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I understang the Fast Expand concept and have employed it. However, I find myself to nervous to FE and end up doing 1 base. The problem is that I get stuck in one base and to focused on offense, neglecting to expand out. I feel if I had a better idea of when to expand, this would fix my problem.
My question is, when you scout your opponent, what are you looking for that allows you to FE or raises flags that tells you to one base for awhile? And if you one base, when is it best to expand?
If you see your opponent expanding, you know it's safe to expand. He's spending minerals to expand, which will delay his attack and give you time to get up defenses for your expansion if necessary.
If you see the makings of an aggressive build (early spawning pool or multiple barracks/gateways), you may want to hold back on your expansion until you see exactly what he's doing. A fast attack will beat a fast expand every time.
If you see your opponent building to turtle, then expanding is your best option. He will be stuck in his base and is essentially giving you free reign over the rest of the map. The best way to defeat a turtler is through macro.
One factor not mentioned yet is map size, or more accurately, rush distance. How long does it take to reach your base from theirs? The shorter the distance, the more you need to be concerned about a rush, as you will have less time to prepare. This is related to map size, but is also affected by the layout. some small maps can have a pretty long rush distance, while a bigger map with no terrain could allow a rush to run straight from one base to another. if you scout a bunch of units leaving their base on a short rush distance map, you won't have time to throw down spine crawlers or pump units instead of drones. On a long rush distance map, you can start pumping units when they push out, and have a small army when they finally arrive.
Whatever you do as zerg, you WILL need a second hatchery. I usually go for the second hatch as soon as I don't have any larvas left and have 300 minerals left.
The key to fast expansion is scouting. You need to be sure that you will be able to survive an attack by your opponent. When hes building units, build units. When hes building structures, its safe to expand
You don't absolutely need to know what your opponent is doing, all this emphasis on early scouting, etc, is sensible but too 'safe'.
For instance Jaedong (best zerg in the world) frequently fast expands without scouting, or even, gasps, 3 hatch before pool.
IM humble opinion in the current stage of your evolution as a player, you should practice with always fast expanding (choose bigger maps), regardless of scouting. You'll probably find yourself in a large economic advantage in 70% of your games. Because seriously, if a zerg only expands when he sees a terran expanding, THAT IS TOO LATE.
Edit: I wrote some pretty ranty comments that everyone should check out. In conclusion, people should listen to those who actually play the game at a high level rather than pay attention to the vote counts. Because in the end... an aggregate silver league opinion... is still a silver league opinion.
Edit2: You can see on the TL wiki that FE counters 1 base play.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/14_pool_15_hatch
Edit3:
Two years later I think I'm obviously right.
