Bird's Opening
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| Moves | 1.f4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | A02–A03 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Henry Bird | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonyms |
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Bird's Opening (or the Bird Opening, Stein Opening, or the Dutch Attack) is a chess opening beginning with the move:
- 1. f4
Named after 19th-century English player Henry Bird, Bird's Opening is a standard flank opening. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-square, offering good attacking chances at the expense of slightly weakening their own kingside. Black's most common response is 1...d5, but Black may also challenge White's plan to control e5 immediately by playing the risky From Gambit (1...e5).
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings assigns two codes for Bird's Opening: A02 (1.f4) and A03 (1.f4 d5).