What are examples of provocative openings where the opponent can be baited into playing more aggressively than they normally would, ie. pushing a lot of pawns or sacrificing material to keep an advantage? Here are a few I can think of:
- Hippopotamus Defense
- Alekhine's Defense
- Scandinavian Defense (Portugese Gambit)
- Pseudo-Trompowsky
In general, I'm looking for any nonstandard opening that is objectively dubious and "looks" bad on the surface because it violates chess principles (ie. not putting pawns in the center / moving pieces out when they can easily get attacked by pawns), but leads to good practical chances and positions where the opponent is out of their comfort zone.
1.e4 d5 2.Nc3
after2...d4
white scores 54% to 42% in lichess database.