Help me settle on a repetoire

Hello.

I've been dabbling broadly with a number of openings, but now it's time to approach things somewhat minimalistic and go for depth, not breadth. With that said, I need to determine a set of openings for both sides to focus on for an extended period of time. 

Here's what I'm thinking.

For starters, my black game oddly, is better than my white game. This is largely in part with my instant comfort with the King's Indian Defense. 

So as it stand right now while trying to determine my repertoire, I have it set like this:

as White:

I've been a 1.e4 person, but I have a hard time enjoying how much longer it takes to beat someone slightly weaker than me. But I can't find a 1.d4 opening that I'm comfortable yet either. As someone who's passive-aggressive, (again, I love the KID) is there a decent opening I should look into? My strongest results have been with the Quiet Game with the occasional Evan's Gambit. But again, these are slow. 

As Black:

against 1.e4 I've been playing the Scandinavian, but I don't like it anymore. For starters, I don't like multiple-moves and allowing my opponent to develop a free piece. Secondly, the game is too loosey-goosey for me. It's a little crazy and my tactics aren't very good yet. 

I've been thinking of switching full time to the Sicilian since it seems to be wildly popular right now (I know it's always popular but it definitely feels like it's the meta right now) but I don't know how insanely indepth it is. (It's why I avoid the Ruy Lopez. I'm not overly smart and have a poor memory. Again, probably why I'm so good with the KID. Play the system, not the book.) Any recommendations? 

Against 1.d4 (and basically, everything else) King's Indian Defense. It's my catch all against anything that isn't King's Pawn. Turtle up and counter. The Floyd Mayweather of chess openings. 

Thanks for the help!

-t3sk0

1. e4: I switched from the Italian to the Ruy Lopez, and I love it!

1. d4 I love the Queen's Gambit

2. e5 or c5 or e6 or c6

2. d5 for a Slav Defense or e6 for cool transpositions or Nf6 for a KID

The Sicilian has a LOT of theory so I wouldn't recommend it if you don't want to spend time understanding it.

How about the King's Indian Attack?

@Murgen - The king's Indian Attack to me feels weird. Granted, I've only tried it once and the added tempo bonus was nice I feel with the initiative, there's better options. 

@Fiveofswords - I disagree. I'm aware enough that wasting a turn to "essentially be black" isn't optimal and thus, am considering how to focus my repertoire to expodite my learning properly.  My black is better than my white because my comfort level with the King's Indian Defense yields stronger results than when I poorly play the lines I sort-of know as white. 

Your rating is 1100. It doesn't matter what you play. You should not settle on a repetoire but instead just play anything until you improve your tactics and can walk your way into a middlegame without being a pawn down.

"... In the spring of 1982, I participated in another scholastic tournament ... That summer, I went through all my father's copies of the Danish chess magazine, Skakbladet, to locate games with 1 c4, ... What I should have done was to start out with [The Opening Play in Chess by Bent Larsen], and read it from cover to cover. When it came to the theoretical section, I should have played over all the examples. This would have enabled me to learn first the basics of understanding the openings, and then, when playing through the opening variations, it could have given me ideas which openings to choose for my repertoire. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)

Uhm, what's the problem with Slow?  Chess is not a race.  Chess is a game of survival and kill!

No matter what you play on move 1 as White, there are many lines that can be played that are positional and tend to lead to a slower attack, and others that are wild and games of under 30 moves are commonplace!  And quite frankly, neither White nor Black can absolutely force one or the other!

Take White:  1.e4 is stereotypically considered to be the better move for "Tactical" players, but there are many openings that start 1.e4 that are very positional in nature, like the Maroczy Bind against the Accelerated Dragon, the Exchange Ruy Lopez, or the Petroff.  1.d4 is stereotypically considered to be the better move for positionally-minded players, but the Leningrad Dutch, Grunfeld, and Albin Countergambit tend to be wild and tactical.

Now take Black:  White opens 1.d4.  You can "attempt" to get a tactical game with a rapid attack by playing the Grunfeld, but White could play the quiet 4.e3, and while not theoretically best, often leads to a much slower game!  Against 1.e4, Black could try to slow the game down with the Petroff, but White has the option of the 5.Nc3 lines which are very wild and tactical.

So as you can see, you can't absolutely force fast or slow from either side.  And there is no problem with Slow and winning a game in 70 moves rather than 30 moves.  What matters is that you maintain the advantage!

Of 1.e4 and 1.d4, play whichever one leads to the positions that you understand better!  Don't base it on speed of the attack!

Here's an idea, a way to go for depth not breadth. Against 1.e4, play the Sicilian (you can always aim for a line that is not razor sharp with theory or offbeat). If you liked the KID, maybe consider the Accelerated Dragon.

Against 1.d4, play a Benoni / Benko setup starting with 1..c5; It will also feature some motifs from the KID and the Dragon (at least when it comes to the Bg7 and dark square control). They also mean that you can play 1...c5 no matter what your opponent does on the first move.

Here's the punchline: with White, you play 1.c3 and then 2.c4, no matter what your opponent does. You won't get a 'english opening reversed dragon' position (Similar opening to black with an extra move), you will get the exact position with the colors reversed, no extra move. You can thus just study two Black openings in depth, and have all your main openings covered. Nevermind that you are not fighting for a theoretical advantage with White; your better prep and familiarity with the positions will help you.

@Fiveofswords Your generalization, especially with such strong language, is questionable. Just a small counterexample: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaver_W._Adams#White_to_play_and_win_theory

If you like the KID, maybe the Pirc is worth a shot. You play roughly the same moves, and it has a similar counterattacking nature (and sometimes even leads to the same/similar pawn structures).

I like The Old Indian and the Philidor against 1. d4 and 1. e4, it has the same ideas, and is not so different from KID. (bishop goes to e7 instead of g7). It helped my understanding of chess a lot. This game was yesterday, and my rating has gone up from 1889 to 2042(!).

Check out my thread for ideas, if you want:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/philidor-defence---help-me-learn?page=1

hmm.. Here is my Repetoire:

as White :

Queen s' Pawn Opening - d4 Nf6 Nf3 variation (it can cut down theory. this variation prevents black from playing the Albin and the Budapest Gambit but you gotta learn theory on the KID,the Slav and the Nimzo)

Against the KID: d4 nf6 c4 g6 Nf3 Bg7 Nc3 0-0 Bf4 d6 e3 this is the system that i like to play against the KID. it gives me a good position. hplaowever black may transport into  grunfield defense but against it i play something really rare like b3 when black strikes with d5. and the typical plan will be to fianchetto the dark-squared bishop and play Rc1.

Against the Slav: The Exchange Slav

Against Queen s' Gambit Declined Main Lines:

d4 d5 c4 e6 Nc3 Nf6 Bg5 Be7 cxd5 exd5 e3 (Bf5? Qb3 winning a pawn) 0-0 Bd3 and to follow up with Qc2 Rc1 and Castiles kingside where white is gonna have a safe advantage.

Against the Nimzo: i Play the Rubenstain Variation.

With black

Against e4: The French Defense

Against d4: Grunfield or KID

Against c4: KID

Against f4: 2.d4

Against Uncommon Openings: Like the Grob,Sokolovsky etc... i Play d4..

Hi C-Crusher, thanks for your comment. Why do you prefer the French as your game vs 1.e4?

The Pirc and KID are nothing alike except Black's positioning of the pieces.

The KID is about being able to play Blocked positions.  Not closed (like the QGD), blocked (like the KID).

The closest comparision in terms of a defense against 1.e4 would be the French Defense.  Once again, a blocked center, at which point the "Point Pointing Theory" comes into play again, is what typically occurs.  The only major difference between the French and KID is that in the KID, White attacks Queenside and Black attacks Kingside (Observe the way each side's blocked central pawns are pointing) while in the French, White attacks Kingside and Black Queenside (once again, observe the way each side's blocked central pawns are pointing).

Don´t study openings at first. First, open with 1.e4 and then try to develop your pieces and play d4 to control the center (that should be your target, develop and control of the center). Think by yourself, and try to stablish some lines of your own. After some games, check the lines you have developed against the theory. That way you will understand better why certain moves are made and you will improve your openings.

because the french is a very very good and sound opening. it will give you a lot of knowledge about manuvering in closed positions and constructing a useful plan. i like the french also because it leads to fun and also boring games. also i have bought a DVD by Simon Williams and ive read a couple of books on the french. its amazing defense..