Who's the most unorthodox player?

Originally posted by greenpawn34
By unorthodox you have to be meaning openings.
In his day Steinitz was classed as unorthodox both in openings
and the middle game before players began to understand what he was all about.

There is a quote about him from a fellow player saying something like.
"Pick up a chess set, empty it on the board and you have the style of Steinitz."
Or someth to get a QP opening in reverse.

I'm an unorthodox end game player, does that count?

What about your endgame is unusual? Is there a particular game of yours I should look at?

Rank outsider, that game you posted had a really odd opening from black. I wonder what his thoughts were behind those moves.

Hi vivify

It was a wee joke mate. My endgame play is not what it should be.
My unorthodox play is that I draw endings I should win.
I cannot recall losing an ending I should have won but I have lost
games by not turning the middle game into a won ending instead
I've gone for a sac attack and lost.

Do be careful if you are going to try one of these off beat odd openings,
especially as Black. They only usually work if the player feels insulted and tries
to sac you off the board.

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
Offhand, I think of Bent Larsen, Duncan Suttles, and Michael Basman.

Larsen, Basman... piffle! Opening 1. b3 2. Bb2 is not unorthodox, it's merely not perfectly orthodox. This is an unorthodox opening: Game 7724662. Or this, for Black: Game 9381765.

In fact, many sub-1000s on this site are extremely unorthodox openers. There's a reason for that...

Richard

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
This is an unorthodox opening: Game 7724662. Or this, for Black: Game 9381765.

In fact, many sub-1000s on this site are extremely unorthodox openers. There's a reason for that...

Richard[/b]

The first game doesn't qualify as unorthodox, in my book; that just appears to be reckless play. By "unorthodox", I mean that the move is (or at least at some point appears to be) thought out and purposeful, but is unique or oddball. Thus, the openings of most "unorthodox" play from lower-ranked players wouldn't qualify for what I'm looking for.

However, in the second game, black seems to have reasons for his/her opening moves. Very unorthodox indeed.

Chess World Champion Bobby Fischer had some unorthodox ideas in his time. He invented Chess960, also called "Fischer Random Chess" a very unorthodox method for opening chess. He felt too much time was spent preparing and memorizing opening variations and believed that this is not what chess should be about. His Chess960 makes the opening books obsolete and play begins from the very first move instead of after opening preparations have been exhausted. I agree with him and believe this should be the future of chess and we should destroy all the opening books.

Bobby Fischer said, "Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact. People have been playing against me below their strength for fifteen years."

You will find a game in which Fischer started with 1. b3 instead of his favored 1. e4 here

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044299

Hi Shallow Blue.

Agree that some/most of the unorthodox play is down to poor play.
However, some of the lesser known players have some unorthodox opening
ideas which are not too bad. There is an idea behind them

Everyone say hello to thesag2 who dabbled for a while (13 games w.6 L7)
with 1.e4 e5 2.Be2 It's not too bad. Worth a go.


The idea is apparently to play the Philidor Defence in reverse when the
Bishop on e2 does not look out of place at all. First a win.

thesag2 - nerotheblack RHP 2007



And what happens when you try an unorthodox opening against a player who ignores it.

thesag2 - ChessChuckles RHP 2002

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Hi Shallow Blue.

Agree that some/most of the unorthodox play is down to poor play.
However, some of the lesser known players have some unorthodox opening
ideas which are not too bad. There is an idea behind them

Everyone say hello to thesag2 who dabbled for a while (13 games w.6 L7)
with 1.e4 e5 2.Be2 It's not too bad. Worth a go.

[fen]rnbq ...[text shortened]... ere is nothing to be done but sit and watch the Rook sac.} 24... Rh1+ {Mate next move.}[/pgn]

Awesome post- I knew you would deliver!

I love ideas like this. What strikes me about such play is that 1. e4 and 2. Be2 can be very productive moves for White, and the challenge is to steer subsequent play into channels where the moves have value, and to avoid positions where the moves are marginal.

The game needs to be played, in other words!

If we are looking for an unorthodox player , we should not forget Mariska Angela , used to love her games !

She played many unorthodox openings and she was rated > 2000 .

A few examples

Game 6600004

Game 6600007

Game 6600006

Game 6600005

Her games are worth a look over

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
Awesome post- I knew you would deliver!

Why do you think I bait him like that?

Greenpawn34 is the best RHP poster to troll.

Richard

Originally posted by theonecolin
If we are looking for an unorthodox player , we should not forget Mariska Angela , used to love her games !

She played many unorthodox openings and she was rated > 2000 .

Game 6600007

Mind you, that one's not particularly unorthodox, that's just a Queen's Indian with a wasted move.

That's how many of these so-called unorthodox players work, of course. Goad the opponent into playing what seems to be a thorough refutation of the opening, and then transpose into a soundly orthodox opening where the opponent is trapped into a bad variation. It's all just smoke and mirrors.

Richard

Mariska Angela left a while ago I think but she used to play really weird games. Favored wild rook lifts and had a fondness for kingside pawn moves in the opening like f3, g4 etc. Played stuff like the Sokolsky on occasion too. Played at pretty high level when she was still active... not sure if there's anyone on this site like that now.

Gyula Breyer, hands down most unorthodox player ever (master plus level).

Originally posted by Hiyah
Mariska Angela left a while ago I think but she used to play really weird games. Favored wild rook lifts and had a fondness for kingside pawn moves in the opening like f3, g4 etc. Played stuff like the Sokolsky on occasion too. Played at pretty high level when she was still active... not sure if there's anyone on this site like that now.

How does someone who has only been on this site for five days know all this?

[scratches chin]

Hmmm.....

Mariska Angela is obviously an internet legend her games have have filtered
onto many sites.

You can buy her games on E-Bay!

😕