Any suggestion on my opening repertoire for black?

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Avatar of bsrti

If I play black against e4:


What I play as black against d4:


And for other openings:

I am also acknowledged of how to play against Ruy Lopez opening and Giuoco Piano game, and 4 knights. I generally never play Sicilian defense,  and when I counter it as white I play closed variation only.

What should I study for black next?

Avatar of iHateGreenPeas
bsrti wrote:

If I play black against e4:

e4xd5
What I play as black against d4:


And for other openings:

I am also acknowledged of how to play against Ruy Lopez opening and Giuoco Piano game, and 4 knights. I generally never play Sicilian defense,  and when I counter it as white I play closed variation only.

What should I study for black next?

 

Avatar of ThrillerFan

I always recommend the Kings Indian Defense to French players.  It often leads to the same type of game.  The center gets blocked with pawns, play is on the wings, and you attack the side in which your pawns point.

So in the French, let's say the Advance Variation, it is a kingside Attack for White and a Queenside attack for Black.

In the Kings Indian Mar Del Plata, it is a Queenside attack for White and a Kingside Attack for Black.

 

If you are a French player, clearly you understand how to deal with Bad Bishops.  The LSB is Black's Bad Bishop in the French while the DSB is Black's Bad Bishop in the King's Indian.  Sticking with defenses where your problem piece is a Bishop will be easier for you to understand than those where your problem piece is one of the Knights, like the Queen's Knight in the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez.

Avatar of FizzyBand
Pepega500 wrote:

What about if the french player is unwilling to learn the huge amounts of kid theory?

Maybe play the Old Indian

Avatar of ThrillerFan
Pepega500 wrote:

What about if the french player is unwilling to learn the huge amounts of kid theory?

The French has a huge amount of theory, so how is it any different than the King's Indian.

 

If you think the French isn't loaded with theory, you aren't playing the French right!

 

Case in point - Psakhis wrote complete coverage of the French in 2003.  It was 4 books over 1000 pages total.

 

In 2015, Berg wrote 3 books on the French totaling around 1000 pages and his is a mere Black repertoire!  No Classical, no McCutcheon, No Burn, No Rubinstein, No Fort Knox, No Open Tarrasch, no Winawer with 7...Kf8 or 7...Nf5 or 7...O-O and 8...Qa5, only a single line against the King's Indian Attack, a single approach against the Exchange, etc.

 

So in 12 years, the French has evolved tremendously, and if you wrote complete coverage of the French, it would be 3000+ pages long, so again I ask, how is this any different than jumping in the King's Indian Swamp?

Avatar of it5thebenjastr
 

Avatar of 23Dragons

Maybe the Caro-Kann? It's a decent opening(in my opinion).

Avatar of komodochess13

Sicilian and KID. Don't be lazy and just learn the theory.

Avatar of bsrti

Thanks, I will study King's Indian Defense, thanks.
I do indeed undestand how to play with and against bad bishops, so I will study KID.

Avatar of sid0049

Alekhine defence

Avatar of BeatleFred

*** Keep in mind:  if you are an e4 player (like many of us are), whatever defense you choose when you are black, be it Sicilian, CK, French..   be aware that when you're on the white side again, you will often have to play against your own black defense.  I think thats clear..   in other words, if you choose the Care Kann as black,  you will also need to play against it when you're white, so how do you feel about playing against your own variation? You might have to study another sideline within the CK, from the white perspective.  The same can be said for any opening & defense,, unless you switch to something other than 1) e4. 

The other consideration is, if you choose the Sicilian as black, there is not only the main line you need to know- in fact, you might not even play your mainline, because there are alot of 2nd move alternatives, especially at the club level and blitz games, so you need to prepare for 2) b4 and 2) d4, the Wing and Morra gambits, 2) f4 Grand Prix, 2) c3, 2) Nc3- closed sicilian-  thats alot to study!   

Its not a simple matter of just picking a defense for black.  White can vary on his 2nd moves.   e4 e6, the French, what law is there that white has to play 2) d4 when he can play 2) Nf3 instead and play d4 when it suits him in the position?  These things have to be taken into account when choosing a defense.

Avatar of 23Dragons

Well, I a lot of the times don't play 1) e4. I play the King's Indian Attack or the Nimzo-Larsen.  And even though I play the Caro-Kann a lot of times, I haven't really had to play against it yet.

Avatar of SwimmerBill

Lots of good suggestions above. Another possibility to consider is to pick a player whose style you want to emulate and copy their openings, learning them first from their games and then filling in the gaps from opening books/databases.

Avatar of ThrillerFan
BeatleFred wrote:

*** Keep in mind:  if you are an e4 player (like many of us are), whatever defense you choose when you are black, be it Sicilian, CK, French..   be aware that when you're on the white side again, you will often have to play against your own black defense.  I think thats clear..   in other words, if you choose the Care Kann as black,  you will also need to play against it when you're white, so how do you feel about playing against your own variation? You might have to study another sideline within the CK, from the white perspective.  The same can be said for any opening & defense,, unless you switch to something other than 1) e4. 

The other consideration is, if you choose the Sicilian as black, there is not only the main line you need to know- in fact, you might not even play your mainline, because there are alot of 2nd move alternatives, especially at the club level and blitz games, so you need to prepare for 2) b4 and 2) d4, the Wing and Morra gambits, 2) f4 Grand Prix, 2) c3, 2) Nc3- closed sicilian-  thats alot to study!   

Its not a simple matter of just picking a defense for black.  White can vary on his 2nd moves.   e4 e6, the French, what law is there that white has to play 2) d4 when he can play 2) Nf3 instead and play d4 when it suits him in the position?  These things have to be taken into account when choosing a defense.

 

That is true with any player.  There will ALWAYS be at minimum one opening you have to play from both sides.  If you are an English player, you will have to face your own line as Black.  If you are a d4 player, your defense to d4 applies, etc.

 

You can have MORE THAN ONE point of overlap, but one is the minimum!

 

I play 1.e4 and 1.f4.  My overlaps are the French, King's Indian, and Bird's.  You might wonder about the King's Indian.  1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 I play 3.f3 and if 3...g6, then 4.c4 is will lead to a King's Indian Saemisch.

Avatar of BeatleFred

Interesting that you brought up e4 d6. I was thinking of adopting that as my black defense, as I dont want to play 1.. e5 and have to face my own favorite opening as white, the Vienna game with e4 e5 Nc3.  

Most books and people naturally think of 2) d4 when seeing 1... d6, but white can play other moves, like e4 d6 Nc3!?   and if I play e5, it feels like I am playing against the Vienna!  e4 e5 Nc3 d6, only that 2..d6 is a timid move.