Hammerschleg King

I have recently had an aroused interest in this opening, are there any good books to read about this, and how to play it? 🙂 Thanks!

Originally posted by range blasts
I have recently had an aroused interest in this opening, are there any good books to read about this, and how to play it? 🙂 Thanks!

Unfortunatly there are no books on this opening or even a wikipedia acticle about it. The only way to learn the art of the Hammerschlag is to analyze the games of the people who use this opening(Raven69, reyotch, and me). I have written an article on how to use the Hammerschlag in Thread 90288. Also there are some very instructive games in that thread too. Once you learn the lines just play a bunch of blitz games and perfect your Hammerschlag skills 🙂

I love the hammerschlag. I've been playing it a lot lately. Here's my most recent game:
Game 4949457

The key things are that it's an attacking opening which relies on surprise and your opponent responding in a 'typical' manner. The wrong way for the opposition to reply is to immediately attack, but that seems the most natural play for black.
As white, you are much safer than it appears. When black attacks, the central idea is to try to remove pieces from the board. So strongly tend towards trading the minor pieces and absolutely aim for trading queens.

I try every game to start with
1. f3
2. Kf2
3. e3
4. d4

With the plan of Ne2-Nf4 or Bb5 with the intent to trade.

If the black player plays a solid, positional game, then i think the hammerschlag is somewhat easily defeated. But psychologically the instinct by black is to attack, which makes it an even game or even a better game for white.

Some of the most fun games i have had with this opening are when black decides to play similarly and move their king out to f7! This leads to a wild attack with lots of good ideas for both sides.

I have yet to try this opening OTB (i mostly play corr. chess) but i think it would be even more effective live.

Anyone who reads this, feel free to challenge me with either side of a hammerschlag game. Just message me first because i tend to delete random game invites...

Originally posted by range blasts
I have recently had an aroused interest in this opening, are there any good books to read about this, and how to play it? 🙂 Thanks!

it will just be a waste of time. if you are looking for anything interesting and "out of book" early, try 2.g3 variations of the english or the birds opening.

Originally posted by reyotch
...I try every game to start with
1. f3
2. Kf2
3. e3
4. d4

With the plan of Ne2-Nf4 or Bb5 with the intent to trade...

1.f3?! e5
2.Kf2? d5
3.e3 Nf6
4.d4 e4
seems like a good way to handle this garbage.

This is really a terrible opening - it really only seems to have comedy value. Why is White spending so many moves on safeguarding his king when castling would suffice? Contrary to what has been said previously in this thread, I believe I would develop actively and attack if the king remains on f2. But even if it doesn't and it uses the time to get to g1, this still leaves White many tempo down on any of the d4 openings where f3 is played to bolster e4. If White is not careful, his king will be the subject of many pins and attacks down the e1-h4 diagonal and positionally speaking, though f3 is sometimes played in other openings, White is massively behind on time and f3 may have been better used for a knight anyway!

There is a very small chance play transposes to a line in the sämisch nimzo-indian.

Originally posted by Squelchbelch
1.f3?! e5
2.Kf2? d5
3.e3 Nf6
4.d4 e4
seems like a good way to handle this garbage.

[fen]rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/5n2/3p4/3Pp3/4PP2/PPP2KPP/RNBQ1BNR w - - 0 1[/fen]

Ha! That is one of the worst ways to meet the Hammerschlag. I don't know why this line is so appealing, but it is by far the most common line I encounter in blitz. White gets a good advantage with 5.c4.

Originally posted by KnightStalker47
Ha! That is one of the worst ways to meet the Hammerschlag. I don't know why this line is so appealing, but it is by far the most common line I encounter in blitz. White gets a good advantage with 5.c4.

5...c6

Are you seriously suggesting that against a player of a similar rating, White has any sort of advantage here:

Originally posted by Squelchbelch
5...c6

Are you seriously suggesting that against a player of a similar rating, White has any sort of advantage here:
[fen]rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/2p2n2/3p4/2PPp3/4PP2/PP3KPP/RNBQ1BNR w - - 0 1[/fen]

Yes, I would much rather be white in this position against any rated opposition. Again 5..c6 is very common and can be met by 6.Nc3.
I have played this variation many times in blitz, it is better for white.

Here is a good example game Game 3407527

Originally posted by KnightStalker47
Yes, I would much rather be white in this position against any rated opposition. Again 5..c6 is very common and can be met by 6.Nc3.
I have played this variation many times in blitz, it is better for white.

Here is a good example game Game 3407527

Do you realise you're playing a french defense, advance variation (reversed colors) with f6 (premature) and Kf7 (silly) ?

In that game black's play was not the best and still the game was dead equal until move 21.

I really think it's funny all of the people responding so negatively to this opening! It's true that objectively this opening is probably not the best, but that is true for a lot of the plays people make. It's a fun opening that has some merit. Plus, it's a fresh way to play a game of chess and sharpens your analysis of positions.

In my experience, most games are NOT decided by the opening anyway.

I have to agree with Knightstalker that the proposed play by black is one of the easiest to deal with via the hammerschleg. The suggested line by black gives all of the development to white -- i'd much prefer to play white's end of that game. One key mistake is black trying to attack f3. That pawn is rock-solid, defended 4 ways. There are other weaknesses in the position, but f3 isn't one of them.

The hardest thing to deal with is when black refuses to trade but still gets all his minor pieces out. i.e. when black plays a normal, positional, developmental game. But don't take my word for it - try it out! I'll be glad to play a set position game with the diagram provided to see how it works.

Originally posted by schakuhr
Do you realise you're playing a french defense, advance variation (reversed colors) with f6 (premature) and Kf7 (silly) ?

In that game black's play was not the best and still the game was dead equal until move 21.

That sounds pretty bang on to me.

Its true that an element to chess is knowing your opponents game, and therefore, this can be a weapon to use against certain players.

Originally posted by ChessJester
Its true that an element to chess is knowing your opponents game, and therefore, this can be a weapon to use against certain players.

In the Hammerschlags case it is an excellent weapon against attacking players who like to use all sorts of sacrifices. They always underestimate the safety of the king and attack wildly while white developes his pieces and has an extremely powerful counter attack.

This also makes the Hammerschlag an excellent learning tool, as it teaches you how to punish unsound attacks. Of course like all openings the Hammerschlag has its draw backs as it is not as good against positional players.