The goal of this is to outline a coherent system against 1.e4. There are lots of openings available, so I'll explain why I chose the French in this post and then go over the details.
Any opening recommended had to be:
1. Sound. A life long opening. The French is currently played by many grandmasters and world champions Botvinnik and Petrosian employed it on a regular basis. The biggest mistake that advanced beginning players (1200-1700) make is choosing openings that are horrible. This is uneducational and they find themselves having to switch completely midway through. Start with sound ones!
2. Not too much theory. The Najdorf and the Paulsen are terrific lines. Unfortunately, the theory on these could fill books (and has) and then more books. After 1.e4 c5 black must be prepared to meet the closed, the Grand Prix, the wing gambit, the smith morra gambit, the c3 systems and the open (which branches at least six times yet again). I think the studiers may want to go down this route, but I'm going to pretend you have other things to do. Plus, according to my engines, the end of the French leads to the exact same edge for white as the end to 1. ...e5 and 1..... c5 (though this is deceptive--more on that later).
3. No drawn games. If your opponent doesn't know the opening, your opponent should feel pressure.
4. something I know something about. If you know the Sicilian Paulsen, that's great but I can't help you much. So I narrowed it down to the Najdorf, French, and Alehkines--openings I understand at least partly well. The first seemed too complicated and the last is only BARELY a lifelong opening (although the theory is less intense than the French). I wanted to recommend 1 ....e5 which fits criteria 1-3 but unfortunately, I don't know it well enough to be advocating for it.
So, the French it is! I will say that the French is only the first move of the opening. The next few will depend on whether you like attacking or defending, positional chess or tactics, clear positions and weaknesses or complications and crazy fogs. These are all possible in the French!
The goal of this is to outline a coherent system against 1.e4. There are lots of openings available, so I'll explain why I chose the French in this post and then go over the details.
Any opening recommended had to be:
1. Sound. A life long opening. The French is currently played by many grandmasters and world champions Botvinnik and Petrosian employed it on a regular basis. The biggest mistake that advanced beginning players (1200-1700) make is choosing openings that are horrible. This is uneducational and they find themselves having to switch completely midway through. Start with sound ones!
2. Not too much theory. The Najdorf and the Paulsen are terrific lines. Unfortunately, the theory on these could fill books (and has) and then more books. After 1.e4 c5 black must be prepared to meet the closed, the Grand Prix, the wing gambit, the smith morra gambit, the c3 systems and the open (which branches at least six times yet again). I think the studiers may want to go down this route, but I'm going to pretend you have other things to do. Plus, according to my engines, the end of the French leads to the exact same edge for white as the end to 1. ...e5 and 1..... c5 (though this is deceptive--more on that later).
3. No drawn games. If your opponent doesn't know the opening, your opponent should feel pressure.
4. something I know something about. If you know the Sicilian Paulsen, that's great but I can't help you much. So I narrowed it down to the Najdorf, French, and Alehkines--openings I understand at least partly well. The first seemed too complicated and the last is only BARELY a lifelong opening (although the theory is less intense than the French). I wanted to recommend 1 ....e5 which fits criteria 1-3 but unfortunately, I don't know it well enough to be advocating for it.
So, the French it is! I will say that the French is only the first move of the opening. The next few will depend on whether you like attacking or defending, positional chess or tactics, clear positions and weaknesses or complications and crazy fogs. These are all possible in the French!