Is e4 Really Best By Test?

Hello everyone! I have been doing some deep diving into openings. Was Bobby Fischer right in saying "1. e4 - Best by Test!"? I am going to give my take after some studying and games of my own and some friends. Let's jump in! First of all, lets take a look at some e4 games. These are from players who pretty much only play 1 e4. This player has 5,788 games in 1.e4 and the next highest is 563 of b3 mainly in Bullet. A common theme I have found is a lot of e4 players have a 50+ Percent win rate when the opponent plays 1.e5. But that win rate drops significantly when their opponent plays 1.c5. This player in particular has a 52% win rate against 1.e5 but a 54% loss rate against 1.c5.

Why does this happen? Well, there are multiple things I have found. 1. Most players struggle playing against an opening they play with the other colors. I speak from experience as a c5 player who used to struggle significantly against the Sicilian as white. Well, why is that? I think for me I spent so much time learning the Sicilian as black that I got super comfortable in the positions. And as white, I think I tried to play lines that I struggled playing against as black. But these lines were ones like the Grand Prix, Alapin and other sidelines. But as white these sidelines are not overly challenging if you know what you are doing as black. Even something such as the scary Smith-Morra is not hard to equalize in if you learn it. At some point, I was sick of losing to the Sicilian so I switched to 1.d4 only to find out that playing against the KID was just as annoying.

So at some point, I decided to learn theory in the open Sicilian. This is something a lot of people are scared of but I am pretty much convinced it is the only real way to put pressure on black. Let's take a look at some of the mistakes and how we should play after 1.e4 c5 as white. 

So the Najdorf is one of the craziest opening lines in chess. Theory can go for 20 moves or more in some lines! So what does our e4 player play against the Najdorf? Well, let's take a look! 

So what should 1e4 players look at first? Well, you should figure out what positions you feel most comfortable in. Experiment a little bit. Play some crazy attacking systems and maybe try some chill ones. Just try to figure out what positions you find interesting. Because you are much more likely to remember a line if it is cool or memorable. *Warning* you will lose a ton of games while looking for your line. I speak from experience. But usually, it is so worth it. I remember when I learned the Semi-Slav was black I was always losing but now I am beating 2200+ players in the opening. But once you find that opening you will start improving rapidly. Okay, we see c5. How about the other stuff? Like the Caro-Kann or French or 1.e5? Our e4 player has a 56% loss rate in the Caro. Let's try to figure out why. What line does he play? 

The exchange Caro. As a former Caro player this line I always loved playing against this because black is not really in trouble. He is pretty much equal. So what should we play against the Caro if the Exchange does not work so well? 

This is my recommendation. The Advanced Caro. If you want specifics in all these openings Chess.com as well as some YouTubers have some great lines in the Caro. But pretty much my take on most openings is playing main lines that hold up even at the top level is the way to go. Trap lines may work sometimes and get you some quick wins but I don't think playing them will help your improvement. So what about after e5? What does our e4 played do there? 

Ah, the Italian. This is a completely reasonable opening. But not what I suggest. Depending on your rating I would suggest either the Scotch (for U1800) 

or the Ruy Lopez (for 1800+).

This game is probably my favorite Ruy Lopez game ever. 

I play the Ruy Lopez as my main these days and love the positions that come from it. Even though it is considered way more drawish than the Italian, I find it much more interesting and complex. The Scotch is a bit easier to play with as black but it leads to cool endgames and there are not many chances for black to keep pieces on the board so that is why I recommend that. Sometimes the best way to begin in chess is to just get positions that are simple to remember and I think the Scotch is that sort of opening. Okay but what about the French? Well I play the exchange