June 30, 2026

[Katherine Wise](https://blog.duolingo.com/author/katherine/)

# Chess openings: What is Bird’s Opening?

Ready to add a new opening to your arsenal? Check out Bird’s Opening!

Learning openings requires understanding chess notation, the system for naming pieces and moves. [Get a refresher on chess notation here](https://blog.duolingo.com/chess-notation/)!

## Bird’s Opening: 3 quick facts

- Bird’s Opening, named after English chess player [Henry Bird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bird_(chess_player)?ref=blog.duolingo.com), is an offbeat opening, not popular at all at top levels or among [grandmasters](https://blog.duolingo.com/how-to-become-a-chess-grandmaster/).
- Starting with 1. f4, this opening is a bold choice for White because moving the f-pawn slightly weakens White’s [king](https://blog.duolingo.com/king-chess-piece/#strategy-tips-for-the-king) from the get-go and doesn’t preserve White’s initial first-move advantage.
- Similar to the [Dutch Defense](https://blog.duolingo.com/dutch-defense/), but for White, Bird’s Opening includes some [sharp](https://blog.duolingo.com/popular-chess-openings/#sharp) variations, such as From’s Gambit, with 1…e5.

## Bird’s Opening: the move

Here is the move for Bird’s Opening:

💡

1\. f4

## A little bird told me to shake things up from move one

If you want to catch your opponents totally off guard, try Bird’s Opening!

If you’re looking for more openings, check out [our guide featuring over 30 options](https://blog.duolingo.com/popular-chess-openings/) for every skill level!