What to do when the opponent plays something odd

The key idea

Against something odd, the useful question is 'what does this let me do for free?' The answer is almost always the same: the whole center and calm development.

Example 1 · Billing the oddity: free center and play on

The opponent opens with 1...b6. No trap, no mystery: they're just handing you the center. Take it.

1. e4 Center, as always. The opponent's oddity doesn't change YOUR first move.
2. b6 Not in your notes. No worries: you don't need it to be. Notice what this move does NOT do: it doesn't fight for the center, it doesn't develop a piece, it doesn't prepare castling.
3. d4 And that's why you take the WHOLE center, for free. In a normal opening this pawn pair costs half a game of maneuvering; here they hand it to you on move two. That's the bill for almost every oddity.
4. Bb7 Black's plan: bite e4 diagonally from the corner. It has its logic — and its limit.
5. Bd3 Development that also blocks the b7 bishop's diagonal. No inventions: pieces to their natural squares, with one eye on what the opponent intends.
6. e6 Black opens the door for its other bishop, giving up ground.
7. Nf3 Development. The recipe doesn't change because the opponent is odd: what changes is how cheap it comes.
8. c5 The first real challenge to White's center. It arrives late, and from the side.
9. c3 The center gets propped up, calm as anything. Take stock of the two sides: White with two central pawns and two pieces out; Black playing a single card from the edge.
10. Nf6 Finally a black kingside piece.
11. Nbd2 Development completing the picture, with e4 well held. No mystical refutations, no punishment moves: center, development, castling on the way — and the odd side has been behind on space since move 2. Principles don't punish oddity instantly: they bill it in instalments, a little each move.

Example 2 · When the oddity punishes itself

The other end of the catalog: the opponent has touched g5 and f6 — both pawns of its own king's roof — for no reason at all. This isn't odd anymore: it's an invitation. White to move.

1. Qh5# Mate on move 3 — the fool's mate, the fastest in chess. No theory or memory needed: the king's diagonal was knocked down (sound familiar from the mistakes lesson?) and the principles, with eyes open, did the rest. This is the complete map of oddities: 99% get billed with center and development, as in example 1; and the 1% that self-destructs gets punished on the spot — but only if you're looking at the board and not at your notes.

Practice

The opponent has just played 1...b6 on you. No panic and no mystical refutations: bill the oddity — the full center, natural development, and play on with a space advantage.

1. The whole center, for free: what costs half a game in a normal opening, here they hand you. First bill collected. Their move doesn't fight for the center. Keep the whole thing: push the second central pawn.
2. Development with awareness: the piece goes to its natural square AND blocks the b7 bishop's diagonal. No inventions, just judgment. Their b7 bishop bites the diagonal toward e4. Develop while blocking it.
3. The usual recipe, at a bargain price. Three moves in, and your position is already what any master would want. Follow the script of every sound opening: kingside knight to its usual square.
4. Center propped up calmly. Their flank attack crashes into a well-built wall. Finally they challenge the center with c5. Prop up d4 with the neighboring pawn, no drama.
5. The count before the routine move: their knight on f6 and bishop on b7 were both eyeing e4, and castling now would have handed it over. Second defender to its post, development complete, and castling arrives right now without paying a toll. That's how you bill an oddity: with what always works, and your eyes on the board. Watch out for automatic castling: count attackers and defenders of e4 (their knight and their b7 bishop are watching it). Complete it with the knight you still need to develop.

An oddity billed from start to finish: free center, natural development, and e4 well held — with castling already in hand. Keep the magic question for every odd move to come: 'what does this let me do for free?' And keep your eyes open for the suicidal 1% — that one gets punished on the spot, like the fool's mate in example 2.