White (Black, if reversed) gets big advantage in all lines of From's Gambit - remember that we are mostly talking about quality of 1.e3, not if it's playable on our level. Because of the big advantage that the other side has, one that plays From's Gambit successfully has to be a serious gambiteer. And a serious gambiteer would never play 1.e3. It's a bit of contradicting.
1. e3 !?
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I disagree, the From Gambit is quite playable, in my experience I have only lost once in the From's Gambit out of six games. The theory also backs up black. If white survives the opening, then yes black has to play very accurately to get equality.
Of course 1.e3 and From's Gambit are completely playable. What I want to say is that a player who plays gambits, won't play 1.e3. And also that you won't see GMs play 1.e3 or From's gambit. Both have some drawbacks, 1.e3 can apparently be a wasted move and From's gambit gives White the advantage. No GM will care if I win all my games with 1.e3 or From's gambit, he will play solid openings that don't have disadvantages. But if we're only talking if 1.e3 is playable, then yes, it is. I wouldn't mind playing it if I had to.
Paranoid-Android wrote:
Of course 1.e3 and From's Gambit are completely playable. What I want to say is that a player who plays gambits, won't play 1.e3. And also that you won't see GMs play 1.e3 or From's gambit. Both have some drawbacks, 1.e3 can apparently be a wasted move and From's gambit gives White the advantage. No GM will care if I win all my games with 1.e3 or From's gambit, he will play solid openings that don't have big weaknesses. But if we're only talking if 1.e3 is playable, then yes, it is. I wouldn't mind playing it if I had to.
And that is so true of many doubtful(?) openings. If you are not playing against GM's, you can get away with almost anything. Blackmar-Diemer, Gibbins-Wiedehagen etc. all give good practical chances at lower levels.
Paranoid-Android wrote:
Elubas wrote:
Paranoid-Android wrote:
Dutch defense is supposed to be refutation for 1.e3, according to Wikipedia:
"This opening is beginning to age. After 1.e3 f5! 2.d4 Nf6, Black is in a Dutch Defense, where White's e3 is not really a helpful move, and so forth virtually wastes a tempo"
White doesn't move e-pawn at all in all lines of Dutch Defense (except in Staunton gambit, where White plays 2.e4), so e3 seems like wasted move indeed.
Very interesting! But instead white could just pick a line where he plays b4.
Which are the lines with b4? I don't have any experience with Dutch, so I don't know any sidelines myself. You have to keep in mind though, that e3 must be in these lines, otherwise it is still somewhat of a wasted move. Or at least unnecessary commitment.
Well there are lines in both the classical and leningrad where white plays an early b4, often delaying the development of some pieces. In those lines he usually keeps the center static. The pawns can become weak, and indeed black is usually trying to play ...Ne4 and/or ...a5 to undermine them. However, it does seem to still lose a tempo for white whether he plays for e4 or not so nevermind! One extra tempo for black in a dutch may or may not lead to equality, but the dutch is definitley not for everyone.
I don't have anything more to say about 1 e3. I don't think there's anything wrong with it but I don't think it's the best move order for various setups and I tend not to rely on shocking people. I would play against 1 e3 with almost as much respect as the common moves.
Apr 13, 2015
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#47
I can't open d4 if I transpose to my hybrid groinfeld. That's why I use 1.e3 on occasion.
Apr 13, 2015
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#48
I always thought e3 is meant to be followed be b3 or vice versa.
Ofcourse if you play 1.e3 and you know your opponent to be a QG only player with white then if 1...e5 2.e4 is a great choice.
Not just a beginner move E-3 has been my favorite opening ever since I 1st joined my 1st chess club in Iowa in 1969 1st of all it effectively blocks the 4 move checkmate and allows movement of the queen and and king pawn. Confuses those who insist you need to command the center notice it is Magnetos opening play in the X-men movie. Kind of like being a left handed player. People seem to forget the primairy goal of chess is to have fun win alot of games with this move.
Jun 2, 2018
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#50
lanceuppercut_239 wrote:
I checked it out. Black's most common response is 1...e5. After that, white's two most common second moves are 2.Qf3 and 2.Bc4 (while 2.Qh5 is 5th most common). So, it seems that the majority of games beginning 1.e3?! are games where white is played by a beginner going for a variation of scholar's mate.
Other things of note here: with 1.e3?! black wins 57% of the time - and if black replies 1...e5 or 1...c5, black wins almost 2/3 of the time. Even if you look at master games beginning 1.e3 black wins amost 50%.
Why would anyone want to open like this? I don't know. Seems like at best it just wastes a tempo, since white normally wants to play e4 at some point anyway. Although I guess you're right that it could transpose into some 1.d4 opening. But then, why not just open 1.d4 in the first place?
the fact a completely acceptable opening scores that much worse for white is reason enough to find the statistics completely worthless. at worst 1.e3 should be dead even, if statistics dont reflect that then all the worse for such data.
sometimes, good ol reason can counteract misleading data.
Jun 2, 2018
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#51
Conquistador wrote:
I disagree, the From Gambit is quite playable, in my experience I have only lost once in the From's Gambit out of six games. The theory also backs up black. If white survives the opening, then yes black has to play very accurately to get equality.
this is complete news to me. every book on the bird i have glossed over it, is brimming with "Thank you for the free pawn" followed by how white gets away with it.
Jun 2, 2018
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#53
after 1.e3 f5!? 2.b3 or 2.b4 work just fine. you can also play the psychological game with 2.f4.
I often play in this way with White and its super funny:
1.e3 e5 2.e4!
I know tons of theory as black after e4 e5 so i just tricked my opponent into that 
Jun 3, 2018
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#55
Amazing amount of rubbish in this thread, from people who should know better taking first move stats seriously. 1e3 e5 2c4 is perfectly ok too, Caruana has recently beaten Karjakin from a english with e3. 1.e3 e5 2d4 e5xd4 3e3xd4 is a French exchange. So can transpose to reasonable openings, or stay on more original paths that are quite ok for white.
Jun 3, 2018
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#56
On this site, 1.e3 is the 10th most popular move out of a total 20, in other words, no one plays it.
I used to despise 1.e3 (like some players here) but it looks lamer than it is. As pointed out, versus 1... e5 White get an English with 2.c4. Against 1....d5 Nimzowitsch recommended 2.Nf3 which nowadays might well go into a reversed Queen's Indian, which is kind of boring, but White can play 2.f4 transposing into a Bird or Stonewall while avoiding various unpleasant anti-Bird/Dutch lines, Moves like 1.e3 come up now that chess is so overanalyzed.
i have that book at home lol
1.e3 f5 2.e4!? is the From Gambit Reversed. That should be the way to play against a Dutch. With 1.e3 white has to play black openings.