Cheap & Nasty Bullet Openings - Fianchettos

What would you play here as White?

If your answer is Bxh3, consider yourself smarter than 57% of all bullet chess players on lichess. The most played move in this opening is Bg2 according to the lichess database.

But why?

The Lefong

Perhaps Canadian chess master Lefong Hua made the bishop move to one of the squares a3,h3, a6, and h6 popular. Thus, the term “Lefong” was coined at one point.

In this video we can see him, and others, applying the trick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c1FPEstGTg

As you might know, in bullet chess, and even faster chess variants, the opening moves are often played incredibly quickly. Especially fianchetto moves require little to no time, since the pieces are moved only in one small area, and are all close to each other.

The problem is, that a solid fianchetto is quickly disrupted by the Lefong, AND it is unexpectedly successful against players of any level.

Experienced players know, that when the opponent plays the first 2-4 moves in less than 0.3 seconds, the Lefong is working 80% of the times!

The Fianchetto Openings

For my Ultimate Bullet Chess Course, I created a cheap & nasty bullet chess series with hundreds of different openings, beginning with the fianchetto.

All videos are freely available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLh_JMahg0g

Do you like the Lefong?

“This is dirty!” “This is cheap!” “I hate players who use this stupid move!”
Even some of the strongest bullet players in the world are disgusted by the Lefong:
https://youtu.be/SeuxPyfi1uw?t=1319
https://youtu.be/DHUCVgxDxgY?t=1311
The Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Minh Le are playing on a different level than many others, though.

But the question remains: Do you like the Lefong?

Cons:

• It is not fun
• It is a cheap and nasty move
• It has nothing to do with chess
• It destroys a nice game
• It is shameful
• It forces Fianchetto players to stop

Pros:

• It IS fun
• It punishes players who move too quickly
• It is satisfying, if it works
• It is interesting, if the opponent still wins
• It is a completely legal chess move
• It is part of bullet chess

If you personally like, or dislike the Lefong is up to debate. But since it is played in bullet games for hundreds and thousands of times, I think it is part of bullet chess, which is supposedly fun to play.

The Lefong Counter

You played the fianchetto, your opponent played the cheap and nasty move, and your bishop is gone. Great. Now what?

Well, how about I tell you, that there is an equally big chance to counter the Lefong in the next couple of moves? Watch:
https://youtu.be/Ry8fPZXt-hc?t=37

It is challenging to play the counter lefong because it should ideally be played equally quickly. Normally, players stop for a second and consider to give up the game, or play on.

Conclusion

Bullet chess should be fun to play for various reasons, and cheap & dirty openings are 100% part of bullet chess or faster variations. Outwitting a player is entertaining, and if the opponent can counter your cheap trick, you will probably lose the game, and that is totally fine!

Furthermore, I just love statistics, and diving through the lichess bullet database for months, to find the cheapest and nastiest bullet openings tricks, was enormously enjoyable.

I will continue the series with the following segments in the near future:

• Fianchetto (You are here)
• Unusual Openings
• French-Scandinavian-Caro-Kann-English
• 1.e4
• 1.d4
• Troll openings