessGiant]

Always interesting to think of chess openings reversed but with an extra tempo! (If transfering it from black to white like we do here from the Dutch Defense to the Bird's Opening)

[@집학살]

Seeing the way magnus plays weird openings I can 100% see him playing the Sturm gambit against GMs lol

[@kentbriangalleros6659]

Do you teach how to plan in chess Mr Solomon?

[@TheChessGiant]

I've been doing it some in private lessons! Hit me up if interested, but I also plan to make some videos on it too!

[@1eingram]

I'm trying to master the Pirc. not easy.

[@robertgonsalves1966]

Me too

[@TheChessGiant]

The Pirc does take some effort but is a great chess opening system once you get it. Here is my first video on it just in case you're interested! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qomZiqBudqujorc

[@TheChessGiant]

Here's my video on it if you haven't check it out already! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qomZiqBudqujorc

[@Sesquipedalian3]

Is this still up to date?

[@eriliken7987]

Me playing E4 agiainst the forms gambit transposing into a kings gambit be like:

[@TheChessGiant]

I like this!!! Talk about making the Froms Gambit player instantly regret their decision.

[@solucidjx1946]

Can we get a bird opening vs kings Indian defense ?

[@TheChessGiant]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing this I will add it to the list.

[@leonvalente6389]

Great video, but it’s pronounced fee•ann•ketto because Italians use “ch” to sound out the “kuh” sound

[@p.rajora]

Bird opening is not for lower rated players. If you are not 1600+ player don't try this opening. But if you have some opening prep for this then try this for some amazing games. I would definitely try this after some preps.

[@TheChessGiant]

Well said! Well suited for intermediate players, but beginners should probably stay away!

[@robertehrenworth3310]

Best answer to strum gambit may be c6 or e6

[@TheChessGiant]

Yep! Definitely don't want to take that pawn on c4!

[@Kommaer]

3:30 this position is +0.75

[@robertgonsalves1966]

Looking at the comments it's Time i study it deeply

[@TheChessGiant]

Yessir! The Bird's Opening is a solid option, let me know what you think of it!

[@Radrook353]

Slowing down a little would be nice.

[@TeeGar]

Ba ba ba bird bird bird, bird is the word.....

[@TheChessGiant]

Never fail to come in clutch with the references!

[@ophiolatreia93]

Fian'ketto' not 'chetto'... jlcommon mistake

[@lukajakic4230]

Dude playes e3 and beats the shit out of me after... hate my life 😑

[@robertgonsalves1966]

Uncomfortable opening

[@TheChessGiant]

Ya it's definitely not for everyone!

[@ddist0rtt]

I don't like openings like this. Play the center as white, e4/d4 and fight for it.

[@TheChessGiant]

Very valid. Definitely not for everyone.

[@MartinZanichelli]

Here you fight for the center too.

[@ssssstevegordon]

What’s your hurry? Why are you talking so fast? Is it more important to get all your words out as quickly as possible or would you rather that the viewer have some time to absorb what you are saying. By the time I think about what you’ve done, you’re 6 moves ahead and I can’t even see your tail lights.