A Tempo for your Thoughts

Pondering some unusual first moves and their implications

A good friend of mine, FM Mark Ong Chong Ghee, pulled off this stunt two decades ago at the Singapore Cairnhill Open event against a fellow national player, who immediately exclaimed, “What nonsense is this?” before choosing to reply with a King’s Indian set-up, which I think is a good response to the pawn punt. This didn’t stop Black from getting crushed in 26 moves.

Mark noted that such moves are akin to saying, “I can play any garbage and beat you”, clearly showing no respect for the opponent. However, he had his rationale for doing so. A few years prior to that game, his opponent had played 1 c3 against him in a school event and behaved condescendingly after winning. So it was sweet ironic revenge for the Singaporean FM to win with 1 a3. However, he also had another, more prosaic reason for his opening choice. He remarked that, “At the time, I was getting better results with Black than White for some reason, so I moved 1 a3 to ‘play Black’”.

Another incident involving a sub-optimal opening choice I remember was when a local politician was gracing an opening ceremony and was invited to make the first move on top board for IM Hsu Li Yang. The Member of Parliament decided on 1 d3 (which is not too bad, in any case), and although Li Yang could have taken back the move after the picture taking and applause formalities, he decided to let the move stand and still made short work of his opponent.

Now, before you start to think, “What a load of tosh” with regards to this article, consider that Gawain Jones played 1 a3 in a 4NCL Rapidplay event in 2013 and Simon Williams 1 a4 two years ago – versus, not surprisingly, lower-rated opposition. Andrew Greet went one better by playing 1 h3 and 2 a3 at the 2013 World Mind Sports Games and winning rather handily. Williams probably topped that feat by going 1 f3 and 2 Kf2 in the 1999 British Championship, though he did it to win a wager. Let’s not forget either the one and only Michael Basman who beat Jim Plaskett with 1 h3 (and not surprisingly, the space-Grobbing g2-g4 showed up soon enough) at the 1991 British.

Before you get mad at your opponent for punting such a move as 1 h3, consider that White is at worst giving up his initial extra move and if he starts to play properly after that, then a fight is still on. Ironically, it might be even possible for White to turn a ‘pass’ like 1 h3 or 1 a4 into a useful move in particular opening lines. If you don’t believe me, read on.

Surfing through playchess.com’s selection of live games a few days ago, the following game between two near-2500s caught my eye.

OK, maybe you’re not convinced that 1.h3 might be a finesse. Perhaps I’m over thinking here. How about, though, the next example by the current world champion?

I would like to end this article with the caveat that I’m not advocating such opening play. The key issue is rather that when someone punts such a brazen first move against you, don’t get all riled up. It’s only a tempo at best, but if you’re careless, your opponent might be able to turn it into a useful move, especially in a reversed version of an opening that they are strong in.

The above article appeared in the August 2016 of the British magazine CHESS

CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by IM Richard Palliser and Matt Read. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organises the London Chess Classic.

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Interested in unorthodox openings and traps? There are a number of interesting ChessBase DVDs on the subject. The best way to find them: go to the Position Search page and enter the moves on the board (it is useful to remember this function!).

We particularly recommend the DVD Unorthodox Chess Openings by Valeri Lilov, who devotes 24 lectures to various unorthodox openings - some more popular with super GMs like Alexander Morozevich and others less known - yet all aiming at one and the same goal: to strengthen your opening repertoire and provide you with more weapons for the opening stage. The Chigorin Defence, the Chicago Gambit, and Grob’s Attack are among the systems included for White, with the Hippopotamus Defence and the Elephant Gambit are intended for Black. Lilov effectively teaches the best plans and ideas in each of these unique openings and guarantees success with each and every one of them. Video running time: 5 hrs 16 min.