Toppy -

Control yourself, man.  HgMan was just being polite.  I'll say the same thing to Keith:  glad to have you here.

Now Toppy, don't say anything mean to me.   

- Lost Highway

Welcome, Keith Hayward, to the Bird threads here on the Chesspublishing forum.  In preparing my repertoire, I made good use of your online analysis--thank you for making it available.

Looking forward to more insights...

Quote:


I would have to agree ... I have preferred 4 d4, although I see 2...Nc6 rarely. Here is an example against an US CC champ:

Hayward,K - Taylor,D [A02]
CM698 APCT, 1987
1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 Nc6 3 Nf3 g5 4 d4 g4 5 Ng5 d5 6 exd6 Qxd6 7 d5 Nb4 8 Nc3 Qg6 9 Nge4 Bf5 10 a3 Bxe4 11 Nxe4 Qxe4 12 axb4 Bxb4+ 13 c3 Bd6 14 Ra4 Qg6 15 g3 Nf6 16 Bg2 0-0 17 0-0 Nd7 18 e3 Ne5 19 e4 f6 20 Be3 a5 21 c4 b6 22 b3 Nd7 23 Ra2 Rae8 24 Raf2 Bc5 25 Bxc5 Nxc5 26 d6 cxd6 27 Qxd6 Nxe4 28 Bxe4 Qxe4 29 Qxb6 Rb8 30 Qxa5 Rxb3 31 Rf4 Qe3+ 32 Kh1 Qe6 33 Re1 Qd7 34 Qc5 Rd3 35 Re7 Rd1+ 36 Kg2 Rd2+ 37 Rf2 Qc8 38 Qxc8 Rxf2+ 39 Kxf2 Rxc8 40 Re4 f5 41 Rf4 Kg7 42 Ke3 Kf6 43 Kd4 Rd8+ 44 Kc3 Rc8 45 Rd4 h5 46 Rd6+ Kg5 47 Kd4 h4 48 c5 h3 49 Kc4 f4 50 Rd5+ Kf6 51 gxf4 g3 52 hxg3 Rh8 53 Rd1 h2 54 Rh1 Kf5 55 c6 Kg4 56 Kd5 Kxg3 57 c7 Kg2 58 Rc1 1-0

Good Chess! Keith

It's an interesting question what white should do with his extra tempo. 

As the Bird is probably too slow to actually promise white an advantage, other than the familiarity of the dutch-like positions. The dutch is a reactive set-up so not giving black time to 'weaken' himself first by choosing a plan, may be what makes it hard to prove an edge for white...

So, it could make sense to play 1.f4 d5 2.a3!? and then opt for a Leningrad with hopefully an extra tempo - this would entail knowledge of the Lenindutch with Nc6, as Na3 is more common than a3 in the Qe8 variation, and 1.f4 d5 2.Na3 strikes me as too weird.

Playing a4 in an Iljin-Bird is ambitious as it tries to keep the extra tempo when the 'reversed theory' is over - but isn't a5, Qe8, Na6 etc in the Iljin mostly waiting moves until white committs to one of the plans? And continuing with a4, Na3 etc may give white a solid position, but not much advantage...

Anyway, I checked if anyone has tried 2.a3 

(Btw, the troublesome 2...Bg4 mentioned in another bird thread could be handled as usual after 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5, I suppose.) 

and found 5 games, (+4 -1), which is too few to be significant. But at least in practice the extra tempo may be quite useful i the LeninBird... 

E.g:

McDonald,N (2406) - Thipsay,B (2241) [A00]
Ron Banwell MSO Masters London ( 6.8 ), 23.08.2001

1.a3 d5 2.f4 Nf6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 c5 7.d3 Nc6 8.Nc3 d4 9.Na4 Qd6 10.c4 Ng4 11.Rb1 Rb8 12.b4 b6 13.bxc5 bxc5 14.Rb5 Rxb5 15.cxb5 Nd8 16.Qc2 Ne6 17.f5 gxf5 18.Nh4 Bf6 19.Nxf5 Qe5 20.b6 axb6 21.Nxb6 Ng7 22.Nc4 Qc7 23.Bf4 Qd8 24.Nh6+ Nxh6 25.Bxh6 e5 26.a4 Re8 27.a5 Ne6 28.Bc6 Bg7 29.Bxe8 Bxh6 30.Bxf7+ Kg7 31.Bxe6 Bxe6 32.a6 Qa8 33.Qb1 Qxa6 34.Qb8 Bxc4 35.Qf8+ Kg6 36.Qf5+ Kg7 37.Qxe5+ Kg8 38.Qe8+ Kg7 39.Qf8+ Kg6 40.Qf5+ Kg7 41.dxc4 1-0

In the IZ, I've sometimes played a5, Na6 (and then to b4, c5 or perhaps c7 after c6) - it dampens white's initiative on the queenside. When my opponent doesn't play g3 and Bg2, I've tried b6 and Bb7. b6 supports a5, and in general a5 has seldom been a weakness (cf MNb's post). So I think a4 is a good move for white in a IZ-type set up in the Bird's.

6.d3 c5 7.Qe1 Nc6 and 8.Qh4 does not look good. 8.a4 is one idea, but with colours reversed I am not too enthousiastic either. Another possibility is 8.Nc3 b4 9.Nd1 intending Nf2 and e4.
I am not sure, if 7.a4 is useful after Nc6 8.Qe1 (8.Na3!? and 9.c3) Re8 9.Qg3 e5 and compared to the IZ the pawn on a4 might turn to be a weakness.

I like 7.a4, always a useful move. 
 
Another option is delaying d3, so the Bishop on e2 still controls b5. d3 has to be played at some point, but maybe after Black has already gone  b6. With this in mind 6.Qe1 is worth considering, but i'm not totally sure.

Basically I'd go with 6.d3, 7.a4!  8)