Here's my best opening as black after 1.e4:
A very tactical opening against 1.e4?
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alekhine's defense leads to a lot of piece play but it takes a bit of getting used to
if it transposes to the vienna that is also a sharp opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4? 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.c3 and White is already clearly better.
Other than that it's a great opening... 
Dec 21, 2011
0
#6
pfren wrote:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4? 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.c3 and White is already clearly better.
Other than that it's a great opening...
Agreed. I played a thematic tourney starting with 3. ... Nd4 and white has a large advantage that is easily felt. It is very hard to play with black and if white is a decent player and takes more than a few seconds considering the position he will not take the pawn.
Agreed, the "Blackburne Shilling Gambit" is a spectacular trap but not really sound. 
KefkaKGA wrote:
I currently use the French Defense, but I find myself not doing too good with it at times and the cramped position is sometimes really annoying. Don't get me wrong, I like to use it and I've had some good games with it, but I'm just wondering if I should stick with it or use a different opening instead.
If I should change, which opening should I use?(And please don't tell me to use the Sicilian...)
If I should stick with it, what are good ways to deal with White's bishops constantly pinning my Knights and how should I deal with my Light-squared Bishop?
I use and have very good results with the French for the exact reason you want to get away form it. It works wonders against impatient tactical players.
UnratedGamesOnly wrote:
KefkaKGA wrote:
I currently use the French Defense, but I find myself not doing too good with it at times and the cramped position is sometimes really annoying. Don't get me wrong, I like to use it and I've had some good games with it, but I'm just wondering if I should stick with it or use a different opening instead.
If I should change, which opening should I use?(And please don't tell me to use the Sicilian...)
If I should stick with it, what are good ways to deal with White's bishops constantly pinning my Knights and how should I deal with my Light-squared Bishop?
I use and have very good results with the French for the exact reason you want to get away form it. It works wonders against impatient tactical players.
lol, well it's not that I want to get away from it, it's that I'm wondering if I should stick with it :p
Anyway, the impatient players DO make the French Defense really fun to use. I guess I'll keep using it and see if I get better results.
A very tactical opening against 1.e4?
What about attacking the pawn right from the first move:
1. e4 d5 (Scandinavian Defense)
or
1. e4 Nf6 (Alekhine's Defence)
The French is a fine opening. Just see how the great players were handling the Black men: Botvinnik, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Uhlmann.
The "bad" white squared bishop is part of the overall positional trade of the opening, and can be handled in various ways.
Another idea is playing 1...e5. There the only worry is the Ruy Lopez, but even there Black can play sharply AND soundly- say what Shirov has named the "Tkachiev Variation": 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5.
AnthonyCG wrote:
Is 3...f5 in the Ruy Lopez ok?
Yes, it definitely is. I have played it many times. However the former "tactical" main line (4.Nc3 de4 5.Nxe4 d5) is currently under a cloud. But 5...Nf6 is a fine move- Radjabov has never lost with it against the world's elite, and occasionally he picked a few scalps (Anand included!). This is not such a sharp line though, more on the technical side of things.
A problem with 3...f5 (Jaenisch/Spielmann gambit) is that in a couple of variations the pawn structure is such that you must be content with a draw, even against a weaker opponent.
AmateurPretzel wrote:
So after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4, is 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.c3 better for White than 4.O-O Nxf3+ 5.Qxf3?
I would think 4.O-O is probably stronger. Maybe after 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.c3 d5 6.exd5 Qe7+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2 White is significantly better, but Black might have something for the pawn. I would prefer the several extra tempi from the 4.O-O variation to this position though.
I prefer 4.Nxd4. Just compare with the Bird Ruy, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 ed4, where white's most popular try for an advantage is 5.Bc4. Here you have the same, plus a very handy extra move (c2-c3) which stakes a cliam for a big centre. After 4.0-0 Nxf3+ 5.Qxf3 white's advantage is more static in its nature. I would be perfectly happy with both, but your variation above with 5...d5 presents white only some minor techical difficulties to utilize the extra pawn.
Scarlet_chessmaster wrote:
...Your point?
What about 3...Nc6 against both 3.Nd2 and 3.Nc3? It's quite challenging, quite nonstandard, quite active, and quite unknown to most.
The Rubinstein is OK but passive, and the Marshall is simply unsound, positionally-wise.
1...e5 is alot more tactical than people give it credit for and positions isnt that cramped
Center counter gambit can be fun, if probably not very good at higher levels.
Dec 22, 2011
0
#19
pfren wrote:
The French is a fine opening. Just see how the great players were handling the Black men: Botvinnik, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Uhlmann.
The "bad" white squared bishop is part of the overall positional trade of the opening, and can be handled in various ways.
Another idea is playing 1...e5. There the only worry is the Ruy Lopez, but even there Black can play sharply AND soundly- say what Shirov has named the "Tkachiev Variation": 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5.
I love playing that variation. I almost always play Bb7 later which transposes into the Archangelsk variation I think.
browni3141 wrote:
I love playing that variation. I almost always play Bb7 later which transposes into the Archangelsk variation I think.
The bishop can go to b7, g4 or nowhere (Shirov almost always answers White's a2-a4 with ...Rb8, eventually sacrificing the b5-pawn). Putting the bishop on b7 is fine as long as white has committed himself to c2-c3, else the plan with d3, Nc3 and a4 is positionally quite annoying.
I currently use the French Defense, but I find myself not doing too good with it at times and the cramped position is sometimes really annoying. Don't get me wrong, I like to use it and I've had some good games with it, but I'm just wondering if I should stick with it or use a different opening instead.
If I should change, which opening should I use?(And please don't tell me to use the Sicilian...)
If I should stick with it, what are good ways to deal with White's bishops constantly pinning my Knights and how should I deal with my Light-squared Bishop?