ELO 1200 Level-What should I play for black against 1.e4?

Caro Kann looks interesting. It is hard though, and requires you to learn a terrible bunch of stuff. I have won a few times with Alekhine's defence, although I don't know how effective it generally is. Sicillian? Well, played it a couple of times, I have kind of failed because I didn't exactly know what to do (I played it just for trial). One of the best options though. And, finally, 1. e4-e5. That is what I always played, but it gets rather boring playing the same thing all the time, and looks like white has spotted some tricks that can totally confuse me. Currently trying to learn a few stuff about Caro Kann and Sicillian, but it would help me so much lot if you suggested me which opening of these is the best for me, and also if there is another opening that I haven't included that is usefull. Don't say the French Defence. It is terrible. At least for me.

Thanks

I don't want to do it, but...

BUMP

don't waste you time on openings

^

just play natural developing moves, and don't copy your opponents.

If you don't want to play the Caro-Kann, Sicilian, French, or head into the Open Systems, you might try playing the Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6, 2. d4 Nf6, 3. Nc3 g6), although you will have to be ready to play against the Austrian Attack (4. f4), which allows White significant (though not necessarily dominating) play.

Petrov opening.

Easy to reach.  Gives you playable positions.  Played at high levels by Kramnik.

Pick one opening that suits your preferences and go with it. At your, and my level, it doesn't fundamentally matter.

Ditto. Learn opening principles and how to apply them. It'll get you much further (and quicker) than learning specific openings. At least that's what I've been told by good players (i.e. USCF >1900).

Openings don't matter at your level. It is more than enough to follow the basic opening principles, and improve your endgame skills and tactics.
You will usually lose the game at this level because of missing some 2-3 move tactics, openings won't help you. The best is to answer e4 with e5, since it usually gives open, tactical positions which helps you a lot. 

This is what always happens when people who aren't grandmasters ask for advice on choosing an opening. It needs to stop.

I recomend the Caro-Kann or the Pirc which are solid but give Black a good amount of activity.

STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANSWER HIS QUESTION OR DON'T POST AT ALL!

To be fair 1.e4 e5 does seem like an acceptable answer as does 1.d4 d5.

I don't like the Pirc though as Black needs to do a whole lot more than White to get a decent middlegame where as White really can get by just developing the knights before the bishops. Then there are the pawn storm systems and the 150 attack which I doubt will be easy to play against without some kind of book assistance.

I think most things that include getting a pawn to the fourth rank will be fine. 

When I started with chess I switched to Scandinavian/Center Counter (1.e4 d5) instead of 1...e5 very fast for the following reasons:

1) Almost any opening is sound at below GM rating levels

2) 1. e4 d5 brings you on your special ground without all the other stuff - some variations can be like Caro-Kann if you want.

3) Depending on your mood you can go from positional Qxd5 -> Qd6/Qd5 vs. Sf6 -> Sxd5 to tactical like nordic gambit or icelandic gambit (see point 1 in case of a soundness discussion)

I always hat lots of fun with the gambits (not too much theory involved for our levels) etc.

And there is also a decent book by Jovanka Houska on Scandinavian involving most of Black's possiblities.

Currently I prefer Pirc but I really think that it is too complicated at even lower levels than I am. For me it is still a lot of work and I doubt that it is worth the time (also at my levels) but on the other hand I have some good results with that here an OTB because at our level White tends to overextend most of the time.

If you want to beat the sh*t out of chess and crush every soul you encounter, you better get your sicilian game on.

Vlastimil, one of my favorite players.   The player with the most interesting name to me is Enrique Mecking.

 I play Owen's defence against e4 as black (I'm roughly 1300~ elo). I find this opening works well as there are many opertunities to catch out an un-prepared player (I often end up winning that e4 pawn) however even if your opponent plays perfectly you can still equalise very easily and the main lines look good for black. I would recomend watching GM Igor Smirnovs two part video series on the opening in which he covers most of the main line variations

part 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ACdKjp4QQ

part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEJdebvXQY

Thanks for posting those. I'm downloading them.

I like the look of 1...b6 against 1Nf3

1Nf3 b6

if

2e4 (possibly unlikely from a 1Nf3 player) Bb7

I'm not so sure that white gets so pressing a game than if he starts with1e4 and 2d4 or 1d4 and 2e4. Would be interested in any thoughts anyone has on this please.

Although I think you will get a few people wagging their fingers at you for recommending Owens Defence to an improving player

Didn't Basman (amongst others) give reason for Owens lacking strength was because at some stage white might play e5 driving the Nf6 to d5 which could be kicked by c4 .(This was a selling point of the St George with pawn on b5 that prohibited c4). I look forward with real interest to anyone who can shed light on this.

I think 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 Nf6 4.Qe2 can be difficult to play against. White delays moving the b1 knight to play against Black's dark-squared bishop and to safeguard against ...Nb4. Black has to play some moves that aren't really intuitive to continue development.

hmmm

Just looking at 365...

where white plays as (you) suggested, black seems to get a good game from a well timed d5 heading into a sort of French. Black seems to score well. Not saying it's forced, but worthy of further investigation.

1.e4e5 2.Kf3Kc6 3.Cc4Cc5 or 3....Kf6 do not look aggressive like Sicilian but they are solid and effective for studying open games. Sicilian is very complicated, with numerous variations you need to memorize and understand. Sometimes you'll encounter ruy lopez which is definitely not easy but its worth studying from the very beginning.