Answers.Body: <p>One of the foremost principles of chess is to control the center squares.  Side pawn openings do not do this, which is why they are unpopular.  My recommendation would be to simply control the center with your pawns and develop normally.</p>
  
  <p>An old chess saying goes like so: "When your opponent attacks on the side, strike in the center".  The logic behind this is when your opponent is occupied on an insignificant region of the side, they will be unprepared for a direct assault in the most important section of the board - the center.</p>
  
  <p>There is no need to treat these kinds of openings differently - just develop your pieces and control the center like you normally would against a normal opening.  Then once you reach the middlegame, you will be far better prepared for the inevitable struggle due to having more pieces out and in much better outposts.</p>
  
  <p>If you would like to read a further discussion on this topic, here is a link to a chess.com forum on it, where various chess players throw in their two cents:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/the-rook-pawn-opening" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/the-rook-pawn-opening</a></p>
  
  <p>If you want a cheap book on this, here is a link to Chess Grandmaster Kontronias' book on "Beating the Flank Openings".  It only costs about $9:</p>
  
  <p><a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0713477814" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.amazon.com/Beating-Flank-Openings-Vassilios-Kotronias/dp/0713477814</a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-03-22T08:38:27.080Z
Answers.Text: Great tip and good reccomandation about the book!
Answers.UserDisplayName: Palolo64
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-03-22T00:14:39.770Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-03-22T00:14:39.770Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Inertial Ignorance
Body: <p>Does the Rookside opening have a name? It is not very popular, I believe so I'm wondering what the best defense could be.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-03-21T12:40:11.880Z
Comments.Text: *What* Rookside opening? 1. a3, 1. a4, 1. h3, 1. h4? Or something else?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Glorfindel
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-03-21T12:45:43.903Z
Comments.Text: Sorry I forgot to specify. a4, h4
Comments.UserDisplayName: Palolo64
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-03-21T13:12:36.397Z
Comments.Text: There is no need to defend against crappy openings. Just play as if you were white, occupy the center, develop pieces. Neither a4 nor h4 limits your options. If for instance white gets really crazy on the kingside pushing his pawns, you could think of castling long instead of short, but otherwise there is nothing to be afraid of really.
Comments.UserDisplayName: user1583209
Tags: <opening>
Title: What are the normal black responses to rookside openings?
ThreadText: # What are the normal black responses to rookside openings?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-21)
  
  Does the Rookside opening have a name? It is not very popular, I believe so I'm wondering what the best defense could be.
  
  **Tags:** opening
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: *What* Rookside opening? 1. a3, 1. a4, 1. h3, 1. h4? Or something else?  
  > **username_0**: Sorry I forgot to specify. a4, h4  
  > **username_2**: There is no need to defend against crappy openings. Just play as if you were white, occupy the center, develop pieces. Neither a4 nor h4 limits your options. If for instance white gets really crazy on the kingside pushing his pawns, you could think of castling long instead of short, but otherwise there is nothing to be afraid of really.  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2017-03-22. Score: 4
  
  One of the foremost principles of chess is to control the center squares. Side pawn openings do not do this, which is why they are unpopular. My recommendation would be to simply control the center with your pawns and develop normally.
  
  An old chess saying goes like so: "When your opponent attacks on the side, strike in the center". The logic behind this is when your opponent is occupied on an insignificant region of the side, they will be unprepared for a direct assault in the most important section of the board - the center.
  
  There is no need to treat these kinds of openings differently - just develop your pieces and control the center like you normally would against a normal opening. Then once you reach the middlegame, you will be far better prepared for the inevitable struggle due to having more pieces out and in much better outposts.
  
  If you would like to read a further discussion on this topic, here is a link to a chess.com forum on it, where various chess players throw in their two cents:
  
  <https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/the-rook-pawn-opening>
  
  If you want a cheap book on this, here is a link to Chess Grandmaster Kontronias' book on "Beating the Flank Openings". It only costs about $9:
  
  [https://www.amazon.com/Beating-Flank-Openings-Vassilios-Kotronias/dp/0713477814](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0713477814)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Great tip and good reccomandation about the book!  
  
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