Bird's Opening: Detailed Coverage of an Underrated and Dynamic Choice for White (Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

Timothy Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005

Bird's Opening is an underrated and dynamic choice for White that immediately directs the game into relatively unexplored territory, setting Black players early problems and forcing them to think for themselves rather than having the luxury of relying on the theory of more mainstream openings. It's also a very flexible option that can lead to both sharp gambit play, such as the notorious From's Gambit, as well as quieter positional lines. In this book International Master Timothy Taylor unearths the secrets of Bird's Opening and its many deviations. Using illustrative games, he examines tactical and positional ideas for both colours and recommends the best paths in both the 'main lines' and the lesser-trodden paths. A study of this book will give the reader the required knowledge and confidence to play the Bird's Opening with either colour. It is written by a Bird's Opening expert, and gives a complete up-to-date survey on an active chess opening. It is ideal for club and tournament players.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Bird's Opening is an underrated and dynamic choice for White that immediately directs the game into relatively unexplored territory, setting Black players early problems and forcing them to think for themselves rather than having the luxury of relying on the theory of more mainstream openings. It's also a very flexible option that can lead to both sharp gambit play, such as the notorious From's Gambit, as well as quieter positional lines.
In this book International Master Timothy Taylor unearths the secrets of Bird's Opening and its many deviations. Using illustrative games, he examines tactical and positional ideas for both colors and recommends the best paths in both the 'main lines' and the lesser-trodden paths. A study of this book will give the reader the required knowledge and confidence to play the Bird's Opening with either color.

*Written by a Bird's Opening expert
*A complete up-to-date survey on an active chess opening
*Ideal for club and tournament players

About the Author

International Master Timothy Taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes including winning the U.S. Open. He is also a skilled chess writer, one of his previous books How to Defeat the Smith-Morra Gambit becoming a U.S. Chess Federation bestseller. Outside of chess, he is the author of two published novels, Elaine The Fair and Amanda, while he directed the film Wicked Pursuits. He is resident in the U.S.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857444027
• ISBN-13: 978-1857444025
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #782,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book on a mediocre chess opening, January 10, 2006

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bird's Opening: Detailed Coverage of an Underrated and Dynamic Choice for White (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

The most popular opening moves are, in order, 1 e4, 1 d4, 1 Nf3, and 1 c4. 1 f4 is sixth (behind 1 g3 and not far ahead of 1 b3). And there's a reason for that. 1 f4 is not the best opening move. Matter of fact, it's one of the worst in winning percentage.

Some people say that the purpose of an opening is to reach a playable middle game. But that's misleading at best. You play chess to win, especially against a much weaker opponent. Or, perhaps, against a strong opponent, draw. And chess openings ought to help you reach these goals. Maybe you'll decide that a certain opening fits your style, or that you know it well, or that it doesn't fit your opponent's style. Maybe you even have some specific tactical threats in mind to win material, get a big center, get an overwhelming outpost for a piece, get an open file, trash your opponent's pawn structure, or destroy her King safety. Or perhaps you plan to build up your position slowly, reducing your opponent's mobility, options, or threats while you either build up a dangerous attack or force a simplification to a winning endgame.

However, especially against weak opponents, I think you want to give Black a chance to lose right in the opening. If Black makes some key error there, you shouldn't need middle-game heroics to win. As for the endgame, if there is one at all, it ought to be terribly lopsided. And in this book, we do indeed see some games where Black does in fact make some key errors but even Masters with White still can't find a way to win. That's my experience as well: I've played many games on both sides of 1 f4 (and several on both sides of 1 f4 e5), and Black has done rather well in those games.

White's most common idea after 1 f4 is to slowly build up a Kingside attack, playing the opening as a Dutch with a move in hand. But is it dangerous enough? Is that extra move really worth much, or is it simply too committal? Well, if you find that weak opponents do well against you in that opening, maybe you ought not keep trying 1 f4 against them.

In this book, Timothy Taylor argues that the Bird is indeed dangerous enough to use against strong players and even against weaker ones. And he shows some lines where one can use that extra tempo in the Dutch after 1 f4 d5. But he does not recommend the Stonewall (where White puts pawns on c3, d4, e3, and f4, with a Knight on f3). Sometimes, one can transpose into a favorable version of it, but in general, the extra tempo is not very useful and the weaknesses (the hole at e4 and the restricted Queen's Bishop) are permanent. A slightly better line is the Antoshin (pawns on c3, d3, e4, and f4, with a Knight on f3 and Queen on c2). But this also fails to give White much against a prepared opponent. Even better is a reversed Leningrad, say 1 f4 d5 2 Nf3 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 Nf6 5 0-0 0-0 6 d3 c5 7 c3. White is threatening 8 e4, but Taylor notes that Black can try to stop this move or even get a very playable game with 7...b6, allowing it.

Some folks suggest that Black play what Taylor calls "the recipe" against the Bird, with 1 f4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 Bg4, followed by ...Nbd7, ...Bxf3, and ...e5. But as the author shows, this leads to unexpectedly wild and unclear lines. If Black wants to play an early Bg4, Taylor suggests 1 f4 d5 2 Nf3 Bg4 3 e3 Nd7 4 h3 Bxf3 5 Qxf3 e5.

White often tries a Queenside fianchetto, which can also arise from 1 b3. And here, Taylor explains that 1 f4 d5 2 Nf3 c5 3 e3 Nc6 is an error by Black (3...g6 is correct). After 3...Nc6 the pin with 4 Bb5 is a problem. On the other hand, if White tries to go straight into a Queenside fianchetto, with 1 f4 d5 2 e3 Nf6 3 b3, Black simply plays 3...d4, and probably already stands better.

Taylor's recommendation for Black is the Classical, which goes 1 f4 d5 2 Nf3 g6 3 e3 Bg7 4 Be2 Nf6 5 0-0 0-0 6 d3 c5. Most folks with White then go for a Kingside attack with Qe1 (and usually c3 as well), often followed by Qh4. Taylor doesn't like Qe1 at all (neither do I), and he advises us to play 7 Nc3 instead.

This book has fifty pages on the From Gambit (1 f4 e5). Yes, White can transpose to a King's Gambit with 2 e4, but as Taylor shows, it is better to just take that pawn. The way that I do it (Taylor shows this as well) is 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6 3 Nf3 dxe5 4 Nxe5 Bd6 5 Nf3 (transposing to the 3 exd6 line). After 5...g5, 6 g3 is good for White. So Black winds up with 5...Nf6 6 d4. Now what? If 6...0-0 7 e4 is good for White. Best is 6...Ng4 7 Qd3 c5 8 Qe4+ Be6 9 d5. White can also try 9 Qxb7 here, or the totally wild 9 Ng5.

The book ends with some minor lines, such as 1 f4 f5 2 e4 with a Swiss Gambit (a reversed From). And there's also 1 f4 c5, where White is best off with 2 Nf3 g6 3 e4, with a Grand Prix attack against the Sicilian.

Taylor shows us a bunch of very good games, some of them played by World Champions.

I'm not a big fan of Bird's Opening, but I highly recommend this book.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but good, June 1, 2006

By 

Patzerovicz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bird's Opening: Detailed Coverage of an Underrated and Dynamic Choice for White (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

I have played Bird's Opening more or less regularly for years in blitzgames, OTB and Corresponde games. I consider this book to be very readable for anyone, who wants to begin the game with 1.f4 and has at least some knowledge about the Dutch Defence. Taylor makes good work with the main lines and shows correct move-orders for both the White and Black. I think that this is a balanced book and shows You also, how to play Bird's Opening as a Black.

However, no book is perfect. Some critics:

1) There is no handling of the reversed London-systems 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bf5 / 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Bf5:
In my experience, these setups appear quite often in amateur games, but they are outside the scope of this book. Other typical amateur setup is 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6!? - Taylor shows in the notes that 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 Nc6?! 4.d4 is good for White. So You can play well 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 Bg4 4.d4 etc. But what about reversed London setup 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e3 Bf5 ? - now 4.d4 could be met with the crude 4.-Nb4!?, when You have to play 5.Na3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 or try strange-looking 5.Bd3!? Nxd3 6.cxd3 - I think that here 4.Bb5 is better try.

2) The Chapter of the Classical Bird 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Be2 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 c5:
This is what I myself have played. I think that there is too much material about 7.Qe1 and 8.c3 - it is shown to be rather weak setup. More interesting alternatives for White are 7.Nc3 and 7.a4 - I think that Taylor could have skipped out some of the games with 7.Qe1 and 8.c3 and concentrated more in those better alternatives for White. Probably Taylor is also a bit too hard with 7.Qe1: it is a commital move, yes - but if You follow it with 8.a4!?, You might get quite good game as Taylor himself shows at the end of the chapter (althoug he recommends You to play first 6.a4 / 7.a4 and only later Qe1).

3) The Chapter of the Recipe variation 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 Nd7 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3:
There is no obligation for Black to commit himself with the premature Knight development 5.-Ngf6?! and getting some problems after 6.g4! Only given alternative is the wild gambit 5.-e5!?. But there is also good and solid move 5.-c6!?, which in my opinion is best for Black in this position. With 5.-c6!? Black can force White to Stonewall-setup with 6.d4. This is left outside the scope of this book. As 5.-c6!? is mentioned in other sources concerning the Bird's Opening, Taylor must have known it. It is strange that he does not even mention this possibility for Black. I think that there are some hidden possibilities for Black, if he plays -f5 before development of King's Knight - then we have Stonewall vs. Stonewall -positions, where White has some problems with the dark-squared Bishop. You can of course avoid this with 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.Ne5!?, but then You are pretty much on Your own, because Taylor gives just little information about it. The good news is that he seems to recommend 3.Ne5 with 4.c4!?, which in my opinion is the best fourth move alternative, if You are after full point. So at least You get a good hint where to start Your own research, if You want to play 3.Ne5!?.

4) The Chapter of the From's Gambit:
The revival of the old line 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5 Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Nc6 9.Nc3! is interesting and could be a good alternative, if You like to avoid complications and play endgames or queenless middlegames with the advantage of Bishop pair. However, Black can try to mix things with 6.-Qf6!? and this possibility should have been handled. This is a minor problem, as Taylor gives You good insight to the main line of 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6
3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.g3.

If You want to have complementary material to this book, I would recommend You to get the Big Bird Database by Sid Pickard.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bird, April 4, 2008

By 

Wyote (Seoul) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Bird's Opening: Detailed Coverage of an Underrated and Dynamic Choice for White (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

Like almost everyone, I've played 1. e4 since I learned to play. Then, for the past 15 years or so, I've played nothing else. I am fairly ready for most responses to it - The Spanish, the Sicilian, the French, the Caro-Kann. At least I won't get in trouble within the first 7 or 8 moves of a game.

But I wanted to find some lines that I could bet my opponents would never have seen. Something crazy, but also sharp and exciting. Somehow, one day, it occured to me: the Bird.

So I got this book. I browsed it, and thought, well, before I dive into the book, why not play a few games just to feel it out? I won 3/4 of them, against a player ranked 200 points higher than me. Why? Partially because I got a good kingside attack in every game. However, in every game, I was thinking, God, why did I get myself into this!? In every game I was forced to sacrifice material to have a chance - and it worked out 3 times. So far, a few weeks in, that seems to be a pattern. (Another pattern is that when the Bird goes wrong, it really goes wrong.)

So I've started working through the book, and I cannot agree more with the reviewer who says it's poorly organized. That it is.

However, the ideas are in there, and I'm finding them, and it is a helpful book. It seems to be for entertainment rather than repertoire building, and that's fine with me - the Bird is not a "repertoire" kind of opening.

For fun, I recommend this opening. And this book is not a bad introduction to it, provided you know how to attack and play the middle game. Like the last words of this book say, "Good luck!"

Edit: A few weeks later, I want to add some stuff. First, this is really the most fun I've ever had playing chess. NO ONE is prepared for this. And there's no better feeling than storming the kingside pawns. Second, now that I've really gone through the book, it really is full of good advice and insight. Very well done. Not organized as I'd prefer, but very well done.