The Hammerschlag Opening By Any Other Name...

 

...would be as bad. 

     1948 was the year Mill Ends Park was dedicated in Portland, Oregon. The park, consisting of one tree is located in a median strip in downtown Portland, Oregon and is a small circle 2 feet across. 

     Here's another fun fact; in 1948, Highway Gothic, a standard set of fonts specifically designed to maximize legibility at a distance and high speed, was put into use. 

     Highway Gothic is a sans-serif typeface developed by the United States Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and used for road signage in the Americas, including the US, Canada and Latin American countries, as well as many Asian, South American and European countries. 

     It was the year Cheetos were first created. Some people find them addicting and there is a scientific reason for it. According an Oxford study, the brain associates the crunching sound with freshness, so it convinces eaters that they're eating something that is more appetizing than it really is. 

     The bar codes we see everyday were invented by Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland; they are based on the Morse code. 

     Not surprisingly, conspiracy theorists considered bar codes to be an intrusive surveillance technology and from fanatical Christians, pioneered by a 1982 book The New Money System 666 by Mary Stewart Relfe, thought the codes hid the number 666, representing the Number of the Beast mentioned in Revelation and they are the stamp of the Antichrist. Television host Phil Donahue described bar codes as a "corporate plot against consumers." More on the conspiracy HERE 

     Call it what you will, 1.f3, the Barnes Opening, the Fried Fox Attack, the Wandering King Opening, the Hammerschlag, the Tumbleweed, the Bongcloud, the Pork Chop Opening or the Half Bird, it's still, according to the late GM Edmar Mednis, the worst opening move possible, and GM Ben Finegold lists it on his "Never Play" list. 

     The opening is named after Thomas Wilson Barnes (1825–1874), an English player who had eight wins over Paul Morphy, including one game where Barnes answered 1.e4 with 1...f6, known as the Barnes Defense. The opening 1.f3 is sometimes followed up with the nonsensical 2.Kf2, the Hammerschlag. 

     Here's a fun Hammerschlag that was played in the Northwestern Intercollegiate Championship that was held in Austin, Texas. 

[Event "SW Intercollegiate Chp, Austin"] [Site "?"] [Date "1948.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "J. Gilbert"] [Black "G. Dickie"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "109"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.09"] {Hammerschlag} 1. f3 {Obviously there is no clear refutation of this move so all black can do is follow general opening principles. Engines give black's advantage at less than a Pawn.} d5 2. Kf2 {the "book" line, if there is such a thing and the recommended engine move is 2.f4} (2. f4 c5 3. e3 {with a Bird Opening where white has forfeited his opening mvoe advantage and handed it over to black.}) 2... e5 (2... c5 3. e3 e5 4. Bb5+ Nc6 5. Ne2 f5 6. Re1 Nf6 7. Kg1 Bd6 8. d3 O-O {Black is better. Sochacki,W (2264)-Krouzel,J (2159) Pardubice CZE 2013}) 3. c3 Nf6 4. Qc2 Bc5+ 5. e3 e4 6. d4 Bd6 7. Ne2 exf3 { Black would have been somewhat better off avoiding this and playing 7...c5} 8. gxf3 {Black is clearly better.} Nh5 9. e4 {Better was 9.Ng3} Qh4+ {After this white finds himself in a very difficult situation. the best move, 10.kg1, leaves his R hemmed in and useless.} 10. Ke3 {This leaves his K far too exposed and black can already be considered to have a winning position.} O-O 11. Nd2 Re8 12. Bg2 dxe4 13. fxe4 Nc6 (13... Qg5+ {would be weaker because all it does is drive white's K to a somewhat safer position.} 14. Kf2 Nc6 15. Nc4 Qh4+ 16. Ng3 f5 {with a strong attack.}) 14. Nf3 Bf4+ {At first glance this is a logical developing move, but, in fact, it loses all of black's advantage.} ( 14... Qg4 15. Kf2 Rxe4 16. Ng5 {White's "attack" is destined to fizzle out.} Re8 17. Qxh7+ Kf8 18. Bf3 Qh4+ 19. Kf1 Bh3+ 20. Nxh3 Ng3+ {is decisive.}) 15. Nxf4 Qxf4+ 16. Kf2 {Now white's K is quite safe and it's an entirely new game!} Qxe4 {It would have been more promising to keep the Qs on with, say. 16...Qg4} 17. Qxe4 Rxe4 18. Ne5 {Trapping the R.} Rxe5 (18... Rh4 19. Bg5 Nxe5 20. Bxh4 Nd3+ 21. Ke3 Nxb2 22. Bf3 Nf6 23. Bxf6 gxf6 {favors white.}) 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Rd1 {[%mdl 128] Black is in trouble.} Bg4 21. Bxb7 Rb8 22. Rd5 f6 23. Ba6 Be6 24. Rc5 c6 25. b3 g5 26. Be2 Ng7 27. Bxg5 {[%mdl 512] Winning a P. Being the exchange down, materially black is not so badly off, but his position will prove untenable because white's pieces are more active and his K is better positioned.} Nd7 28. Bf4 Nxc5 29. Bxb8 Ne4+ 30. Ke3 Nxc3 31. Bxa7 Nb5 32. Bxb5 cxb5 {[%mdl 4096] White's engame play is impeccable.} 33. Rc1 Nf5+ 34. Kf4 Ne7 35. Rc5 Bd7 36. Bb8 Kf7 37. Bd6 Ng6+ 38. Ke4 Ke6 39. Bg3 Ne7 40. Rh5 f5+ 41. Kd3 Nd5 42. Rh6+ Kf7 43. Rxh7+ Ke6 44. Rh6+ Ke7 45. Kd4 f4 46. Bh4+ Ke8 47. Kxd5 f3 48. Kd6 Bf5 49. Rf6 Be4 50. Ke6 b4 51. Rh6 Kf8 52. Bf6 Bd5+ 53. Kxd5 f2 54. Ke6 f1=Q 55. Rh8# {What's interesting about this game is that the auto-analysis using Fritz and Stockfish was that white's Weighted Error Value is given as 0.18 while black's was 0.50. As near as I can tell the Weighted Eroor Value is a pretty useless number, but 0.18 is defined as "very precise." Based on that, 0.50 does not seem too bad.} 1-0