Polish Opening

The b-pawn lunges two squares on move one: White trades central real estate for queenside space and a bishop that rakes the long diagonal.

1. b4 looks like a prank and plays like a plan. The pawn grabs queenside space and clears the way for Bb2, after which the bishop pressures e5 and eventually g7 from across the whole board. White is arguing that the classical center can be rented rather than owned: let Black occupy it, then chip at it from the wing while the b-pawn annoys everything on the queenside.

It has the best-documented name story in chess. At the New York 1924 tournament, Savielly Tartakower visited the zoo on a rest day, took a liking to an orangutan, and christened 1. b4 the Orangutan Opening before wheeling it out in the tournament itself. The Soviet master Alexei Sokolsky later gave the move its serious theoretical foundation. He wrote the definitive book on it, which is why you'll see it called the Sokolsky Opening, the Orangutan, or simply the Polish.

The central bargain shows up immediately in the main line: after 1...e5 2. Bb2, White is happy to let the b-pawn go, since 2...Bxb4 3. Bxe5 trades a wing pawn for a center pawn and leaves the b2-bishop's diagonal wide open. That's the whole opening in one exchange. White gives up the flank to buy the center's most important square. At club level, the arrangement works better than its reputation.