Answers.Body: <p>FWIW, I am not a good bughouse player, but that may be more due to my poor blitz play.</p>
  
  <p>It is better to be aggressive and attack in Bughouse, If you are attacking on both boards, you will likely win, and yet, both white and black have to be concerned with defense, as dropped pieces can start an attack out of thin air. The best defense is a good offense even more so in Bughouse.</p>
  
  <p>Dropped pieces, sacrifices to draw the king out, and dropped pawn chains are the usual modes of attack. The six squares a knights move from your king, the back rank, and the f7 (f2 for white) are the key squares to occupy and guard.</p>
  
  <p>Squares are more important than lines in Bughouse. Lines are easily blocked by dropped pieces and squares are easily used by blocked pieces.</p>
  
  <p>Development is important in Bughouse like regular chess, both for attack and defense. Your pieces on the board are your first line of defense against dropped pieces.</p>
  
  <p>You want to move as few pawns off their starting squares as possible, and try to play with pieces. Pawns on the attack are usually dropped.</p>
  
  <p>Piece values are quite different than regular chess. Pawns are more important and long distance pieces less. Also, the values are even more dependent on the board position than in regular chess. I would give as an approximation P-1, B-2, R-2, N-2.5, Q-5</p>
  
  <p>A piece in the hand is worth two on the board.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-05-05T13:34:27.183Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-05-05T13:34:27.183Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: newshutz
Answers.Body: <p>Castling has always worked well for me, but the pawns in front of the King should never be moved, even for a fianchetto. It gives the opponent targets for sacrifices and weakens the control of key squares near the King. A pawn or a piece would then have to be dropped defensively later to patch the holes ; it will waste a turn and let the opponent attack, which isn't something you want in bughouse.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-07-18T08:56:28.723Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-07-18T08:56:28.723Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Umlin
Body: <p>What defensive patterns and structures are used in Bughouse and Crazyhouse? I've heard that castling is rarely useful, but what should be done instead? My defensive play usually boils down to huddling in the "turtle formation":</p>
  
  <pre><code>[FEN "2rqkr2/pppbbppp/2nppn2/8/8/8/8/8 w KQ - 0 1"]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><sup><em>Turtling exaggerated for dramatic effect</em></sup></p>
  
  <p>This is entirely ineffective and quickly results in mate.</p>
  
  <p>How can I defend in bughouse?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-05-01T02:58:30.423Z
Comments.Text: "Bughouse"? "Crazyhouse"? What is that? Can you please clarify? Some opening moves or example games would be useful. Best regards.
Comments.UserDisplayName: AlwaysLearningNewStuff
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-05-01T03:46:10.693Z
Comments.Text: @AlwaysLearningNewStuff see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bughouse_chess and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazyhouse
Comments.UserDisplayName: lily
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-05-01T20:41:34.780Z
Comments.Text: I don't have much experience with BugHouse, but I think a general defensive technique should be this - don't have any square or piece around your king that is guarded only by the king. This also applies to the squares from where a knight could check the king.
Comments.UserDisplayName: NM Wesley Falcao
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-05-02T17:17:44.103Z
Comments.Text: I am not a BugHouse expert, but the displayed setup is vulnerable on g7. If white has a knight to drop, Bc1-h6 is a real problem.
Comments.UserDisplayName: newshutz
Tags: <defense><bughouse>
Title: Bughouse defense patterns
ThreadText: # Bughouse defense patterns
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-01)
  
  What defensive patterns and structures are used in Bughouse and Crazyhouse? I've heard that castling is rarely useful, but what should be done instead? My defensive play usually boils down to huddling in the "turtle formation":
  
  ```
  [FEN "2rqkr2/pppbbppp/2nppn2/8/8/8/8/8 w KQ - 0 1"]
  
  ```
  
  *Turtling exaggerated for dramatic effect*
  
  This is entirely ineffective and quickly results in mate.
  
  How can I defend in bughouse?
  
  **Tags:** defense, bughouse
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: "Bughouse"? "Crazyhouse"? What is that? Can you please clarify? Some opening moves or example games would be useful. Best regards.  
  > **username_0**: @username_1 see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bughouse_chess and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazyhouse  
  > **username_2**: I don't have much experience with BugHouse, but I think a general defensive technique should be this - don't have any square or piece around your king that is guarded only by the king. This also applies to the squares from where a knight could check the king.  
  > **username_3**: I am not a BugHouse expert, but the displayed setup is vulnerable on g7. If white has a knight to drop, Bc1-h6 is a real problem.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2014-05-05. Score: 2
  
  FWIW, I am not a good bughouse player, but that may be more due to my poor blitz play.
  
  It is better to be aggressive and attack in Bughouse, If you are attacking on both boards, you will likely win, and yet, both white and black have to be concerned with defense, as dropped pieces can start an attack out of thin air. The best defense is a good offense even more so in Bughouse.
  
  Dropped pieces, sacrifices to draw the king out, and dropped pawn chains are the usual modes of attack. The six squares a knights move from your king, the back rank, and the f7 (f2 for white) are the key squares to occupy and guard.
  
  Squares are more important than lines in Bughouse. Lines are easily blocked by dropped pieces and squares are easily used by blocked pieces.
  
  Development is important in Bughouse like regular chess, both for attack and defense. Your pieces on the board are your first line of defense against dropped pieces.
  
  You want to move as few pawns off their starting squares as possible, and try to play with pieces. Pawns on the attack are usually dropped.
  
  Piece values are quite different than regular chess. Pawns are more important and long distance pieces less. Also, the values are even more dependent on the board position than in regular chess. I would give as an approximation P-1, B-2, R-2, N-2.5, Q-5
  
  A piece in the hand is worth two on the board.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-18. Score: 0
  
  Castling has always worked well for me, but the pawns in front of the King should never be moved, even for a fianchetto. It gives the opponent targets for sacrifices and weakens the control of key squares near the King. A pawn or a piece would then have to be dropped defensively later to patch the holes ; it will waste a turn and let the opponent attack, which isn't something you want in bughouse.
  
  
  ---
  
  