Chess Opening Theory/1. f4

1. f4 · Bird's Opening
Bird’s Opening is an aggressive and less common opening, named after the chess player Henry Bird. This opening weakens the h4-to-e1 diagonal, and weakens White’s kingside, but helps control the centre and is good for players who don’t want to study openings. Black can respond with 1...d5 (Dutch variation) or 1...e5 (From’s Gambit); if White accepts the gambit, it creates more kingside weakness, and White must play carefully as a mate is easily seen with 2…d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. Nc3 Qh4+ 5. g3 Qxg3+ 6. hxg3 Bxg3#. Overall, this opening can be fun for club players and can usually lead to a tactical and aggressive game.

Statistics

 * Approximate chances
 * White win 35%, Draw 25%, Black win 39%


 * Estimated next move popularity
 * d5 49%, Nf6 15%, e5 11%, c5 9%, g6 8%, d6 2%. Other moves less than 0.5%.

Theory table
1. f4