E4, D4 or C4?

Which of these is best for players in the 1200 to 1300 rating range?

1. e4.

Because in the beginning you should learn how to play with initiative. And after 1.e4 chances to get such positions are higher.

1 e4 'Best by test' - Fischer

I'd say stick to d4 or e4, c4 is a bit complicated and quite confusing to play. But honestly, if you play one of those currently, stick to that.

I play c4 myself it's my fave opening

Or u can play b3 the nimzolarsen attack

I guess c4. The English opening. I learned this from Top Chess (search on YouTube and you'll find many chess memes including lessons which contain the tutorial for this opening). I tried it against my friend and he thought I was using Stockfish while when I opened the game review (I won that game), then Stockfish said I did 0 blunders.

So the conclusion is I think c4's the best

First move doesn't matter at 1300. I'd recommend e4 or d4.

I would play 1.e4 as white because their is a lot of chess books & chess knowledge which has been passed down during the ages of chess.

When you play with the Black pieces against 1.e4, I don’t recommend 1…e5. LOL

Every person is different, but to me 1…e5 has to many Bc4 (Fried Liver Attack wannabes)

The ranking range between 1200 & 1300 was the worst for me.

I got sick of 1…e5 because I got tired of dealing with those types of people.

I also at the time didn’t know how to defend myself from it very good.

I would recommend playing French, Caro Kan, or Sicilian.

Maybe, you can start with e6 Sicilian at first.

Than switch to Dragon Sicilian at ranking range 1400.

The above is known as the Noah Arc Trap which happens in the Sicilian.

I won a lot of games like that.

If they don’t fall for it, it is ok.

Everything is fine for Black.

When you begin facing stronger plays around 1400, they will not do that as much.

You can try out Sicilian Dragon at that time.

They usually play a very calm line like above which is great for Dragon.

Tougher players will begin playing YugoSlav Attack which should happen around 1800 rankings. I recommend changing lines again at that time.

It’s a crazy looking line like above.

c4 definitely! The English is super solid and has plenty of attacking possibilities despite its reputation of being passive!

Any opening presents attacking possibilities. And openings aren't passive, chess players are. You can make any game you play as bold or timid as you want.

Disagree, it's a combination of both, isn't it?

Yes thank you optimissed! Some openings like for example kings gambit are not timid! If you play timid in that you will lose! And some openings like for example the Dutch Defense are very timid and don’t allow for attacking possibilities until very late in the game. However the English is very flexible so you can do either depending on you and your opponent’s play style.

Observe following game. White plays passively at first but once given an opportunity he opens the game and attacks resulting in a win for white due to resignation. This is a perfect example on how the English Opening is a powerful and versatile opening that deserves more use!

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Bc5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. Nxe5 Nxe5 7. d4 Nxc4 8. dxc5 d5 9. cxd6 Qxd6 10. Qxd6 Nxd6 11. Nc3 c6 12. b3 Bf5 13. Ba3 Rad8 14. Rfd1 Nfe8 15. e4 Bg4 16. f3 Bh5 17. e5 Nb5 18. Nxb5 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 cxb5 20. Bxf8 Kxf8 21. g4 Bg6 22. f4 Bc2 23. Rc1 Bd3 24. Bxb7 f6 25. exf6 Nxf6 26. g5 Nh5 27. Bf3 Nxf4 28. Rc7 Nh3+ 29. Kg2 Nxg5 30. Rxa7 h6 31. h4 Ne6 32. b4 Kg8 33. Bd5 Bf5 34. Re7 Bg4 35. Bxe6+ Bxe6 36. Rxe6 {1-0}

Ask the same question when you are 1700. For now, openings are far less important than avoiding blunders and picking up free materail.

Hey! It is still necessary to learn opening theory when you are less than 1700. Yes it is also necessary to avoid blunders but good opening theory is crucial!

I used to use the English opening, back in the early 90s. I would have been a stronger player if I'd stuck with it but with the English, every game felt like I was black. I played in (and won) a lot of tournaments at the 1800 FIDE level but was struggling a bit at the 1900 level to get in among the prizes. One problem was that I was often tired after a busy week and playing the fifth game on a Sunday afternoon was getting a bit much with most of the games lasting about 55 moves. I experimented a bit and ended up playing 1. d4. It gave me a new lease of life. I think it's effectively a far stronger opening than 1. e4 if you can analyse well otb. Typically my games with white were lasting 30 to 40 moves. I still play 1. d4 in 5 mins blitz. I see it as much the most aggressive opening there is. I can be a passive, positional player, happy playing reversed openings but normally I like to attack and always look for tactical opportunities. One strength of 1. d4 is that you haven't played e4 and that can come very much as a shock, especially in openings like the Slav. The same really applies to 1. c4 and 1. Nf3.

This is a case in point. A 5 mins game played the other day and I've had another a month ago with exactly the same moves. People don't realise that 1. d4 can be so nasty if they play dodgy moves and part of the reason is that they often don't expect white to play e4 when it appears to lose a pawn.