Is there any actual strategy to winning in Bughouse?
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Idk but if you find any please tell me!!
One takes everything the other is hyper aggressive
Bughouse has a lot more skill involved than seems at first, some tips I can give:
- Material values: Pawn 1, Knight/Bishop/Rook 2, Queen 4
- Pieces are worth a lot more in hand (Don’t place for no reason)
- Sacrifice on f7/f2 is a very typical idea early game, try to not allow this and very often placing a pawn on f3/f6 can provide good cover for this
- For that reason, generally 1. e4 is the only played opening move. As Black there are a number of general moves against this, but generally 1… d5 and 1… Nf6 are considered better options, 1… e6 is worse since dark squares can easily become weak and the position can become cramped, and 1… e5 is almost never played due to 2. Bc4! which forces either the win of a pawn or allows sacrifice on f7 which is usually fatal, e.g. 2… Nf6 3. Bxf7+! Kxf7 4. Nf3, threatening Ng5+ followed by getting a pawn and knight and placing them @f7+ and N@f5#
- In general, exchanges are good if you are the one capturing, but not if your piece is being offered first.
More tips soon
- Material values: Pawn 1, Knight/Bishop/Rook 2, Queen 4
- Pieces are worth a lot more in hand (Don’t place for no reason)
- Sacrifice on f7/f2 is a very typical idea early game, try to not allow this and very often placing a pawn on f3/f6 can provide good cover for this
- For that reason, generally 1. e4 is the only played opening move. As Black there are a number of general moves against this, but generally 1… d5 and 1… Nf6 are considered better options, 1… e6 is worse since dark squares can easily become weak and the position can become cramped, and 1… e5 is almost never played due to 2. Bc4! which forces either the win of a pawn or allows sacrifice on f7 which is usually fatal, e.g. 2… Nf6 3. Bxf7+! Kxf7 4. Nf3, threatening Ng5+ followed by getting a pawn and knight and placing them @f7+ and N@f5#
- In general, exchanges are good if you are the one capturing, but not if your piece is being offered first.
More tips soon
Obviously you want to play good chess... but are there any legitimate strategies (openings, traps, preferred takes etc) that allow you and your partner to do well?
Out of all the variants this one has always seemed to me more luck than anything else, especially depending on how well your partner plays in their own game.