The following review appeared on Marsh Towers' blog:
Enter 1 f4
Bird's Opening!
By IM Andrew Martin
Four hours 20 minutes
ChessBase
'Back in the late seventies and eighties it was the Trompowsky Opening (1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5) which was giving Black a serious headache. Will 1 f4 continue in the same tradition in 2010 and beyond?'
In typically forthright style, IM Martin presents his case to try and prove that Bird's Opening is worthy of a place in an opening repertoire - albeit as an occasional weapon of surprise.
The material is split into the following segments:
Bird Game
From Gambit
Leningrad Game
Other Systems
The late Bent Larsen is prominent on this DVD, just as he is on 'Bamboozle'. Indeed, there is a little bit of a crossover with some of the given lines too, with White heading for a reversed Leningrad Dutch as part of the recommended repertoire.
I was interested in the unusual method given against Black's From Gambit. 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6 3 Nf3 dxe5 4 e4 - with an unusual sort of King's Gambit Declined, with options of Bb5 and the chance to build a strong centre with c3 and d4.
Everything appears to be fairly easy to play and worth a try at a local level, but I suspect 1 f4, unlike the Trompowsky, will remain an opening with a cult following.
Note: I looked up the above mentioned From's suggestion on
www.chessgames.com and came across the following: 12 games, +5, -5, =2
Four of the last five games, since 2001, were White victories, although most of the players were in the 2100 range.