Against e4, hands down the Alekhine Defense.
It's aggressive starting at move 1. It guarantees an imbalance position that is rife with tactical potential and White has to be very precise to maintain his center. You are literally like a coiled snake that lashes out. It's a thing of beauty.
yeah but the space disadvantage can be quite difficult to deal with
I FINALLY found my 1.d4 countergambit I think! I'm loving the LOOKS of the englund > hartlaub charlick gambit and won my first one in under 20 moves DESPITE being sidelined early.
WHY I love it:
1. semi-open e & d files (I've fantasized about JUST THAT a long time!)
2. NO fianchettos! king's indian, benoni & benko gambit etc. all look HIDEOUS to me as I despise either side of a fianchetto
3. bishop PAIR aimed at 0-0!!! I played an INCORRECT scandinavian game where I lined my bishops up similarly and won quickly using one of them as a "can opener" on the castle I could finish a mating net with and almost started playing that "unsound" line because I loved the active bishops, and here THIS opening goes for just that! oooooh I love it!
4. the HUGE lead in development
5. the SIMPLICITY of most of the theory
6. the POSITIONAL & TRAPPY benefits with rooks on 2 open files with discovery threats against white's queen
7. it ISN'T the wonkier main line
it's a -2 point "unsound gambit", but it's explosive and dangerous and the exact OPPOSITE of the stonewall straightjacket I've searched for THIS line to get out of 2 decades!
Against e4, hands down the Alekhine Defense.
It's aggressive starting at move 1. It guarantees an imbalance position that is rife with tactical potential and White has to be very precise to maintain his center. You are literally like a coiled snake that lashes out. It's a thing of beauty.