History of your openings

I thought it might be fun to post the history of our openings and why we chose them.

Playing as white:

1.e4, I was playing it when I was a kid (around 10 y.o.). I only new one variation then - some kind of boring Italian game I guess.

Then I had a break from chess, about 7 years. When I picked it up again I tried 1.c4 because it looks fine and I didn’t want to learn any theory while there’s a lot of it after e4 or d4, I thought. At least my opponent didn’t know what to play either ;)

Then I found out that I really like games starting with 1.c4 Nf6 1.d4! (where I had a firm grip of center) but sometimes my opponents played also 1…e5 or 1…c5 which I found boring. And then I saw somewhere queens gambit where you can always play both d4 and c4 whatever your opponents’ reply! So I switched to 1…d4 with enthusiasm.

Then it actually occurred that I do not like all the indian games starting with 1.d4 Nf6 especially Kings Indian, while I love all the semi-slavs (resulting usually from 1.d4 d5 c4 c6 and so on).  So I switched to originally looking 1.Nf3 to which the response is usually 1…d5, then I play 2.d4 and we are almost in semi-slav! Why is it usually 1…d5? Because my opponent is thinking “he doesn’t grab the center so I MUST!”. And so he ends up in the opening he is not so familiar with as the fissionable 1.d4 Nf6 which he usually plays (most people do). But if he plays KID anyway I choose the exchange variation (pawn and queen exchanges) to run away from theory.

Playing as black:

As a kid I played this Italian game starting with 1.e4 e5….

My next step was the Sicilian 1.e4 c5 without any theory. After some time I read some theory and picked up O’kelly variation which I really like and presently feel very comfortable with - 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6.

My answer to 1.d4 is 1…d5 and semi-slav - meran variation. I love to play it as white and as black.  

In blitz games I usually choose Chigorin defense - 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 - I know the theory well but if white has lots of time to think he might end up better.

 wow! I didnt mean 1.Nc3 but 1.Nf3 :D my mistake

as I said I like to play d4 + c4 so Nc3 would be kinda disturbing ;)

White:

I started out as a kid playing the ruy lopez. Then as I got to around 1200 uscf when I was 10 I began to run into the sacilian and I really hated playing against it so I switched over to d4 so that I no longer had to face it. I briefly experimented with c4 but I liked d4 better so I stuck with that.

Black:

Against e4 I always played e5 until I switched over to d4 as white. I hated all the little tricks and pitfalls there were in the e4 e5 openings so I decided that I would switch to a more dependable opening. That is when i began play 1. e4 c6 the caro-kann, and I have continued to play it ever since.

Against d4 I used to play the tarrasch but I always seemed to like whites position more in the QGD systems so i thought about what I hated to play against most as white when I opened with d4. Thats when I began using the KID. As I prepared to use it myself against those who played d4 against me, I simultaneous learned how to play against it as white killing two birds with one stone.  

As white:I started out with the Scotch Game, than I still do e4,e5,Nf3, Nc6, Bc4

As Black:Italian game still