If you like to have a pawn on f4 you might consider a 1.e4 repertoire built around the bishop opening and closed sicilian. For both a good source is attacking with 1.e4 by john emms. Only remember that in the bishop opening you need some flexibility and in some lines you should avoid f4. I can't think of effective setups with f4 in against the french and caro-kann, maybe more experienced players can suggest you something 1.f4-like against these openings.
A New Opening
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May 2, 2011
0
#3
Against the French, I believe Short or Davies... or one of those crazy UK fellows suggests the following line. You can do something similar against the caro - Use game explorer if you get a chance.
Its not mainline (not the best in theory), but you will have practical chances if you have a bit of a look over a few games that use it.
May 2, 2011
0
#4
From the game explorer of master games. Not recommended, but playable if you really want to stick to f4.
No frankly speaking i don't think playing f4 against everything is best for him(or anyone). for example f4 against the french is much easier to play for B than for W. With 1.f4-like i meant something close in spirit to 1.f4, likely based on a slow kingside attack.
i suggested the bishop opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 intending to reach the following
setup (some B answers prevent it, but this is the general idea)
May 4, 2011
0
#8
Amm, well im a f4 player myself, so i can maybe give you some tips, depends where you want to switch ....
If you want to switch to e4, then my recomadiatons would be, Advanced against both Caro and French, because you sometimes get these structures from the Bird so thats a +, amm ,Sicilain, this is where you can choise, you can go for Grand-Prix attack(again similar to Bird) or somewhere mainlin, also Alapin is a fine choice. Against scandinavain, just have to lern it, Alekhine, Modern, also just have to lern them. And e5, hmm, well you can try KG, but i may suggest the Scotch for white:), Or maybe Four-Knights :D
If you want d4, then go for the QG, and just lern it, because the pasive systems arent that good, black gets play quite easy, maybe trompovsky but that is yout choice, Also Veresov is quite posible if you want to try something new:)
Previously, I played the Bird's opening (1. f4) as white. I am now looking for a new opening. What would you suggest for a ex-Bird player? By the way, I am rated elo 1599.