First Move Explanations

I often see a whole lot of forums about the first move of chess.  People debate about which is better and chitter chatter about miscellaneous things.  Why did you choose your first move?  What prompted you?  What openings do you employ against various Black setups?  Come on.  Be specific.

I play d4 because I believe it to be the strongest move.  It is a lot more fun.  I play the Samisch against the KID and the Qc2 line of the Nimzo.  I play the minority attack exchange in the QGD and the Wade against the Semi Slav.

As white I play e4 because I haven't used anything else. against e5 I either play the king's gambit or the scotch game depending on my mood.

I suppose like everone else I started playing 1.e4 when I was a beginner, but just before my first OTB tournament I switched to 1.d4, mainly because I got sick of looking at the Sicilian Defense, and I wanted to see something different. Years later I switched back to 1.e4, which is what I play now, because I found that, with the Black pieces, I had a harder time coming up with a good defense to 1.e4 than to 1.d4. My opinion now is that neither one is better than the other--it's just a matter of taste.

On this site, playing Live Chess, I have found that most people respond to 1.e4 with 1....e5. I have also seen a few Sicilians, Center Counters, and French Defenses, but not much else. Against 1....e5 I aim for the Ruy Lopez. Against the Sicilian, I've been playing around with the main lines of the Open Sicilian.

I play e4 as white. I play the Sicilian against e4, the QGD or Albin against d4, e6 against c4, From's Gambit against f4, and c5 against Nf3.

e4 , d4 or c4, as black  if e4 e5 if d4 d5 and if c4 e5 :)

I decided on 1.d4 simply because I was bored sick of the double King pawn openings. I too play the Saemisch and usually go for 0-0-0 and g4. Against the QID, I employ the Petrosian variation. Against the Semi-Slav, I shoot for the Anti-Meran.

I have chosen these openings because I believe in them, but more importantly because they excite me. I get my kicks from chess through tactical situations and brash attacks. I also play this way because it gives me more opportunity to outplay my opponents.

I play e4. I used to play d4 back when I started but I like the more open tactical games better than the closed positional ones. Against e5 I usually play the italian, evans gambit if I get the chance, or the ruy lopez which I don't know much about. Against the french which I hate playing against I usually play the main line with 3.Nc3 but I really don't know much about it and usually get into trouble. Against the sicilian I play open sicilians, and closed once in a while. Against the caro kann I play the mainline or the fantasy variation. Against the pirc I play the austrian but don't know anything about it.

My opening choice may be the silliest story of why I chose it...1. f4.  I was about a 1000 rated player at the time (maybe more, maybe less) and I was a 1. e4 player.  My opponent played the Alekhine against me, and I pushed the pawn, and they played Ne4.  I began to look at the board.  What if I pushed d3, and they played Nxf2?  Now I would see that that is a horrible move, but then it scared me.  My pawn was weak!  After my king took back, I couldn't castle.  What was I going to do?  :-)

I began to look into situations where I could play the pawn out first, soon learning that that was called Bird's Opening.  I played the opening for quite a few years, trying new things (I still am! :-) ). 

However, at the moment, I have been switching back to 1. e4, trying to get a hang of the systems that everyone else already knows. 

Against 1. e4, I have been playing the French, but am experimenting at the moment with ...e5.  Against most other responses, I have been playing the Dutch, although I am trying to switch to e-pawn (trying for development schemes).  Wish me luck! :-)

Im thinking of taking up the sicilian against e4. I have two books on it

1. Beatin the sicilian, by John Nunn

2. The sicilian for the tournament player, by Edward gufeld

which would you recommend i start with? And is there a particular side that chooses which variation is played?

Thanks

I would recommend Winning With the Najdorf by Daniel King. Play the Najdorf. It's very strong.

Which type of Sicilian would you like to play.

as black can you choose to play the Najdorf Or can white change the variation?

If White plays the Open Sicilian, (3. d4) then the Najdorf is rather unavoidable.  The thing with the Najdorf is that it requires a bunch of theory; one wrong step will be fatal.  The Sicilian requires lots of time and memorization, but if you can get the lines down, you should be doing fine.

I guess, simplifying a lot, that people who like a more positional game, choose d4, and the ones who like a more direct game, e4. In my case, I always try e4 aiming to the Scoth game because I'm no good in positional games.

Last year I played in another online chess site, and as White, I always started with d4... as a result, my stats as white became very poor.

I started out playing e4 until a friend always beat me with the French, so I adopted the Reti. That worked for a long time , but now I'm back to e4.

I think a lot of players are too concerned with getting the opening down.  I usually play e4 and the Italian game or maybe the Queen's gambit to switch it up a little bit.  With these openings I'm sure my opponent will be fairly familar with the lines.  At my level I'm not trying to get an advantage (at least  not a decisive one) in the opening, I want to win in the middlegame, not because I know certain opening variations 12 moves deep.  I don't mind the occasional freebie if my opponent plays a terrible opening (Damiano's defense pops up every now and then).  I can worry about the opening when I actually know what I'm doing when its finished.