Answers.Body: <p>Among World Champions, Alekhine was a top bluffmaster. Capablanca once remarked that "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuyMzb5_tlU" rel="noreferrer">Alekhine's game is 20% bluff</a>". </p>
  
  <p>Here's one example of his bluffs. </p>
  
  <pre><code>    [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
      [White "Alekhine"]
      [Black "Erich Cohn"]
  
      1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5?
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This was played in <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1011822" rel="noreferrer">Alekhine vs Erich Cohn</a> and Alekhine won that game. </p>
  
  <p>On one occasion, Magnus Carlsen himself played the shocking <strong>1.a4</strong> against a player as strong as Radjabov and still won the game. Although it was a <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1671724" rel="noreferrer">blitz game</a>, it was the World Blitz Championship 2012, so clearly not an ordinary event! Clearly, he managed to psychologically upset Radjabov.</p>
  
  <pre><code>    [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
      [White "Magnus Carlsen"]
      [Black "Teimour Radjabov"]
  
      1. a4 e5 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. Bb5 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. d3 Bg4 
      8. Ne2 a6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Ng3 Nh5 11. h3 Nxg3 12. fxg3 Bd7 13. g4 Bc5 
      14. Kh1 Qe7 15. Qe1 f6 16. Nh4 g6 17. Bh6 Rf7 18. Rb1 Bb6 19. b3 d5 
      20. Nf3 Re8 21. Qg3 Bc5 22. Rbe1 dxe4 23. dxe4 Bd6 24. Re2 c5 
      25. Nd2 Be6 26. Qd3 g5 27. Qxa6 Kh8 28. Nc4 Bxc4 29. Qxc4 Rg8 
      30. h4 gxh4 31. g5 Rg6 32. Ref2
  </code></pre>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T06:42:06.823Z
Answers.Text: I didn't get it..! Which step has the bluff..? and how?
Answers.UserDisplayName: jaczjill
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T16:02:28.167Z
Answers.Text: From the analysis at Chessgames.com: "5. e5?! is a bluff, and Alekhine himself admitted it is pretty much useless. The pawn should have been captured."
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rick G
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-25T22:44:48.883Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-03-27T00:44:54.510Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2014-03-27T00:44:54.510Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: NM Wesley Falcao
Answers.Body: <p>Thomas Wilson Barnes used <code>1. e4 f6?!</code> to beat Paul Morphy.</p>
  
  <pre><code>   [FEN ""]  
     [Event "London m1"]
     [Site "London"]
     [Date "1858"]
     [Result "0-1"]
     [White "Paul Morphy"]
     [Black "Thomas Wilson Barnes"]
     [ECO "A00"]
     [PlyCount "100"]
  
    1.e4 f6 2.d4 e6 3.Bd3 Ne7 4.Be3 d5 5.Nc3 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nd5 7.Nh3 Be7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qh6 Bf8 10.Qh4 Bg7 11.O-O O-O 12.c4 Nxe3 13.fxe3 f5 14.Neg5 h6 15.Nf3 e5 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Bc2 exd4 18.exd4 Bxd4+ 19.Nxd4 Rxd4 20.Rfe1 Kf7 21.c5 Be6 22.Rad1 Nc6 23.Rxd4 Nxd4 24.Ba4 g5 25.Rd1 Rd8 26.a3 f4 27.Nf2 Ne2+ 28.Kf1 Rxd1+ 29.Bxd1 Nd4 30.Ke1 Kf6 31.Kd2 Nb3+ 32.Bxb3 Bxb3 33.Ng4+ Kg6 34.g3 h5 35.Nf2 Kf5 36.Kc3 Bd5 37.Kd4 c6 38.b4 Bg2 39.gxf4 Kxf4 40.a4 Bf1 41.Ne4 h4 42.Nd2 Be2 43.Ne4 g4 44.Nf2 Kf3 45.Ne4 Bf1 46.Ke5 Bd3 47.Ng5+ Kg2 48.Kd6 Kxh2 49.Kc7 Kg3 50.Kxb7 h3 0-1
  </code></pre>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-30T00:06:03.013Z
Answers.Text: Nice! I was unaware of this game.
Answers.UserDisplayName: NM Wesley Falcao
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-30T00:04:32.843Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-03-30T00:17:11.883Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2014-03-30T00:17:11.883Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Dag Oskar Madsen
Answers.Body: <p><a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1105081" rel="nofollow">http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1105081</a></p>
  
  <p>Petrosian used an A00 uncommon opening against Pachman.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-27T19:37:28.833Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-03-27T19:37:28.833Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Anon
Answers.Body: <p>Kamsky has drawn with a reverse Leningrad a few times (g3/Bg2/f4/Nf3/O-O)</p>
  
  <p>Topalov drew a Cochrane against Kramnik.</p>
  
  <p>But Nakamura's really the person I think of for odd openings. He's played e4/Qh5 a few times, a Zukertort, some King's Gambits, some Vienna Gambits, some Hungarian. Trompowsky, Alekhine's, Grand Prix Sicilian—not entirely dubious, but a least unusual.</p>
  
  <p>And, while nowhere near the strength constraint of your question, Sam Sloan is infamous for his love of Damiano's.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-06-15T09:28:30.857Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-06-15T09:28:30.857Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Roger Krueger
Answers.Body: <p>Baadur Jobava <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1782733" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1782733</a>, Richard Rapport Odd Larson sidelienes, Baskaran Adhiban (every third game he tries to play something new and crazy <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1860331" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1860331</a></p>
  
  <p>Steinitz has numerous dubious openings named after him including the Steinitz defense from the Ruy Lopez.</p>
  
  <p>Steinitz Attack in the Sicilian.  1.e4 c5 2.g3</p>
  
  <p>The Steinitz Gambit from the Vienna or King's Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. d4 Qh4+ 5.Ke2</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-14T08:21:14.913Z
Answers.Text: Can you give specific examples?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Dag Oskar Madsen
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-14T09:22:08.790Z
Answers.Text: Thanks for your answer; you should be here long enough now to know that one-line answers do not add much value to the site, and risk being deleted.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Glorfindel
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-14T06:35:38.657Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-02-26T15:30:29.760Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2017-02-26T15:30:29.760Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: ToddM
Answers.Body: <p>If you really mean "dubious", then no one really fits this description since Steinitz, who liked to, for example, go for walks with his King when playing the King's Gambit as White. But people didn't really know better back then.</p>
  
  <p>If you're willing to relax "dubious" to "offbeat", the first player that comes to mind is Bent Larsen, one of the strongest players in the world in the 1960s and 1970s. He regularly played 1.f4 and 1.b3 (often known now as Larsen's Opening), and also helped revive the Bishop's Opening and the Philidor Defense. None of these were regarded particularly seriously by top-level players at the time that he adopted them.</p>
  
  <p>Before that, players like Réti and Nimzowitsch developed hypermodern theory, in which players tried to control the center from afar instead of occupying it with their pawns. Some players regarded this strategy as dubious but it shortly became clear that it was perfectly legitimate.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-25T22:21:03.797Z
Answers.Text: +1 I forgot to mention one important detail. Editing post...
Answers.UserDisplayName: NM Wesley Falcao
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Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-25T22:12:19.007Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: dfan
Body: <p>I am reminded of a famous <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068157">game</a> between Karpov and Tony Miles where Miles played <strong>1...a6</strong> against Karpov's <strong>1. e4</strong> and still won the game. </p>
  
  <pre><code>     [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1"]
       [White "Anatoly Karpov"]
       [Black "Tony Miles"]
  
       1...a6?!
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Which other players in chess history have used dubious openings successfully? Which were the openings? </p>
  
  <p><strong>NOTE:</strong> For the purpose of this question, the player (or the opponent) must either have been a <strong>world champion</strong> (like Karpov in this game) at some point or at least a <strong>strong contender for the world title</strong> during his time. Also, the openings must have been considered to be dubious during <em>their</em> time. </p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T08:59:14.787Z
Comments.Text: I really enjoy people cherrypicking games. If you will check games played Miles vs Karpov you will see that statistics is so sad for Miles: 14 wins by Karpov, 11 draws and only 3 wins by Miles. One of them is the game you picked. May be Karpov was so surprised and have not takes the game serious.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Salvador Dali
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T09:15:45.907Z
Comments.Text: Richard Rapport often gets flack for his use of less popular openings (I would not go so far as to call them dubious though - his lines are considered solid generally but not optimal at the +-2700 level he is playing). He often opens with b3, and recently beat Gelfand with the Budapest Gambit.
Comments.UserDisplayName: firtydank
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T13:53:37.287Z
Comments.Text: Magnus Carlsen used a dubious opening *unsuccessfully* in Adams-Carlsen Khanty-Mansiysk 2010. His position after the opening wasn't too bad, though.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Dag Oskar Madsen
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T16:32:09.713Z
Comments.Text: I love making moves like that because it breaks the pattern and causes the opponent to actually think logically and IMHO play chess.  Quite often people memorize openings and know almost every move possible for the first 10 moves or so.  If I can successfully break the script, I will usually win - and if I lose, I can truly say that the other person is better than me - opposed to just good at memorization.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Dan Andrews
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T17:23:53.107Z
Comments.Text: @SalvadorDali I will readily cherry pick your game too if you can manage to beat a World Champion by playing 1...a6, hahaha!
Comments.UserDisplayName: NM Wesley Falcao
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T19:55:05.383Z
Comments.Text: @Wes good point, I hope I will be good enough not to lose in 25 moves :-) But looking at their ratings 2725 vs 2545 his winning percentage theoretically close to practically obtained. So this game could be just luck. It does not mean that he used this with a lot of people with success. It may be he played it once and luckily won.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Salvador Dali
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T21:58:07.077Z
Comments.Text: [Basman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Basman) uses some pretty unusual openings and has apparently won against a few grandmasters this way.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Dejan Govc
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T22:13:27.273Z
Comments.Text: @SalvadorDali with dubious openings you ALWAYS need luck :). I just want to see who used a dubious opening successfully, be it once or many times.
Comments.UserDisplayName: NM Wesley Falcao
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-03-26T22:36:14.683Z
Comments.Text: @Wes and I think that the question is really nice and thank you for your question. I wanted just to show other people that this does not always mean that the guys is really so good. This might mean luck.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Salvador Dali
Tags: <opening><theory><history><famous-players><famous-games>
Title: Which notable players in chess history successfully used dubious openings?
ThreadText: # Which notable players in chess history successfully used dubious openings?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-25)
  
  I am reminded of a famous game between Karpov and Tony Miles where Miles played 1...a6 against Karpov's 1. e4 and still won the game. 
       [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1"]
       [White "Anatoly Karpov"]
       [Black "Tony Miles"]
  
       1...a6?!
  
  Which other players in chess history have used dubious openings successfully? Which were the openings? 
  NOTE: For the purpose of this question, the player (or the opponent) must either have been a world champion (like Karpov in this game) at some point or at least a strong contender for the world title during his time. Also, the openings must have been considered to be dubious during their time.
  
  **Tags:** opening, theory, history, famous-players, famous-games
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: I really enjoy people cherrypicking games. If you will check games played Miles vs Karpov you will see that statistics is so sad for Miles: 14 wins by Karpov, 11 draws and only 3 wins by Miles. One of them is the game you picked. May be Karpov was so surprised and have not takes the game serious.  
  > **username_2**: Richard Rapport often gets flack for his use of less popular openings (I would not go so far as to call them dubious though - his lines are considered solid generally but not optimal at the +-2700 level he is playing). He often opens with b3, and recently beat Gelfand with the Budapest Gambit.  
  > **username_3**: Magnus Carlsen used a dubious opening *unsuccessfully* in Adams-Carlsen Khanty-Mansiysk 2010. His position after the opening wasn't too bad, though.  
  > **username_4**: I love making moves like that because it breaks the pattern and causes the opponent to actually think logically and IMHO play chess.  Quite often people memorize openings and know almost every move possible for the first 10 moves or so.  If I can successfully break the script, I will usually win - and if I lose, I can truly say that the other person is better than me - opposed to just good at memorization.  
  > **username_0**: @SalvadorDali I will readily cherry pick your game too if you can manage to beat a World Champion by playing 1...a6, hahaha!  
  > **username_1**: @Wes good point, I hope I will be good enough not to lose in 25 moves :-) But looking at their ratings 2725 vs 2545 his winning percentage theoretically close to practically obtained. So this game could be just luck. It does not mean that he used this with a lot of people with success. It may be he played it once and luckily won.  
  > **username_5**: [Basman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Basman) uses some pretty unusual openings and has apparently won against a few grandmasters this way.  
  > **username_0**: @SalvadorDali with dubious openings you ALWAYS need luck :). I just want to see who used a dubious opening successfully, be it once or many times.  
  > **username_1**: @Wes and I think that the question is really nice and thank you for your question. I wanted just to show other people that this does not always mean that the guys is really so good. This might mean luck.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 6 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_12 on 2014-03-25. Score: 18 | Accepted answer
  
  If you really mean "dubious", then no one really fits this description since Steinitz, who liked to, for example, go for walks with his King when playing the King's Gambit as White. But people didn't really know better back then.
  
  If you're willing to relax "dubious" to "offbeat", the first player that comes to mind is Bent Larsen, one of the strongest players in the world in the 1960s and 1970s. He regularly played 1.f4 and 1.b3 (often known now as Larsen's Opening), and also helped revive the Bishop's Opening and the Philidor Defense. None of these were regarded particularly seriously by top-level players at the time that he adopted them.
  
  Before that, players like Réti and Nimzowitsch developed hypermodern theory, in which players tried to control the center from afar instead of occupying it with their pawns. Some players regarded this strategy as dubious but it shortly became clear that it was perfectly legitimate.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: +1 I forgot to mention one important detail. Editing post...  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2014-03-25. Score: 12
  
  Among World Champions, Alekhine was a top bluffmaster. Capablanca once remarked that "Alekhine's game is 20% bluff". 
  Here's one example of his bluffs. 
      [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
      [White "Alekhine"]
      [Black "Erich Cohn"]
  
      1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5?
  
  This was played in Alekhine vs Erich Cohn and Alekhine won that game. 
  On one occasion, Magnus Carlsen himself played the shocking 1.a4 against a player as strong as Radjabov and still won the game. Although it was a blitz game, it was the World Blitz Championship 2012, so clearly not an ordinary event! Clearly, he managed to psychologically upset Radjabov.
      [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
      [White "Magnus Carlsen"]
      [Black "Teimour Radjabov"]
  
      1. a4 e5 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. Bb5 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. d3 Bg4 
      8. Ne2 a6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Ng3 Nh5 11. h3 Nxg3 12. fxg3 Bd7 13. g4 Bc5 
      14. Kh1 Qe7 15. Qe1 f6 16. Nh4 g6 17. Bh6 Rf7 18. Rb1 Bb6 19. b3 d5 
      20. Nf3 Re8 21. Qg3 Bc5 22. Rbe1 dxe4 23. dxe4 Bd6 24. Re2 c5 
      25. Nd2 Be6 26. Qd3 g5 27. Qxa6 Kh8 28. Nc4 Bxc4 29. Qxc4 Rg8 
      30. h4 gxh4 31. g5 Rg6 32. Ref2
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_6**: I didn't get it..! Which step has the bluff..? and how?  
  > **username_7**: From the analysis at Chessgames.com: "5. e5?! is a bluff, and Alekhine himself admitted it is pretty much useless. The pawn should have been captured."  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2014-03-30. Score: 7
  
  Thomas Wilson Barnes used 1. e4 f6?! to beat Paul Morphy.
     [FEN ""]  
     [Event "London m1"]
     [Site "London"]
     [Date "1858"]
     [Result "0-1"]
     [White "Paul Morphy"]
     [Black "Thomas Wilson Barnes"]
     [ECO "A00"]
     [PlyCount "100"]
  
    1.e4 f6 2.d4 e6 3.Bd3 Ne7 4.Be3 d5 5.Nc3 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nd5 7.Nh3 Be7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qh6 Bf8 10.Qh4 Bg7 11.O-O O-O 12.c4 Nxe3 13.fxe3 f5 14.Neg5 h6 15.Nf3 e5 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Bc2 exd4 18.exd4 Bxd4+ 19.Nxd4 Rxd4 20.Rfe1 Kf7 21.c5 Be6 22.Rad1 Nc6 23.Rxd4 Nxd4 24.Ba4 g5 25.Rd1 Rd8 26.a3 f4 27.Nf2 Ne2+ 28.Kf1 Rxd1+ 29.Bxd1 Nd4 30.Ke1 Kf6 31.Kd2 Nb3+ 32.Bxb3 Bxb3 33.Ng4+ Kg6 34.g3 h5 35.Nf2 Kf5 36.Kc3 Bd5 37.Kd4 c6 38.b4 Bg2 39.gxf4 Kxf4 40.a4 Bf1 41.Ne4 h4 42.Nd2 Be2 43.Ne4 g4 44.Nf2 Kf3 45.Ne4 Bf1 46.Ke5 Bd3 47.Ng5+ Kg2 48.Kd6 Kxh2 49.Kc7 Kg3 50.Kxb7 h3 0-1
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Nice! I was unaware of this game.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2014-03-27. Score: 0
  
  <http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1105081>
  
  Petrosian used an A00 uncommon opening against Pachman.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_9 on 2015-06-15. Score: 0
  
  Kamsky has drawn with a reverse Leningrad a few times (g3/Bg2/f4/Nf3/O-O)
  
  Topalov drew a Cochrane against Kramnik.
  
  But Nakamura's really the person I think of for odd openings. He's played e4/Qh5 a few times, a Zukertort, some King's Gambits, some Vienna Gambits, some Hungarian. Trompowsky, Alekhine's, Grand Prix Sicilian—not entirely dubious, but a least unusual.
  
  And, while nowhere near the strength constraint of your question, Sam Sloan is infamous for his love of Damiano's.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_10 on 2017-02-14. Score: 0
  
  Baadur Jobava <http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1782733>, Richard Rapport Odd Larson sidelienes, Baskaran Adhiban (every third game he tries to play something new and crazy <http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1860331>
  
  Steinitz has numerous dubious openings named after him including the Steinitz defense from the Ruy Lopez.
  
  Steinitz Attack in the Sicilian. 1.e4 c5 2.g3
  
  The Steinitz Gambit from the Vienna or King's Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. d4 Qh4+ 5.Ke2
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: Can you give specific examples?  
  > **username_11**: Thanks for your answer; you should be here long enough now to know that one-line answers do not add much value to the site, and risk being deleted.  
  
  ---
  
  