Just a Barnes Opening

     Whatever you call it, 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 and even if the late GM Edmar Mednis called it the worst opening move possible and GM Ben Finegold lists it on his Never Play list. I say never say never play 1.f3. 

     It's 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. 

     It's considered bad because it does not take control of the center, it takes away the f3 square for the N, it doesn’t allow development of any pieces and it seriously weakens safety of white’s King. 

     I play it occasionally in online blitz games and sometimes it works out quite well because my opponents, not realizing that there is no immediate, crushing refutation, have ignored commonsense rules of development and control of the center. Black can secure a comfortable advantage by advancing central Pawns and rapidly developing pieces to assert control over the center, but there is no forced way to confute the opening. 

     It's a waste of time for amateurs to go too deeply into memorizing opening lines. The thing about any opening is that at some point both players are going to start playing at their skill level and that is what is going to decide the game. And, that's why 1.f3 works, but only if you are playing opponents who are at, or below, your skill level. An example... 

[Event "Chess Hotel G/5+3"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tartajubow"] [Black "Guest"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {Barnes Opening} 1. f3 b6 2. Kf2 Bb7 3. c3 e6 {Black has played an odd setup to be sure.} 4. Qc2 Qh4+ {Rather pointless because the Q simply has to retreat. Either 4...c5 or 4...d5 would have been more precise.} 5. g3 Qf6 6. Bg2 Bc5+ { I wanted to be critical of this move which appears to only result in another loss of time, but according to the engines the position is quite equal. Stockfish suggests that both 6...g5 and 6...Nc6 would have left black with a smidgen of an advantage.} 7. d4 Bd6 {Retreating to e7 deprives the N of its best square. Black probably played this with the intention of playing ...e5} 8. e4 Bf8 {Clearly black's development has gone completely wrong! He should have continued with the planned ...e5} (8... e5 {was best...it leads to some real complications.} 9. f4 {Again threatening a P fork on e5.} exf4 10. e5 fxg3+ 11. Kxg3 Bxe5+ 12. dxe5 Qxe5+ 13. Bf4 Qe1+ {Stockfish puts white's advantage at a P, but that means nothing. This game is being played by two amateurs at blitz speed and anything could happen!}) 9. Nh3 h6 10. Nd2 d6 (10... e5 {would still work.} 11. dxe5 Qxe5 12. Nb3 Nc6 13. Be3 O-O-O {with about equal chances.}) ( 10... Nc6 {is also plausible.} 11. Re1 O-O-O {but white is better because black still has some development problems.}) (10... d5 {is another possibility. } 11. b4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Qd8 13. f4 {but here, too, black will find completing his development difficult.}) 11. f4 c6 {Pointless. 11...Nc6 and ...O-O-O was better.} 12. Nc4 Nd7 13. Re1 O-O-O 14. Bd2 {My development is complete, but the N on h3 is rather poorly placed. Black still has to finish developing his pieces and the Ps in front of his K are loose. As a result, white is better, but not by much...just about a Ps worth.} d5 15. e5 Qe7 {This innocent looking retreat turns out to be a serious mistake.} (15... Qg6 {is the right move because white has nothing better than exchanging Qs which lessens his attacking possibilities and makes the defense easier.} 16. Qxg6 (16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. Qxg6 fxg6 18. exd6 Nf8 {and black has nearly equalized, but he still needs to complete his development plus the e-Pawn is backward and his position is badly cramped. White's difficulty is that his pieces don't have a lot of scope. }) 16... fxg6 17. Ne3 c5 {White is better, but it's hard to suggest a reasonable plan of operation and it looks like it's going to be a long game.}) 16. Nd6+ {This is a bone in black's throat and it shows why having the Q on e7 is a huge disadvantage.} Kb8 17. a4 a6 18. b4 {[%mdl 32]} f6 19. b5 {This move, breaking up the position around black's K requires no calculation...it just has to be good.} fxe5 20. fxe5 g5 21. Nxb7 Kxb7 22. bxc6+ Kxc6 23. c4 {[%mdl 32] More digging is required to get at black's K.} Kb7 24. cxd5 Qf7+ 25. Nf4 { [%mdl 512] White wants to mate with d6+.} (25. Kg1 {Wins, but it takes longer.} exd5 26. e6 Qf6 27. Bxd5+ Kb8 28. Qc6) 25... gxf4 {Black lost on time.} (25... gxf4 26. d6+ Kb8 27. Qc7#) 1-0