Nakamura's "refreshing" 2.Qh5!

Much to the dismay of many, I for one was excited to see the questionable move played by Hikaru Nakamura against Krishnan Sasikiran. White's position was still strong after a few moves, but unfortunately succumbed to defeat in 87 moves.

Too much emphasis has been put on the standard openings, requiring much study and memorization of all the variations. I totally agree with Susan Polgar on this point.
In her book, "A World Champion's Guide To Chess", she states...

"...too many players are not being taught properly. Too much emphasis is placed on the opening and not enough on other areas."

Of course she's referring to beginners and intermediates, but I want to go a step further and say this applies to even the highest level. My first goal against any opponent, whether it be a 9 year old beginner, Fritz, Fischer, or Kasparov, I want an even position AND them to see an unfamiliar board.

This whole "stigma" over the openings and their variations is precisely why Bobby Fischer will quickly tell you "chess is dead." He even went so far as to invent a new way of playing, "Fischerandom", in which the pieces on the first row are placed in a different order each time, making it impossible to play a standard opening.

Except for the stock market, never has the term "hindsight is 20/20" been more true than in chess. It's amazing how anyone can pick apart a game afterwards, stating what "should have" been played. It's totally different though if they had been sitting in that chair, under time pressure, locked in a psychological battle with their opponent.

Let's applaud a "non-traditional" move from time to time. Chess is an expressive, and creative art, and I say hats off to those players that march to the beat of a different drummer.