I played an online game and my opponent, in the opening, came gunning down my kingside with both guns drawn, so to speak. I was playing white.
It was at standard time control for an online game.
-essentually a 30 minute game, taking increment into consideration.
Surviving the attack wasn’t an issue… I even castled kingside into the attack.
What caught my attention was how poorly my opponent played once he couldn’t crush me in the opening.
Which makes me wonder why weak players study stuff that doesn’t teach good chess practices.
It doesn’t help there are youtube videos on opening traps where the narrator say stuff along the lines " if he moves this [insert piece and square it moves to] he has to do this" [insert move]. But it’s obvious the “forced” move is not forced at all, and often the best reply will crush the attacker.
There isn’t a magic formula to becoming a stronger player outside of what any good chess teacher will
teach you. I also blame the people that create and peddle garbage like, hypothetically, “how to destroy your opponent with a kingside attack in the opening”.
I’m wondering if you were concentrating on playing a good game and your opponent was concentrating on playing a fun game. With the ready availability of on-line players your opponent may have figured that some games getting crushed is a decent payment for some other games as the person doing the crushing.
I would blame the coaches, but the abundance of online resources for opening traps, or aggressive early attacks, and will of people to shortcut their way to rating points means an endless supply of kids trying to make every game a win in under 20 moves.
/sigh
One of the first questions most beginners ask is how to checkmate quickly. That’s exactly why so many people try 1. e4 2. Bc4 3. Qh5. Hey, even I checkmated the valedictorian of my high school three times in a row using that pattern. (And yes, I was black in one game.)
Eventually, someone tells the beginner that a better strategy is to develop, control the center and castle before launching an attack. Still, it is natural for someone to push the limits of what works and what is plain stupid. Some people hear of the Dragon for the first time, and then try the Yugoslav Attack against any opening. Even intermediate players sometimes attack before castling. Frankly, a lot of crazy tricks wind up being successful in games between weak players. Only a stronger, more experienced opponent understands how to refute them. That’s a big reason why beginners are, well, beginners.
Alas, even the best Grandmasters in the world sometimes get away with wild kingside attacks. I show my students the following game between Hikaru Nakamura and Ilya Smirin from Foxwoods in 2005. 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 Nfd7 7. h4 c5 8. h5 cxd4 9. hxg6 dxc3 10. gxf7+ Rxf7 11. Bc4 Nf8 12. Ng5 e6 13. Nxf7 cxb2 14. Bxb2 Qa5+ 15. Kf1 Kxf7 16. Qh5+ Kg8 17. Bd3 Qb4 18. Rb1 Bd7 19. c4 Qd2 20. Bxh7+ Nxh7 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 22. Rh4 1-0.
Finally, even strong players sometimes like to troll their opponents. Have you ever faced 1. g3 2. Bg2 3. Nh3 4. f3 5. Nf2 6. O-O before?
I saw a game in print in which Michael Bury played 1 … f6, 2 … Kf7, 3 … g6, 4 … Kg7, 5 … h5. I don’t know what happened next, maybe 6 … Nh6. But yeah, your version of it looks good too
Been a while since I actually had someone try an obvious kingside attack out the opening, but finally I snared one. (LICHESS)
I was playing white
15. … Bd6
Final Position: (opponent resigned)
17. b5
This one in particular was, in my opinion, transparent. I’ve have much more talented players do far more sophisticated kingside attacks. Plus the fact that the guy resigned the moment I started launching the slightest counter attack. I would say there’s it’s a good probability that it was some kid that is a fairly poor player, watching youtube videos on how to crush your opponent with a kingside attack. Probably crushes all his friends that have no plans to crack open a chess book, let alone play chess as a serious hobby. Still, the speed at which he resigned when his king side attack was losing momentum even took me by surprise.
I’m not saying I’ve managed to survive every kingside attack, but they are few and far between. Most players around 1700 or higher don’t bother playing those things unless it’s a blitz game. (I tend to like at least 30 minute games), but I have days where I’m not at my prime.
It seems to be random though. Lately it’s been a drought for me facing opponents going for an early king side attack.
There are many books and videos on how to attack. They sell very well. There are precious few concerning defense. Those do not sell very many units. Andy Soltis’ book, “The Art of Defense”, still holds up very well after all of these years. The dynamics of the modern game incite you to either attack or counterattack. Defense is looked on as an ugly thing that you do only if you have to.
