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Henry Bird vs Jean Taubenhaus
6th American Chess Congress, New York (1889), New York, NY USA, rd 37, May-14
Bird Opening: Gunsberg Defense (A02)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Annotations by Wilhelm Steinitz.      [129 more games annotated by Steinitz]

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find similar games 2 more Bird/Taubenhaus games
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Kibitzer's Corner
Jan-06-04  Whitehat1963: Does any modern master use this opening any more? Notes on this game by Steinitz.
Jan-06-04  Bears092: Granda-Zuniga vs Beliavsky, 2002
Mar-30-05  malbase: Look at Bent Larsen Games. And Nimzovitch Games.
Mar-30-05  RookFile: Sure. Actually, a lot of masters play this move, 1. f4, with the idea of reaching the Dutch defense with the
colors reversed, and 1 or 2 extra tempos, depending upon the position. Very often, the f file gets opened, white doubles on the f file, and annihates black's defenses.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of games available online, but I know senior master John Curdo plays it this way.

Mar-30-05  InspiredByMorphy: <Whitehat1963> Heres a well known master who has used the Bird system a number of times. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

I think his most impressive win with it was thee following game ...Larsen vs Petrosian, 1958

Feb-18-06  Wilson: 16. fxe5 doesn't look very good to me. Surely the threat of a future Rf3 is murderous isn't it?

The immediate 16. Rf3 fails to 16. ... Nf6 (forced) 17. g4 Bc8 or 17. Rh3 Nh5 18. g4 (for example Bc8)? But why give up the threat so easily? Even e5 is more threatening than that isn't it?

Apr-06-07  Themofro: <Whitehat> Yes, there are a few, although the Bird's opening has never been all that popular because it is generally considered to weake the kingside, however after the most common response of ...1 d5, we have reached a dutch defense with reversed colors and a tempo up, the extra tempo annihilates the anti-futch lines almost always. It is a fine opening overall, with the added benefit of being obscure and as such taking your opponent out of the book. It is a fine opening that has been used by such players as Tartakower and of course Larsen, currently IM timothy Taylor plays it a lot, and GM Henrik Danielsen plays it constantly as well.
Apr-02-08  Knight13: I like Taubenhaus's idea of ...b6 ...Bb7, taking advantage of the fact that white can't play f3 to block it out. But he hammers it in with ...d5, but that's understandable. But it's not as good as the alternatives in my opinion.
Nov-22-08  YoungEd: One of the hardest things about playing Bird's opening is finding a decent place for the Queen's Knight. I think the reason Lasker disapproved of white's 14th is that the Q-side pieces hadn't all found decent homes yet.
Sep-12-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  OrangeTulip: Why not 11.h6 for Black? In order to kick the knight back home
Sep-12-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: After 11. Ng5:


click for larger view

11 ... h6? loses a Pawn to 12. Nxe6! (Remove the Guard) fxe6 13. Bxg6.

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