Beating Unusual Chess Openings is a godsend to those chess players fed up with struggling against all opening moves other than White’s main two: 1 e4 and 1 d4. From the respectable (English Opening, Réti and King’s Indian Attack) through to theoffbeat (Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Bird’s Opening) and the totally bizarre (Orang-utan, Grob); everything Black needs to know about facing unusual openings is covered within these pages. Richard Palliser gets to grips with all of White’s possibilities, examining their strengths and weaknesses and in turn organizing a reliable and practical repertoire for Black.

Index of Variations

The English: White Fianchettoes and Plays Nf3

1 c4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 Nf3 e5 (5...d6 - 27; 5...a6 - 33) 6 0-0 (6 a3 - 22; 6 d3 - 24) 6...Nge7 7 d3 0-0 8 a3 d6 9 Rb1 a5 10 Ne1 Be6 11 Bg5- 19 (11 Nd5 - 14; 11 Nc2 - 15)

The English: White Fianchettoes without Nf3
1 c4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 a3
5 e3 e5 - 48 (5...Bxc3 - 54)

5 e4 e5 - 58 (5...a6 - 61)
5...a6 (5...d6 - 37) 6 Rb1 Rb8 7 b4 cxb4 8 axb4 b5 9 cxb5 axb5 10 Nf3 e5 - 43 (10...d5 - 43)

The English: The Three Knights Variation
1 c4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 e5 (3...Nd4 - 79) 4 e3 Nf6 5 d4 cxd4 6 exd4 e4 7 Ne5 - 74 (7 Nd2 - 70; 7 Ng5 - 71)

The English: White Plays an Early d4
1 c4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6 5 Nb3 (5 e3 - 86; 5 Nc2 - 88) 5...e6 6 Nc3 Nf6 7 g3 (7 e4 - 91; 7 a3 - 94) 7...Ne5 8 e4 Bb4 9 Qe2 d6 10 f4 - 99 (10 Bd2 -104)

Two Advances of the g-pawn
1 g4 (1 g3 -109) 1...d5 (1...c5 - 114) 2 h3 (2 Bg2 -111) 2...e5 - 112

Bird's Opening
1 f4 d5 (1...d6 - 123) 2 Nf3 (2 b3 - 116; 2 g3 - 117) 2...Bg4 3 e3 Nd7 4 h3 (4 Be2-

120) 4 ...Bxf3 5 Qxf3 e5 - 121 (5...Ngf6 - 122; 5...e6 - 122)

The Nimzo-Larsen Attack
1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 e3 (3 c4 - 128) 3...d5 (3..Nf6 4 Bb5 Bd6 - 136) 4 Bb5 Bd6 5 f4 (5 c4 - 132) 5...Qh4+ 6 g3 Qe7 7 Nf3 f6 -133

Der Linksspringer: 1 Nc3
1 Nc3 c5 (1...Nf6 - 141; 1...d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Nxe4 Nd7 - 143) 2 Nf3 Nc6 (2..Nf6 - 153; 2...e6 - 156) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 - 150 (4..Nf6 - 150)

The Sokolsky
1 b4 e5 (1...c6 - 163) 2 Bb2 Bxb4 3 Bxe5 Nf6 - 159

Black Meets 1 Nf3 with 1...c5
1 Nf3 c5 2 g3 (2 b3 - 168) 2...Nc6 3 Bg2 e5 - 171

Black Meets 1 Nf3 with 1...d5
1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 (2 b3 - 177; 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 Bf5 - 180) 2...d4 3 g3 (3 b4 - 187; 3 e3 - 192) 3...g6 4 Bg2 e5 -195

Black Meets 1 Nf3 with 1...Nf6
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 (3 b3 - 199; 3 g3 - 200) 3...Bb4 4 Qc2 (4 Qb3 - 207; 4 g4 - 210; 4 g3 - 214) 4...c5 5 a3 Ba5 6 g3 Nc6 7 Bg2 0-0 8 0-0 d6 9 d3 – 218 (9 e3 - 218