Chess960: SP118

Hi there
Playing the Chess960 opening produces some really interesting stuff a bit like walking through a jungle and picking up some ten legged critter you have never seen before. Here is one of those oddities!

SP118 contains in it some immediate features that can produce some odd situations. The features are:

1. The central rook is undefended
2. The enemy can quickly deploy a piece to attack the undefended rook
3. If this feature is not seen, it can quickly disturb a harmonious development

Chess 960-Position 118

1. e4?! d5!?

2. exd5 Rxd5
3. Bc4.... White thinks that they have gained a tempo attacking the rook but:
3. ....Rd8!? Check this out:

In this situation Rd8!? has not wasted a tempo for black! On surface glance it appears that white is more developed. After all, white has the move, one of his minor pieces is developed and black has neither. The amazing thing is white has the tempo, but black has all the initiative. Check out all these primary lines that show what I mean:

{Deep Rybka 4 960 w32:}
4. d4 c5 black threatens d4
5. Nb3 Nb6 and black forces white's bishop to retreat to e2 wasting a tempo
6. Be2 cxd4
7. Rxd4?! RxR
8. NxR e5 with initiative
9. Nb3 Bf5 and black has just totally dictated despite that nothing serious has emerged

{Deep Rybka 4 960 w32:}
4. Nf3 Nb6
5. Be2 c5
6. Nb3 e5 and black has all the initiative and is better developed

[{Deep Rybka 4 960 w32:}
4. Nb3 Nb6
5. Be2 c5
6. d4 cxd4
7. O-O e5 and white has a counter attack chance but is down a pawn

4. O-O Nb6
5. Be2 e5
6. d3 c5
7. Nf3 Bf5
8. Nb3 Nf6 and black is better because they have the initiative

4. c3 c5
5. Nf3 Nb6
6. Be2 e5
7. d4 exd4
8. cxd4 c4 and black's c4 pawn is stable and disrupts white in a few ways

The moral is that in the chess960 opening, it is wise to study whether a rook is undefended, and if so, can it be quickly attacked? Just another simple check to add to the list. These observations become a habit and soon you won't have to think much once they are seen. And in Chess960, don't assume that moving a rook twice in the opening is always bad!