Chess Opening Theory/1. b4

1. b4 · Polish Opening
The Polish Opening is a flank and rather uncommon opening starting with the move 1. b4. The purpose of this move is to fight for a spatial advantage on the queenside instead of immediately taking control of the centre. White will claim their share of the centre after getting the queen’s bishop fianchettoed and an eventual pawn advance in the centre. The move b4 can always be played later in the game which is the reason why this opening is seldom seen nowadays, however, Tartakower and Magnus Carlsen have tried it in tournaments and won successfully. The Polish opening is classified under the code (A00) as an irregular opening.
 * Fianchettoing is often a good idea. Why not grab a little space?
 * At some point a quick b4-b5 might dislodge a knight on c6.
 * Trading the b-pawn for the c-pawn may give white central power.
 * If Black responds with 1...e5 or 1...e6, usual play either continues with 2. a3, defending the pawn, or 2. Bb2, fianchettoing the bishop on the powerful a1-h8 diagonal. The idea after Bb2 is that the black can't play Bxb4 right away. For example, after 1. b4 e6 2. Bb2 Bxb4??, White responds with 3. Bxg7, at which point Black loses a rook. However, 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 Bxb4!? 3. Bxe5 is actually viable for Black, in spite of the fact that Black cedes White a central pawn majority. The second player will usually obtain some form of compensation with a slight lead in development. Chances for both sides in these lines are around equal, with perhaps a very slight edge for White.
 * Another possibility is for White to advance their b-pawn with b5, so as to evade attack. This has been shown to be a good option in several lines, and White now has a clear spatial advantage on the queenside. On the other hand, White’s pawn is now overextended and difficult to protect. Once again, the positions resulting from these lines are generally equal.

Statistics
www.chess.com's Game Explorer Master Games DB shows 1704 games with 1. b4:


 * White wins 37%, 41% are drawn and Black wins 22% of all games.

www.365chess.com's Big Database shows 6360 games with 1. b4:


 * White wins 33%, 26% are drawn and Black wins 41%.

ChessBase's Big Database 2010 has 14,389 games with 1. b4 giving White a 47.6% winning percentage - which is very bad when compared to White's winning percentages with 1. e4 (53%) 1. d4 and 1. c4 (+54%) and 1. Nf3 (55%).

The Big Database has 291 games (out of almost 5.5 million) played with at least one player having a FIDE rating of 2400 or higher. The winning percentages for these games are: White 46%, Drawn 30%, Black 24%.

The average FIDE rating of all players is 1926, the average performance rating is 1942 which again compares unfavorably with the average ratings of all players employing 1. d4, 1. Nf3, 1. c4 and the average performance ratings of these openings (both categories are +2200).

The average rating of all players employing 1. e4 in the DB is 2135 with an average performance rating of 2161.

Few Grandmasters (GMs) employ this opening in serious games. GMs Ivanchuk and Fischer played it three times – in simultaneous exhibitions. GMs Hort, Ljubojevic, Miles, Petrosian and Smyslov played it at least once against fellow GMs or IMs (International Masters); Larsen played it in at least 4 serious games.

Surprisingly enough, there are a few fairly recent books on this opening. None are by GMs (although two are by IMs).

''Play 1.b4! Shock your Opponents with the Sokolsky'' Language: English by IM Yury Lapshun, Nick Conticello Everyman Chess, 2008, PB

1.b4: Theory & Practice of the Sokolsky Opening Full of Fresh Analysis by Jerzy Konikowski, Marek Soszynski Russell Enterprises, 2009, PB - English

The Sokolsky 1.b4 (Orangutan) Foxy 106 by IM Andrew Martin ChessOnDVD, 2010, DVD Language: English

In theory and practice, Black usually responds by playing in the center with 1...d5, or by exploiting the weak position of the pawn by playing 1...e5 or 1...e6. The flexible 1...Nf6 has been played as well. A great many other less common replies are known, ranging from the sensible but slightly eccentric Outflank Variation (1. b4 c6), to the stupid Tuebingen Variation (1. b4 Nh6?!), even this being shown to give White no more than a slight advantage.

Further reading: http://www.chess.com/article/view/openings-for-tactical-players-sokolsky-opening IM Tim Harding "Significant Games in the Sokolsky Opening" http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kibitz86.pdf http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane140.pdf

Theory table
1. b4