I've ventured the line once, in a club championship game this summer against a 2050 or so opponent (who is probably worth more except for his inability to play quietly and his penchant for time trouble). He chose 3.Nc3 (forcing ...Nc7 earlier than probably preferable unless black wants shattered pawns), followed by Be3, Qd2 and a huge kingside attack. I'll try to dig out the game score tonight.

As much as I'd love this opening to be playable, partly due to loving this sort of weird stuff and partly because I'm a huge fan of Tony Miles, it seems that after 3.Nc3 intending to simply develop and then attack on the kingside, white has a more than comfortable edge.

Regards,
Craig

I give props to any one who would play this off beat stuff!

Thats why i play things like the owens on occasion or the st.george or even c6 then nf6.

Cudos to the off beat lovers. We truley love this game for what it is.

I don't think Miles would ever have claimed to have created this opening system, which was played before him by de Bruycker and Wohl himself, among others. I believe he did create the name, though, and also the "Basmaniac Dutch" interpretation with ...Nh6 and ...f5.

A quick look at the statistics suggests that Black hasn't done at all badly with the Holey Wohly in the twenty-first century. Is this because it's not so bad, and/or because it's apt to produce fluid and strategically complicated positions which will favour the more inventive player? What do people think, and what's White's best try for preserving an advantage?