The “Other” Bird

As many readers know, I have been a long-time advocate of the Bird Variation of the Ruy Lopez for Black (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4). Recently I’ve started experimenting with Henry Bird’s other major opening legacy, the Bird Opening (1. f4). I’m...

A flick of the h-pawn

Yesterday I was thinking about two of the ChessLectures I have given this year that featured a surprisingly early (to me) h4. First, the game Krush-Esserman, which I featured here in December and lectured on in January: 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. h4 Bg7 5. h5!...