Changing my black repertoire 1...d6

I've been using my repertoire for a very long time now and I want to change it to play other type of games. I am thinking about buying "1...d6:Move by Move" by Cyrus Lakdawala and playing only 1...d6 for a year or two. Did anyone read the book? Do you have experience with this opening? Here are the mainlines given by the book.

1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 - I don't understand this due to dxe4 dxe4 Qxe8 Kxe8.

But yeah, Pirc is fine I think.
3.c6 is Czech defence though, but my friend didn't play it, so I don't know about this line so much. Just Austrian and Classical Pirc.

Black is actually scoring well in that dxe4 dxe4 line after playing c6,Kc7.

Haven't been reading the book, but all I can say is that it's a good repertoire for fairly strong positional players

Instead of playing d4 d6 c4 e5, play Nf6 first. I always play d4 Nf6 c4 d6 Nc3 e5 as black, its actually quite drawn as some people may not think..

The usual line I run into is (and it is drawish with chances for black, and a bit for white)..

I have more problems if they play d5 after e5.

I have the book and like it, though I don't plan on playing it any time soon. It's also a good reference for White. I've faced it several times in tournaments.

Some lines worth knowing well, for example The Austrian can be dangerous if unprepared, especially the e5 and exchange sac.

Also d4 d6 c4 e5 d5 f5 e4!? (chapter 6) can be tricky.

 d4 d6 c4 e5 dxe5 is easier for Black to play in my opinion. Unless your opponent's first name is Ulf.  

Serbian, one typical move that isn't available in the 2...Nf6 line is f6 after White plays Nf3. Granted, a common move for Black in the Nf6 line after 6.Nf3 is Nfd7, which then allows for a later f6.

Thanks for the comments, I'll get the book. 

Another suggestion, you might want to get the ebook. They have a sample on the site I believe.

If you have a program like Chessbase then you could easily look up more games from any position, see what the computer thinks, and in general go through lines more easily.

Thanks, I got the ebook and I started studying with chessbase already :) 

There is a big difference between adding 1...d6 to you repertoire and playing ONLY 1...d6.

I looked through the book when it came out, and I wasn't very impressed with the lines against 1. e4. The lines did not strike me as particularly tricky or principled. You have to ask yourself whether you like playing openings that leave you at a space disadvantage and have you try to deconstruct a big center.

There is some real potential against 1. d4, especially if the white player is so inflexible that he/she won't play 2. e4.  The 1. d4 d6  2. c4 e5 line is really nice.

So, I think 1...d6 is a good choice against white players who avoid e4, but I can't adopt it as a universal opening.

The variation where the queens are traded seems similar to the Old Indian Defense, which is being reanalyzed today. There's a recent book on it called, "The New Old Indian."

Having a universal first move as Black is an interesting idea at least. It's not a move I would play, but I understand the comfort in knowing you have a response no matter White plays (as long as you actual have a reasonable continuation). 

I wonder what other moves might be universal? I was thinking c5, but of course that's questionable if the opening is 1.b4 :)

b6 is almost universal, except it might be bad after 1. g3. 

I would play Nf6 after anything except 1. g4

But what about 1.. c6? I don't think it loses to anything.

Please note: I am not suggesting adopting any of these as universal moves. I'm just indulging in some curiosity.

He does recommend 2...Bg4. It seems to fit well with the rest of the repertoire. 

And at least according to recent high-level results, AND long-term database statistics, the 3.Qd3 line is getting crushed by black.

It may well be the most testing line by white, if played perfectly.  I don't know, nor do I care.  But if, in practical OTB play even 2500's can't get away with it, it hardly matters.  

In addition, you don't really need to worry about it because nobody ever plays it.  In 4500 or so games on the big online DB, 3.Qd3 was played all of 50 times, and scored about 60% for black.

Consider it a third-rate response against everyone except Houdini, and maybe pfren, if he's on your list of common opponents.

I'll give it a try in today's simul against an IM although I could barely take a look at the book yet :)

You know, we really need a distinction between "?" to mark a questionable move vs. "?" as the conclusion of a question in a post. It took me a bit to figure out why pfren seemed to suggest Nf3 after he had condemned it. :)

He does mention Qd3 but for some reason only mentions 4.e4 - which, as you pointed out, doesn't really make sense. I also have the SOS book so it's surprising he dismisses the line so quickly.

The Ng5 line can lead to some pretty interesting position. I wouldn't mind playing Black though.  It seems like a perfectly playable game.

I don't know the book, but I don't like the author, his book about the Verasov was terrible.

Maybe you could get Pirc Alert!, but I don't know the author, you'll have to look him up.

Alburt and Chernin. Pirc Alert is one of my favorite opening books. It covers, as the name implies, the Pirc (and a bit on the Modern) and not the Czech (or whatever you want to call it) and 1.d4.

After reading all of chapter 1 and losing 2 games, I just won my first game with this opening. It became very positional very quickly and after my solid play in that part of the game I ended up missing a tactic. My opponent not only missed it but he also played a blunder, giving away the game.