You probably have heard of more... normal openings. Like the Ruy Lopez, Queen's Gambit and the London System. You also probably have heard about flank openings, like the English and the Réti. However, you were probably told to not play moves that are moves that weaken your position. Moves like 1. Nc3, 1. g3, 1. f4 and 1.b3.

However, all those openings are good!

  1. Nc3 is ready to transpose into different openings like the Vienna Game, Richter-Veresov Attack and even variations of the Sicilian Defense!
  2. g3 is a way of letting Black control the centre, then attacking it from the flanks. Also, it gives the White king a way to escape from a back rank mate, and the fianchetto is an added bonus.
  3. f4 may seem like a move that weakens the kingside, but the answer is simple - castle queenside! f4 can lead to cool games, where the e5 square is adequately protected by White, making it hard for Black to gain space.
  4. b3 - the Nimzowitch-Larsen attack. It's one of my favourite, and it can be used to do a cool developing scheme while bishops are fianchettoed. If b3 and g3 are played, the positions can be pretty cool.

If you play g3, it can even lead to cool openings like the King's Indian Defense: Yugoslav Variation

and if you play b3, it can lead to the Nimzowitch-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation

You see, openings that look bad aren't bad. You are just influenced by the people around you. Fun fact: Even Former Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen - even he likes the Larsen (short for Nimzowitch-Larsen Attack). He also likes Nf3, the Réti Opening.

One shouldn't be influenced by others - one should follow their heart. If they want to be a surgeon or a water-slide-tester*, then let them be! Don't ruin their plans - especially for kids - as kids still have time to think about what they want - and leave them alone - don't urge them to become jobs like engineers or doctors or scientists. Just leave them, and they will surprise you.

*Water Slide Tester is an actual job which earns about $5000 USD (4300 Euro, 800,000 Japanese Yen, 3700 pound sterling)

Micah Choong, CEO & Founder of 64 Blunders