Bughouse Opening Inventions

During my stay at a psychiatric institution a few days ago, I wrote about my bughouse opening inventions from my years on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) (I also got to face KT, an outstanding opponent, at chess. On my next blog post, I will analyze a game against him).

Bughouse on FICS

The Free Internet Chess Server was both home and a dark alley. The late, great ComboKid guided bughouse players with his bluntness on ch 24. Channel 24 was known for harsh insults and jokes. But we all kept playing for the love of the game. Keep Go. It mates him. It-it... it mates him. Hard to get. Coming. Queen good. Please sit, I will tell you go. I sit, tell me when to go. Opponent mated. Opponent-op-op-opponent mated. Op-op-op-opponent mated (those from FICS know what I'm referring to).

My bughouse inventions

I would study a bunch of FM ChiCkenCROSSrOaD’s high house ("high house" refers to high-rated bughouse games) games on bughousedb dot com. I spent one week doing nothing but reviewing primarily the openings of pretty much every high house game FM ChiCkenCROSSrOaD had ever played. ComboKid motivated me to adopt this work ethic.

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 p@d4 is my preeminent innovation. In bughouse, occupying the d4-square is crucial in structures that arise after 1.e4.

I was once mocked in a playful and fun manner by Eleventeen, “laugh out loud! .. you spent more than 7 seconds sitting for a pawn drop on Move 2,” to which I responded, “Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

3.Nf3! entices the moves 3...dxc3 followed by 4...Nf6, after which White is active and has a strong center, but might actually be just a tad short of compensation for the lost material. Nevertheless, I think it's roughly equal.

3.Nce2 followed by 4.Ng3 leads to a very comfortable game for Black. After 3.Nce2, Black can entertain the idea of h5-h4 at some point. Additionally, after 3.Nce2, Black often opts for 3...Nf6 and 4...d5, or 3...Nf6 and 4...p@h4 (p@h4 is done when White's knight is on g3).

3.Nd5 is the most common move, but Black has a large advantage after 3...e6 4.Nf4 Nf6 5.d3 Bb4/B@b4+ with 6...p@e3/N@e3/B@e3 (unless 6.c3, obv.). However, White has a great move in response to 3...e6: 4.Qe2! .. IM HighDude has played that superb move against me.

3.Bc4 intending to sac on f7 needs to be thwarted with 3...e6.

~

1.e4 e5 2.p@f4 was another invention of mine. It is not nearly as practical or as dominant as my other invention. p@f4 is very unique, but it does not give White much of an advantage. I concocted this bizarre move while waiting for my food at a restaurant. I was searching for a way for White to get both e4 and d4 in. MiniGreat was very impressed when I played the line against GM caspiwins. White should delay taking Black’s e5-pawn. After 2...d6 3.Nf3, it is imperative for White not to rush with fxe5. On 2...Bc5, the position is unclear.

~~

Please share your thoughts. I'm not scary.