What opening do English player play with black?

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nici95

Hey

So I was wondering what do people who play the english opening with white play if they have the black pieces?

I normally go for m against:

1.e4 - Caro Kann

1.d4 - Indian game ( Grünfeld)

zetskie

I can only speak for myself but there is no typical reply I guess.

Against 1.e4 I like 1... g6 but I also play 1... c6, 1... c5, 1... e6 or 1... d6 I would even try other openings, but never 1... e5.

Against 1.d4 I play Nimzo or Queens Indian but since I'm a 1... g6 player I also occasionally have a Kings Indian. But I might go for a Benoni or a Benko gambit also. It all depends.

Against the English I normally play 1... g6 but I also go for the symmetrical sometimes. Here also never 1... e5.

GPerec

I think that many 1 c4 players would also play hypermodern/flank openings with Black. I play 1...g6 against any White opening, and I think that the combination "English with White, Modern Defense with Black" is not so uncommon for obvious reasons: many structures are mirrored - especially English players who prefer the kingside fianchetto lines will see similarities.

Also, 1. ...c5 is, of course, anything else but just "playing the English with reversed colours", so 1 c4 players have to look for an alternative and can't just reverse colours from their preferred White opening. Apart from the KID proper, or maybe even ahead of it, 1...g6 comes closest to a reversed variation of the English. Not literally, but when you think about many core ideas and strategies (the 1...g6 sniper with an early ...c5 being one of the many possible offshoots) - one of them simpy being that we're looking for an opening with a clear and simple main idea that doesn't need too much theory and memorizing of long, forced lines and beaten tracks.

nici95

I see both of you play g6 the modern grin.png, i will definitely look into the modern defense then thx a lot grin.png

varelse1

I play the Schevenigen against e4.

Against d4, i play either the KID, or the Chigorin.

okopysw

Hello, against E4 I play the Najdorf variant, I tried Caro-Kann, but the positions are sometimes very limited for Black, and you have to play carefully. On D4 I have been playing Slavic defense for years and I try to open a position through E5. The Czech variant is also nice. in Ben-Ones. Regards.

ChessTitle2000

for me as black I play vs e4 the Owen's defense & d4 it's the English defense 

StringerBell34

Owen's. against 1.d4 2.e4 I will usually 2.Ba6 for the swap.