Bird Opening

A02

About this opening

White plays a reversed Dutch, taking e5 and preparing a kingside setup, at the cost of weakening the diagonal leading to the king. That weakness is the thing to know. d5 is the most played reply here and the sound one, taking the center and stopping White from ever playing e4. The sharp try is to hit the weak diagonal immediately with an early e5 pawn sacrifice, which is the From Gambit, but the numbers say White handles it well at this level. Solid play is enough: take the center, develop naturally, and the weakened kingside becomes a target later without any need to gamble.

Plans

Play d5 to take the center and stop e4 for good.
Develop the bishop to f5 or g4 before you play e6.
Castle short and aim a rook down a central file.
Target the weakened diagonal near the white king later.

Where the pieces belong

Pawn: d5, the center White cannot challenge easily
Knight: f6, covering e4
Bishop: g4, pinning the knight that guards the center
Pawn: c5, the break that opens lines
King: castled short by move eight

White plays for a kingside attack with pieces and pawns. Your counterplay comes in the center, and opening it is the fastest way to make the weakened kingside matter.