3 ms·
For humans it might occasionally throw off your opponent psychologically, but it rarely actually works. Computers will, however, always find a refutation very,
by gliptic 5y ago
For humans it might occasionally throw off your opponent psychologically, but it rarely actually works. Computers will, however, always find a refutation very, very quickly and then you're just in a worse position.
- rectang 5y agoWith humans, it depends on the level of play and the time controls. You are sacrificing positional soundness and initiative to neutralize opening preparation (assuming your opponent hasn't prepped for the Bongcloud specifically). Taking your opponent out of book is a greater advantage with short time controls. I don't play crappy openings to win, though. I just want to play a wide variety of novel middle games, and if I have to sacrifice 100 rating points to get people out of book, that's a bargain. Because otherwise loss-aversion takes over and chess is all about playing for the draw.
- yupper32 5y agoPeople are taking this whole "get your opponent out of the opening prep by playing bongcloud" way too seriously. One of the first things you learn as a beginner chess player is how to play against awful openings. It's not like good people have forgotten their opening principles.
- rectang 5y agoBut from my perspective, playing someone who's in the mindset of punishing my awful opening sounds exciting! If you measure exclusively against the metric of "how to max out your rating", then yeah, weird openings aren't very helpful. But if your metric is "how to dredge wild tactical games out of opponents, even if I lose more often", then weird openings are generally superior. Of course the better way to neutralize opening prep and experience more wild games is just to play more Chess 960.