[HN Gopher] The Bongcloud Attack
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       The Bongcloud Attack
        
       Author : luu
       Score  : 49 points
       Date   : 2021-11-07 19:37 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.chess.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.chess.com)
        
       | throwaway81523 wrote:
       | There is a hysterically funny "opening manual" that popularized
       | the Bongcloud, no longer at its original site since the author
       | now sells it on Amazon, but mirrored here under its original CC
       | license:
       | 
       | http://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1401479151063.pdf
       | 
       | It is written in a completely deadpan style but is full of inside
       | chess jokes, e.g.:
       | 
       | "Although both Botvinnik and Tal experimented with the opening,
       | it was not until the Bobby Fischer took it up in the early 1960s
       | that the opening found an exponent. Unfortunately, the Bongcloud
       | in Fischer's hands was so devastating that the games were short
       | and unmemorable, and none are recorded in _My 60 Memorable
       | Games_. "
       | 
       | Bwahahaha ;)
        
       | yesenadam wrote:
       | Magnus' Bongcloud draw vs Nakamura, 2021: The Bongcloud appears
       | at the highest level, in a serious tournament.
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVCst6vyV80
        
         | amenghra wrote:
         | Both players had already qualified for the next round. It's
         | also a rapid tournament. The stakes weren't high which allowed
         | them to goof around a bit. It was probably good publicity for
         | chess & both players.
        
       | account-5 wrote:
       | These are the articles I come to HN for!
        
       | __s wrote:
       | Carlsen often plays it while streaming _(at least earlier this
       | year, hasn 't been streaming much lately as World Championship
       | approaches this month)_. A good way to effectively give his
       | opponents odds, keep his rating lower so that matchmaking is
       | quicker, & avoid giving away information about what he's playing
       | seriously
        
       | jsnell wrote:
       | Related discussion from 8 months ago:
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26502198
        
       | chesscom wrote:
       | Chess can - and should be - both serious and unserious. Magical
       | and fun. Competitive and collaborative. Infinitely enjoyable in
       | every way.
        
         | dane-pgp wrote:
         | Be brave, be honest to yourself and stop this trush talkings!!!
         | Everybody know that i am very good blitz player, i can win
         | anyone in the world in single game!
        
           | cbfrench wrote:
           | You was doing PIPI in your pampers when i was beating players
           | much more stronger then you!
        
             | jkingsman wrote:
             | For those looking for context: https://old.reddit.com/r/Hob
             | byDrama/comments/j3h741/chess_gr...
        
       | CalChris wrote:
       | Carlsen even plays the improved Bongcloud against Andrew Tang
       | [1], #6 in the bullet ratings.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6Zl1jNWYQ
       | 
       | [2] https://www.chess.com/leaderboard/live/bullet
        
       | rectang wrote:
       | The BongCloud is pretty hard to play. I prefer the "Wandering
       | King" (a.k.a "The Fred", or when playing mirrored moves as black
       | "The Fried Fox") which is:
       | 
       | 1. f3...
       | 
       | 2. Kf2
       | 
       | It's not quite as bad as it looks, and at my level (~2000 lichess
       | blitz/bullet) can generally serve its purpose to get people out
       | of book and into novel middle games. (I also play blitz Chess 960
       | which is even better in this regard.)
        
       | willvarfar wrote:
       | Does it serve some purpose by immediately taking the computer or
       | human opponent out of opening book play and make them start
       | burning compute cycles on the very next move already?
        
         | gliptic wrote:
         | For humans it might occasionally throw off your opponent
         | psychologically, but it rarely actually works. Computers will,
         | however, always find a refutation very, very quickly and then
         | you're just in a worse position.
        
         | 317070 wrote:
         | It kind of does, but there are arguably better ways of doing
         | that.
         | 
         | You are effectively putting the opponent in a clearly better
         | position, but giving him the task of converting it before any
         | pressure has been built up. That can throw people off.
        
         | bluGill wrote:
         | Though it seems to becoming a popular fad these past few years,
         | so your opponent just might be booked up on it a bit and then
         | you are in trouble. Giving your opponent time to think in an
         | objectively winning position is rarely a recipe for wins.
        
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       (page generated 2021-11-07 23:00 UTC)