I was considering 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5? Nf6! This move is probably better than Nc6, because after Nc6 Bc4 g6 (it may seem that black gains time with this advance, but this is not the case) Qd1 black's advantage is minimal. His f8 bishop is committed to the g7 square, which is inconsistent with with e5 (the e5 pawn blocks the activity of the bishop) and the game will develop slowly.
After white plays Nf6, however, white will have to move his queen at least two more times while black develops. This move leads to sharper more interesting play where black has adequate compensation. I am surprised this move hasn't been played by Grandmasters (when they are lucky enough to come across the patzers opening as black!) Anyone have any opinions/interesting lines?
You're right, GM's aren't faced with this very often. And Nf6 does loose a pawn. It's ironic that some patzers might immediately play Nf6 (attack the queen whenever possible!) and after they lose the pawn reget it, but Nf6 is probably best. Black gets 3 tempi in exchange for the pawn.
But until the queen can find a good square on the f8-a3 diagonal it's going to have to move to allow the f8 movement, unless he plays g6 again. And d8 is probably the best square, so he would be wasting just as much time with his queen as white. And after Qh5 attacking the queen doesn't accomplish much because she's going to have to move again anyways. She's already lost her tempi after Qh5. It's just after Nf6 she has to move right away without forcing unpleasant option like g6 or Qe7. A game that might happen would go as follows: 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Qe7 3. Qd1 Qd8 4. Qh5 1/2-1/2 unless black decides to play Nf6 right away after Qh5 he won't get too much advantage.
Originally posted by bobbob1056thDepending on what white does, black can castle by fianchettoing his KB; the Q does not necessarily have to clear the e7 square. Of course, the one game I played that opened in this topic, I castled Qside. My opponent never had a chance, as he launched an attack before securing his K.
But until the queen can find a good square on the f8-a3 diagonal it's going to have to move to allow the f8 movement, unless he plays g6 again. And d8 is probably the best square, so he would be wasting just as much time with his queen as white. And after Qh5 attacking the queen doesn't accomplish much because she's going to have to move again anyw ...[text shortened]... 1/2-1/2 unless black decides to play Nf6 right away after Qh5 he won't get too much advantage.
Not perfect, but still a good game:
Game 1064021