Interesting thread; me too have been looking to brew something out of reversed classical, antoshin and larsen, but I'm afraid MNB is right. (You should be able to drop a tempo before making the committing pwan move.

Something else I have been trying lately is the Golovankov variation : a reversed clarendon court. Lots of fun, but = from the start, of course.

The only problem with the bird is the main line, really. The From is just a point cashing machine for white, and there are good antisicilians available.

TalJechin wrote on 11/30/11 at 23:10:57:

The first impression is that White can head for the Bird via 1.b3, 1.e3 or 1.g3 and avoid the From's Gambit of course. I'm not so sure if that's a good reason though. In a Kaissiber article it was argued that White has fine prospects of an advantage after 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3. This is also an idea of GM Larsen.
Moreover, 1.e3 Nc6 2.f4 e5 is also a kind of From's Gambit. So is 1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 d6 3.f4 e5.
1.g3 e5 leads to all kind of transpositions, many of them not so fresh anymore.

Possibly 1.e3 e5 2.c4, 1.e3 Nc6 2.c4 combined with 1.e3 d5 2.f4 makes a nice repertoire; I'm not sure of 1.e3 Nf6 and 1.e3 c5 though.

So I still think it's simplest to allow the From and combine the Leningrad Bird/Polar Bear with the Big Clamp against the Sicilian: 1.f4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.O-O and if Black refuses to play ...d5 then e2-e4 postponing Nc3. A Dutch friend of mine (ELO 2100) scored 4½/6 with this.

Quote:


Why choose the committal 1.f4 if the above is your goal? 1.d3, 1.g3 or even the rare 1.e3 could lead to completely fresh positions, as well as a reversed Dutch, French, Alekhine etc, while still offering alternative major set-ups like going into the English, KIA or Catalan when appropriate and allowed.

bragesjo wrote on 11/29/11 at 20:47:59:


@Bragesjo
You may like to look at Kindermann's Dutch Leningrad book. 
A very practical anti-English weapon there which works a treat against auto-pilot Sicilian/English fianchetto moves. 
Key- no e4.

For such a Leningrad Bird repertoire: Kindermann, plus Danielsen's vids.

@HgMan
Good to have you back, certainly. 
I suggest Odessky's 1.b3 book. 
He is high-energy, charmingly bonkers, unusually literate for a chess writer, puts real energy into his books. An instructive read, ask Santa.

Nice to have you back - I have missed you.

HgMan wrote on 11/29/11 at 17:13:06:

I'm afraid the latter. That should not prevent you to incorporate all three in an opening system: flexibility and such things.
The main problem I have with these three is not so much Black playing ambitiously. Thus White will have chances too. That includes lines in which the position gets open early.
My problem is Black playing unambitiously and still rock solid. Though I have little experience I feel that it is quite hard to create enough imbalances.
Sample lines: Schlechter's Variation 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 c6 4.b3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.Bb2 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.Ne5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nbd7 10.c4 Qe7.
If White avoids this with 4.Be2 Black still can try Bg4 as 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 is equally solid.

Like Bragesjo pointed out there is also the Sicilian approach. You should remember my game against David Flude (I miss him too): 1.f4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.e4 e6 4.d3 g6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.c3 O-O 8.Be3 d6. Although the game ended in a draw David wrote it made him give up the Bird. Of course White may try 3.e3 but it can be hard to activate the King's Bishop. Compare the English: 1.c4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.d3 O-O 6.e4 fxe4 7.dxe4 Nc6 8.h3 when Williams advises to lose a tempo with Bc5.

Because of such considerations I have concluded that White's only ambitious setup is the Leningrad Reversed, aka the Polar Bear.

I've recently returned to Bird's Opening as a means of achieving positions less scrutinized by theory. Previously, this involved preparing a line against the From and hacking away at the Classical Bird with 7.a4 or 7.Qe1 and 8.a4 (1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 c5 7.a4) without much plan beyond that.

My return to Bird's stems from study of impressive wins (not Bird-related). My primary interest is in acquiring complicated positions, free of theory, where strategic planning and a better understanding of the position's latent energy will allow me to dictate the rules of engagement.

I'd like to develop a more sophisticated opening system around the Classical, the Antoshin, and the Bird-Larsen. My interest in studying all three has less to do with move-order concerns (though that might have some bearing) and more to do with variety and the potential for over-lapping themes. I have little experience with the latter two: are they thematically consistent with the Classical, or am I trying to marry apples and oranges?

Further, I appreciate that I have an opponent on the other side of the board whose job it is to make my life miserable, but can I expect/endeavor to generate closed positions through these three options—and are there any lines I should be looking to avoid (From excepted, of course) if I would prefer not to open the game at too early a stage?

Caveats: 
1. I know that 1.f4 isn't White's best option. I know that many of these positions will yield little or no advantage to White out of the opening.

2. The more I look at it, the more I strongly dislike Taylor's book. It seems high on rhetoric and low on in-depth analysis. Lazy, in many respects.