The Bongcloud Opening, also known as the Bongcloud Attack, is a meme opening in chess that can be most likely traced back to a Chess.com user named “Lenny_Bongcloud,” which was later further popularized by Hikaru Nakamura. It is an objectively terrible way to start the game, permanently putting your king in harm’s way and impeding your own development. The name makes perfect sense: you’d need to be under the influence of something or other to think that this is a good idea!
But what exactly is the Bongcloud Attack, and how do you pull it off? Check out the guide below to spot any future memelords in your chess games.
How to play the Bongcloud in chess
Here’s what the Bongcloud Opening looks like:
White starts the game by playing 1. e4 and follows up with 2. Ke2?? for the memes. It’s tough to overstate just how bad this move is from an objective perspective. You don’t develop an active piece to contest the center, but that is the least of your problems. You also immediately lose the right to castle while blocking your queen and light-square bishop for the foreseeable future. Yuck.
The origins of the opening are somewhat shrouded in mystery. It is either from a Chess.com user named “Lenny_Bongcloud,” or just a general reference to a bong. The “literature” of this “theory” was further expanded by Andrew Fabbro’s infamous joke book, “Winning with the Bongcloud.”
Streamer extraordinaire and world No. 9 Hikaru Nakamura has been mainly responsible for the Bongcloud’s rise in popularity amid the Twitch chess boom, speedrunning to 3000 rating with an account where he exclusively played this opening with 321 wins, two draws and 17 losses.
Perhaps the most famous game of the Bongcloud Attack is the one between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, featuring many laughs, a world-first “double bongcloud” and a quick draw.
It goes without saying that the players had nothing to play for in this game, which is why they took this funny approach to settle for a quick draw.
Not everyone is a fan of the Bongcloud. Here’s former world chess championship finalist (and grumpy old man) Nigel Short:
Popular chess content creator Agadmator also doesn’t love what he sees here:
There is also the Accelerated Bongcloud and the Hyper-Accelerated Bongcloud to consider, which are even crazier variations on the same (already quite extravagant) theme where you keep moving your king further and further into the enemy territory.
If you want to psychologically crush a weaker opponent or just have a laugh in a casual game, the Bongcloud can be a fun diversion from super-serious play. However, if you’re really playing to win, you should stay away from the pipe.
