Defense against d4 and should I really search for my style ?

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merkevicius

Hello chess community. I'm beginner player , my rating is about 1100. I have serious question about openings . With white pieces I play london system ,and I like it . I got 60% win rate with it . If I play black , and face E4 I play french defense . Its my first opening I found when started chess and face  E4 and I really like it , I know the main ideas , and feel really comfortable with that opening .

But the main problem is D4.  At first I tried to play normal d5 and transform to QGD ,but don't find any success with it . Then I watch some videos about king's indian defense . Ok I thought this opening is modern ,I know its hard ,but if I get good at it I can play it for the rest of my life . But the problem its really sharp , I just get lost in position very quickly, also positions are very cramped . 

 So now my main question. Should I keep trying differents openings ,till I found ''this one is really for me'' Or just don't distract my self ,and keep for example kings indian defense.?
Looking for stronger players advices , maybe somebody can recommend openings that are beginners friendly (but don't want to play for tricks ) want a solid ones . Thank you !

french

Hmm difficult question!.

 

First you should decide your style. Do you like attacking openings, or positional openings?

Then, choose an opening, and Stick With It For Six Months Or More.

If you like positional openings, try the slav, queen's gambit declined. If you like attacking openings, try the King's Indian. 

Hope this helps.

PS. King's Indian just takes a bit of learning, not really that hard.

rpkgs

Play 1.e6. If 2.e4 then you have the french. 

If 2.c4, go d5. After Nc3 or f3, go c6.

Later you can start learning the theory in this opening, as well as similar ones, such as the nimzo or ragozin. You can try this free course if you want more ideas. 

https://www.chessable.com/short-sweet-semi-slav/course/35319/

ThrillerFan

Mr Winawer, your suggestion is not a good idea.

 

If your intention was to play the Noteboom (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 dxc4), then yes, but if all you are going to do is play a Semi-Slav, do not play 3...c6 and 4...Nf6, do it the other way around - 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6.

 

It avoids the critical Marshall Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4!)

rpkgs

I wanted to give him a chance to transpose back into the French, and c6 first can run into the exchange Slav, which  can be a bit complicated. This move order is what I usually use in my otb games, along with the nimzo. 

aggressivesociopath

@ Mr_Winawer

If White meets the Semi-Slav with 5. Bf4, why not take up the challenge with 5...dxc4?

zone_chess

King's Indian Defense is nothing bad. The sharpness required is not the problem, you just need to get yourself to attain that level of sharpness! Otherwise no opening will work. There are no easy wins. Also ditch the French, that's just rubbish 1500 and up. It leads to cramped positions, and an easy to beat kingside. Higher level players will simply smash through there so my advice is to switch to something more forward-oriented now.

Against d4 the slav is great. Also consider getting good at the Grunfeld or neo-Grunfeld defense. Hyperaccelerated dragon is usually solid. You can also try the Scandi after watching Magnus do it first (it's very hard). I even play the pterodactyl with rhamphorhynchus variation a lot against the lower levels. So yeah, explore, and don't shun the accuracy - you'll need it in the future anyway.

TestPatzer
merkevicius wrote:

Hello chess community. I'm beginner player , my rating is about 1100. I have serious question about openings . With white pieces I play london system ,and I like it . I got 60% win rate with it . If I play black , and face E4 I play french defense . Its my first opening I found when started chess and face  E4 and I really like it , I know the main ideas , and feel really comfortable with that opening .

But the main problem is D4.  At first I tried to play normal d5 and transform to QGD ,but don't find any success with it . Then I watch some videos about king's indian defense . Ok I thought this opening is modern ,I know its hard ,but if I get good at it I can play it for the rest of my life . But the problem its really sharp , I just get lost in position very quickly, also positions are very cramped . 

 So now my main question. Should I keep trying differents openings ,till I found ''this one is really for me'' Or just don't distract my self ,and keep for example kings indian defense.?
Looking for stronger players advices , maybe somebody can recommend openings that are beginners friendly (but don't want to play for tricks ) want a solid ones . Thank you !

I would recommend the Queen's Gambit Declined. It's the same central pawn structure (e6 + d5), so you'll have the similarity of playing with a familiar pawn center.

The tension points will be a little different from the French, though. The tactics, as well. But not as different as the King's Indian Defense.

I'd argue that the King's Indian is a more difficult defense to play (but that might just be my opinion). A lot of the moves are line-specific, tactic-related moves that don't necessarily follow the logic of normal development. In the KID, sometimes playing a "natural" move is the wrong move.

I'm 2200+. I play the Queen's Gambit Declined, on occasion. I've used it to defeat titled masters. But I don't play the King's Indian Defense, as I believe that I'm not a strong enough player to play it yet. That's how complex the KID can be.

Just something to consider.

FusilliPasta
Mr_Winawer wrote:

Play 1.e6. If 2.e4 then you have the french. 

If 2.c4, go d5. After Nc3 or f3, go c6.

Later you can start learning the theory in this opening, as well as similar ones, such as the nimzo or ragozin. You can try this free course if you want more ideas. 

https://www.chessable.com/short-sweet-semi-slav/course/35319/

 

Main issue with a semi slav is anti Moscow after bg5 a6 bh4 where there's no quiet lines. You can go for something like cambridge springs or similar to avoid anti Moscow lines, but they always feel very, very cramped. Luckily I can just about manage those sharp lines, though I really feel like it's unsound for black. So much compensation for the pawn!

FrogCDE

There is nothing wrong with the French. Yes, you'll be crushed from time to time, but all defences have their potential problems. If you get used to it you will learn very effective ways of counter-attacking. Finding a defence to d4 has been the hardest task I've faced in building a repertoire: the main ones I've tried have been the QGD, the Tarrasch, the Budapest Gambit and the Leningrad Dutch, but I have now settled, I hope for good, on the Stonewall Dutch (1....e6, to allow a French transposition, while avoiding several anti-Dutch lines, followed by 2... e5). You need to know what to do if White avoids the book lines with a fianchettoed KB - in my experience that happens more often than not in online and club games. But once you've mastered this it's a very solid system with attacking chances.