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Don't play the bird

b3 of course was his blunder. He was just playing the usual move in the Bird opening without thinking.

This is an opening in which white attempts to control the dark squares, rather than the light squares. f4, Nf3 e3, and b3 (to fianchetto the dark square bishop on b2) effectively controls the long dark diagonal, especially d4 and e5.

But this opening is dangerous for white's king-side, and is not recommended for beginners. Intermediate players such as myself would do well to study the opening seriously if they intend to play it.
1.f4 is perfectly playable.
I, like many others, do respond with this gambit, but I do not believe it gives black an advantage or anything. That's just nonsense.
Something I only realised quite recently is, that what the top guys play doesn't have to impose limits on any Club player's chess. Play what you want, as long as it's not refuted.
If you feel you're suffering too much in certain openings, that might be related to your style, or, in fact, to the opening not being 100% sound.
I played the Dutch defence for a while with black, but then wasn't comfortable anymore with the arising positions and just changed the system. Just a matter of taste. Do what you're happy with.
After 1.f4 e5, white can transpose into a King's Gambit with e4. Now the game is playable.
I used to play this variation with Black, it seems there is no enough compensation if White avoids the tricks.
1. g4 e5 2.f3 Qh4# is more shorter :)
But 1.f4 is playable ...

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