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This was a game against another Chess Boot Camp member on chess.com. They noted that they were kind of new to chess and wanted some help and feedback as they were losing points.

I noticed when I had a look at this member’s games, they tended to play a lot of the Van ‘t Kruijs Opening (1. e3), a rather uncommon opening that isn’t especially good. It isn’t even mentioned in Eric Schiller’s “Unorthodox Chess Openings” book!

They played this against me as well, and then proceeded to set up a double fianchetto.

Against unorthodox openings, there is no theory, but standard opening principles are typically good. Take control of the centre with pawns. Develop pieces – knights before bishops if you can. Castle if it makes sense to do so.

One of the problems with White’s opening manoeuvres is that it is slow. Setting up double fianchetto takes time. The result is that White lags on development, and also gives up control of the centre, at least, in the usual way we think about centre control. Hypermodern systems are completely fine, but they are difficult and complicated to play, and probably not the best system for people earlier in their chess journey.

After the game, I asked my opponent what their thinking was in the opening, they noted that they were effectively stalling for time and playing defensively until their opponent castled, and then attempt to launch an attack. Their idea was that the fianchetto bishop was often “points at the king” which is helpful.

There is a strategic sense here, but I suspect that it isn’t one that works at the beginner levels once you meet opponents who aren’t playing openings on autopilot. Basically, you can’t rely on your opponent to make a mistake that you can exploit.

In the game, I knew that I held the full centre in the opening so there wasn’t any reason for me to commit to castling to any specific side. On move 6, White seemed to prepare for kingside castling with the relatively passive Ne2, and my basic strategy seemed clear, and I was able to implement this.

• Block the dark square long diagonal with my pawn, or better yet, White’s pawn to nerf Black’s bishop on b2 (moves 7 to 8: White blocks in their own bishop)
• Force trade/capture the fianchetto bishop on g2, which weakens the defence of the king (moves 9 to 12: I force trade White’s bishop in b2)
• castle queenside (move 13)
• move my pieces to support a big kingside attack, supported by a kingside pawn-storm (move 14-18)

This worked. White’s kingside defences were smashed, and White attempted to escape the ruins by moving the king into the centre of the board. The king should rarely be amidst the field of battle in the middlegame, and this was represented by a Stockfish evaluation of almost [-14]. A mating net was woven with checkmate in the centre of the board on move 27. GG!

My suggestions?

• as a beginner, learn and understand a standard opening (the Italian Game is perfectly good) as well as the opening principles
• if you choose to also play an uncommon opening to spice things up, it’s important to learn how that opening works – that’ll involve some study of opening theory rather than simply winging it
• you can’t rely on the strategy of waiting for your opponent to make a mistake or blunder, unless your opening is psychologically tricky and trappy

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/467996463

[Event "Let's Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.01.21"]
[Round "-"]
[White "SassySkittles"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "A00"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vant-Kruijs-Opening-1...e5"]
[UTCDate "2023.01.21"]
[UTCTime "02:20:36"]
[WhiteElo "650"]
[BlackElo "1182"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "02:20:36"]
[EndDate "2023.01.22"]
[EndTime "04:33:43"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/467996463"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/208023435.38cc6fa6.78x78o.79db78f0fa67@3x.png"]
[WhiteCountry "2"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.82046355.78x78o.ebd68214df6f@3x.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e3 {Van 't Kruijs Opening. This is an uncommon opening that isn't especially
good. It's considered an irregular opening that doesn't even feature in
Schiller's \"Unorthodox Chess Openings\" [0.00 to +0.1].} 1... e5 2. b3
{[%c_arrow
d2d4;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false] Strategically unclear
move [-0.3]} 2... d5 3. Bb2 Nc6 4. g3 $6 {[%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Stockfish calls this an inaccuracy
[-1]. In essence, setting up a double fianchetto. This is typically not a good
strategy as White is giving up tempo - effectively, making it behind on piece
development and effectively giving up the centre in the opening.} 4... Nf6
{[%c_arrow
h7h5;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false] I opted to follow
simple opening principles. Stockfish also sees an opportunity to immediately
take advantage of White's slow development and destabilise White's limited
development with a flank pawn attack.} 5. Bg2 Bc5 6. Ne2 Bf5 7. d4 exd4 8. exd4
Be7 {[%c_arrow
b2d4;keyPressed;none;from;b2;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false,c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,b2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b2;persistent;false]
Stockfish evaluates Bd6 to be the better move but Black is still ahead [-0.2].
This position demonstrates a problem with the double fianchetto with White's
dark square bishop blocked in by their own pawn.} 9. O-O {With White now
committing to a kingside castle, their lack of control of the centre means that
I can now bring my pieces to the kingside to form an attack, and castle my own
king to the opposite side.} 9... Qd7 {[%c_highlight
d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false,f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false,h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false][%c_arrow
d7h3;keyPressed;none;from;d7;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false] Getting rid of
the defensive fianchetto bishop is typically good} 10. Nf4 g5 11. Ne2 $2
{[%c_arrow
f4d3;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;d3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d3;persistent;false][%c_effect
e2;square;e2;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Stockfish calls this a mistake [-2.8]
though apparently Nd3 is [0.00]. I suspect that it is only equal with accurate
computer line play, so in essence, the position is bad for White.} 11... Bh3 $9
{[%c_arrow
h7h5;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false] Stockfish thinks that
pushing the h-pawn first is better [-0.9].} 12. Nd2 $9 {[%c_arrow
g2h3;keyPressed;none;from;g2;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] A mistake [-3.1].
White should just trade bishops.} 12... Bxg2 13. Kxg2 O-O-O $2 {[%c_arrow
h7h5;keyPressed;none;from;h7;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false][%c_effect
c8;square;c8;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Stockfish thought this was
unnecessary and preferred immediately attacking White's king's position with h5.
My king is still relatively safe in the centre due to White's lack of control of
the centre. However, I thought it would be better at this point to move my king
out of a potential unseen future danger while I had some breathing room and the
advantage [from -3.1 to -1.4].} 14. Bc1 $9 {[%c_arrow
d2f3;keyPressed;none;from;d2;opacity;0.8;to;f3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f3;persistent;false] This passive move was
a mistake [-4]} 14... h5 15. Nf3 h4 $2 {[%c_arrow
f6e4;keyPressed;none;from;f6;opacity;0.8;to;e4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e4;persistent;false][%c_effect
h4;square;h4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] Stockfish rates this as a mistake as
I hang my g5 pawn, but it's still good for Black [-2.5]. Tactically, I thought
that it would be fine if Black captured the pawn, and this proved to be the case
next move.} 16. Nxg5 $2 {[%c_arrow
c1g5;keyPressed;none;from;c1;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false][%c_effect
g5;square;g5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] White should have captured with the
bishop, which helps develop that piece [-5.9]} 16... hxg3 17. hxg3 Ne4 $1
{[%c_effect e4;square;e4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] White's knight on g5
needed to defend the h3 square and is now in trouble} 18. Nf4 $6 {[%c_arrow
f1h1;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;h1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h1;persistent;false][%c_effect
f4;square;f4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] A difficult position for White to
navigate [-7.9] as the attack on the king intensifies} 18... Bxg5 19. Kf3 $6
{[%c_arrow
f1h1;keyPressed;none;from;f1;opacity;0.8;to;h1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h1;persistent;false][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Moving the king to the centre of
the board into an attack is risky [-13.7]} 19... Bf6 20. Rh1 Nxd4+ 21. Ke3 Nf5+
22. Kf3 Bxa1 23. Rxh8 Rxh8 24. Qd3 Rh2 25. Be3 {A mating net has been woven
[-M9]} 25... Be5 26. Nxd5 Nd4+ $6 {[%c_arrow
f5h4;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;h4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h4;persistent;false][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Although not entirely clear, Nd4+
continues a forced checkmate line. However, this was a trap where White might
see the apparently \"hanging\" knight on e4, and miss the checkmate in 1.} 27.
Kxe4 $2 {[%c_effect e4;square;e4;type;Mistake;persistent;true] White falls for the
trap} 27... Qf5# {[%c_effect
c8;square;c8;type;Winner,e4;square;e4;type;CheckmateWhite]} 0-1