1. d4 results in more decisive games these days than 1. e4 does, at least among masters. So apparently e4 is the boring one.
That's definitely true. It becomes obvious, when one reaches a certain standard, that double-e-pawn openings tend to fizzle out after all the tactice are neutralised, whereas 1. d4 tends to lead to more unbalanced positions, which contain deeper tactical possibilities.
without checking my theory, i'm betting that the ziegler. it might be the strongest reply, but no-one plays it at the amateur level. when playing gambits, you have to expect strong mainlines (opponents need to know and play) to get to all those JUICY sidelines where all the fun and carnage is.
1.e4 d5 2.d4 c6 ruin my day?!
3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bg5 (the cave man) is 59:37 in 15,643 games, is what i intended to deal with THAT annoying trench weasel defense i never scored well against anyways. even at the computer level, there's only 0ONE line in the caveman where black can merely EQUALIZE. when i started studying the theory, that wasn't even the main line! MOST lines had engines struggling by move #15!
i think i'm safe here.
What about
What are you talking about? After 1. d4 d5, 2. e4 is an attempt to get a Blackmar-Diemar, which most players of 1. d4 know is drawn at best. So they wouldn't play it. And the strongest line for white after 2. e6 is undoubtedly 3. Nc3 .... a mainline French.
Meanwhile, against the "Caveman Caro-Kann", black has h5, thought to be equal with best play, or h6, which is the attempt to win. However, that's irrelevant since white doesn't play the caro ... black does. It's just one possible defence.
edited ... typo
without checking my theory, i'm betting that the ziegler. it might be the strongest reply, but no-one plays it at the amateur level. when playing gambits, you have to expect strong mainlines (opponents need to know and play) to get to all those JUICY sidelines where all the fun and carnage is.
1.e4 d5 2.d4 c6 ruin my day?!
3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bg5 (the cave man) is 59:37 in 15,643 games, is what i intended to deal with THAT annoying trench weasel defense i never scored well against anyways. even at the computer level, there's only 0ONE line in the caveman where black can merely EQUALIZE. when i started studying the theory, that wasn't even the main line! MOST lines had engines struggling by move #15!
i think i'm safe here.
What about
[game diagram]
That may start with 1. d4 but it ends as a French Defense. Since I answer 1. d4 with e6, I had to learn the French many years ago (a habit that has paid off nicely) because every 10th or so game transposed.
I enjoy the zeller defense with qxf3 it’s fun
also stockfish doesn’t even prefer to strike in the center it prefers b3 bb2