The top 5 responses to 1.e4 and 1.d4
--- Intro ---
Hello everyone! In this entry I will show you the top 5 responses to the King's Pawn Opening and the Queen's Pawn Opening based on mine and Stockfish's "Opinions". If you have any feedback or suggestions please put them in the comments bellow. Enjoy!
--- Top 5 Responses to 1.e4 ---
#5: The modern defense
With g6 you're setting up a Fianchetto of your Bishop to support the center. The reason why this isn't higher on the list is that I think there are a few Openings that are better and simpler at doing the same things the Modern defense does. (Which are support the center and prepare to develop your pieces)
#4: the Scandinavian Defense
The ideas behind the scandinavian defense are to force an open game out of white and allowing black to gain a good pawn structure. This is only in 4th place because it is a little too aggressive and can also be quite complicated. But overall this is not a bad Opening.
#3: The Caro-Kann
This Opening is good for everyone. The idea is very simple: control the center with protection. Here's an example for how a game with the Caro-Kann can look like!
This is just an example of the many variations. Overall this Opening should be in every Repertoire.
#2: The Symmetrical King's Pawn Opening
I am 80% sure that this was everyone's first Opening and this also includes me. I still regularly play this Opening because it is the second best response to 1.e4 in my Opinion.
#1: The Sicilian Defense
This is the best Response to the King's Pawn Opening, not just in my opinion but also according to Chess.com (Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FkHllckBVOs&pp=ygUVYmVzdCByZXNwb25zZXMgdG8gZTQg) I am not going to try to explain all the little intricacies of the Sicilian Defense simply because I want you to learn this Opening fully and not in a short blog entry. So you should watch the video linked above and take some notes. Here's a game where Hikaru Nakamura played which features the Sicilian Defense (played by his Opponent Loek van Wely)
--- Top 5 Responses to 1.d4 ---
--- Top 5 Responses to 1.d4 ---
#5: The Englund Gambit
This is a very trappy Opening that I actually don't really recommend you to play. The only reason this is on the ranking is because there are few responses I have experience with when it comes to the Queen's Pawn Opening. So here's an Example of how I used to play the Englund Gambit:
But again I don't recommend you to play this.
#4: The Modern defense
This is the same as previously mentioned with 1.e4 so I'm not gonna explain it again.
#3: The symmetrical Queen's Pawn Opening
This is pretty much the same thing as the Symmetrical King's Pawn Opening except this one initiates completely different Openings like the Queen's Gambit or the London System. Also no explanation needed.
#2: The Dutch Defense
I personally like to call this the Queen's Sicilian, although the Sicilian and the Dutch are not very similar. Again I will not try to explain it and instead refer you to a GothamChess video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ogmGNIk6W7I&pp=ygURdGhlIGR1dGNoIGRlZmVuc2U%3D. But I can tell you the ideas behind it. To put it simply: Black is attacking White's Kingside and controlling the center.
#1: The Indian Game
The ideas behind this Opening is giving up center control for development of minor pieces. For example in the King's Indian defense:
--- Outro ---
I hope you enjoyed this Blog entry. Again if you have feedback or suggestions please put it in the comments bellow. Thank you for your time and attention... Goodbye!
