Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

← chesspieler / Openings

Playing White · 15 blitz games · 4W 10L 1D · You choose this

Offbeat openings

1.h4: an experiment with 30% results and four abandoned games.

Score30%−19% vs your average
Win chance after move 1241%−11% vs your average
Blunders per game1.27+0.04 vs your average
Clock left at move 102:32−7s vs your average
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Your most common line

1. h4 d5

What it says about you

Opening 1.h4 is a statement of intent: you want chaos and fun more than points. That's fine in moderation. But your rating in these games was 1408 against 1468 elsewhere, and 4 of your 10 losses were abandoned, which suggests these were tilt or joke games, not serious attempts.

How you play it

You start badly: move-12 win chance is 40.7, 11 points below your 52.1 baseline and the worst of any opening you play. You claw back to move-20 win chance 49.0, but still score only 30% (4-10-1). Four losses were described as 'outplayed gradually', so you're not blundering out of these games as much as simply being worse. Conversion is 4 of 8. Your recent mistakes are all tactical: 10.Rxh5 hung the rook, 11.g4 missed Qg5+, 18.Qg6+ missed Qh5+ and 21.Qg3 missed Bxe6+.

What you're missing

  1. 01

    The opening itself costs you about 11 points of win chance by move 12 (40.7 against 52.1), before any real play starts.

  2. 02

    10.Rxh5 hung a rook (69% to 47%): the h-file rook lift that 1.h4 is built for was the one that fell.

  3. 03

    You missed several checks: Qg5+ at move 11, Qh5+ at move 18 and Bxe6+ at move 21. You're getting attacking chances but choosing the wrong forcing move.

  4. 04

    Four abandoned games out of 10 losses suggests these games aren't being played to the end. That costs rating for no reason.

How to improve it

  1. 01

    Simplest fix: go back to 1.d4 and your London, where your numbers are much better.

  2. 02

    If you want an aggressive white weapon, try the London with an early h4 against ...g6 or kingside castling. It's the same idea with a real opening underneath.

  3. 03

    In attacking positions, list every check first. All of your recent misses in this line were better checks or checking captures.

  4. 04

    Never abandon games. Even at 30%, playing on gives your opponent the chance to blunder in 3|0.

Where it goes wrong

Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.

Phase of the decisive mistake

middlegame4n=4
endgame1n=1

What the mistake was

Outplayed gradually (no single big error)4n=4
Missed a tactic / only move2n=2
Big positional error (no simple tactic)1n=1
Walked into a fork1n=1
Lost on time in a playable position1n=1

Variations you reach

Main line1530%

Winning positions converted here: 50% (4 of 8).

Recent mistakes in this opening

Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.

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Hung a piece · 2:32 left
10. Rxh5? Best was e4. 69% → 47%
vs enidawg (1362) · 05-04-26 →
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Missed a tactic · 2:19 left
11. g4? Best was Qg5+. 47% → 19%
vs enidawg (1362) · 05-04-26 →
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Missed a tactic · 1:34 left
18. Qg6+? Best was Qh5+. 90% → 64%
vs enidawg (1362) · 05-04-26 →
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Missed a tactic · 0:41 left
21. Qg3? Best was Bxe6+. 44% → 17%
vs enidawg (1362) · 05-04-26 →

Next steps

01

Retire 1.h4

Play 1.d4 or 1.Nf3 instead. The 40.7 move-12 win chance means you're down 11 points before move 12.

02

Never abandon a game

Four losses here were abandoned. Play on or resign, but don't walk away.

03

Drill checks-first in attacks

Qg5+, Qh5+ and Bxe6+ were all missed. Do 20 checks-first puzzles on attacking themes.