Ideas for defenses against e4

Im a D4 player that usually plays with the queens gambit, and i have good results with it(around 58% winrate~~). Im good playing against D4 as black as well. My problem is defending against E4. I've tried playing both Caro-Kann and Pirc, but im not having good results with it and honestly im not very confortable in the positions they create.

I've spent a little time with the Sicilian as well, but the amount of different variations and anti-sicilian moves are overwhelming, specially since a D4 player(I don't play against sicilian at all in my games).

I like slow-paced, positional games, that leads to winnable endgames(at least in my elo). I believe the Caro-Kann suits well, but id like to try other options.

TLDR

What im looking at an opening:

- Intuitive moves

- Slow-paced and positional games

- Pawn strucuture and positions similar to the queens gambit

- Straight foward positions

What i'm not looking at an opening:

- Sharp openings with a lot of traps

- Theory heavy openings

- Weird pawn strucutures

Any of you guys have suggestions that would be better than Pirc and Caro-Kann ? And what you guys think about the Pirc and Caro-Kann ? Should I just practice them more or should I learn something else ?

*I really dont like playing the French.

thanks

I like playing the French. It has a very solid reputation and offers Black a very straightforward plan

Caro kann, unfortunately, is the most fitting for your criteria. I would have recommended the modern- it allows you to get away with a LOT of pawn moves- but you don’t like a lot of weirdness.

Have you tried 1…e5? 

For your needs I would say Caro Kann. 1…e5 leads to incredible amounts of theory and loads of gambits etc. 

1...e5 takes some work, but you might like it.

But like others I was also thinking caro.

 1)...e5, personally I think it's a bad idea especially that it makes "a variety of game orientation" that makes this move not especially fun to play when "we know nothing" about this openning.

Examples 1) e4-e5  :

a : 2) f4 the Latvian Gambit even if in theory being refuted turns out to be dangerous and can annoy us with White. Here in clear White plays Latvian Gambit with one more move and can obviously also annoy by adding the nuance that in theory it is not refuted. 

b : 2) Nf3-Nc6 3) Nc3-Nf6 4) d4-exd4 5) Nxd4-Bb4 6) Nxc6-bxc6 7) Bd3-d5 8) exd5-cxd5 9) o-o_o-o 10) Bg5-c6 this position is not easy to win etc. and if we are not strong enough it is a bit discouraging to play this kind of position where we have no strategic ideas while White has at least a "simple winning plan" which is to play a c4 exchange it with d5 giving an isolated pawn + a majority b2,a2 against a7 and in short "it is transpose operation into a winning endgame".

c : 2) Nf3-Nc6 3) Bc4-Nf6 4) d4 really there is no less to play quietly without being obliged to learn the theory etc.

d : 2) Nf3-Nc6 3) Bb5 the main openning, the openning that is better to know.

More scary is the Moeller / Max Lange attack (depending on black's move order choice).
And Vinna gambit
And Danish gambit
And King's gamibit (you called it the Latvian for some reason).
etc

That Scotch line isn't scary at all, and black does have a plan i.e. queenside pressure + pushing the c+d pawns.

But sure, there is a wide variety of positions, and I guess it could be annoying at first. The nice thing is that in general 1.e4 e5 leads to logical games... you develop, castle, and play d5 or f5. No major weaknesses, you're not cramped, just a normal game of chess.

At least that's how I'd describe it.

Based on what you're describing: go with the Caro-Kann.

If you're having poor results with it, it could simply mean that you need more experience with it. These things can take time.

It took me several years to reach a point of being comfortable with the Queen's Gambit Declined ...

The nice thing about the C-K is that there are many different variations, in various mainlines. You can experiment with different approaches, to see what style of play you like best.

Also, I don't agree with the wording of those who said, "Unfortunately, the Caro-Kann ..." To me, the Caro-Kann is one of the most fascinating defenses in chess ... To each their own, I suppose!

@1

"I like slow-paced, positional games, that leads to winnable endgames"
++ Caro-Kann, Closed Ruy Lopez, Petrov seem suitable.

"I believe the Caro-Kann suits well" ++ Yes

"id like to try other options" ++ Why?

- Intuitive moves ++ That speaks more for 1...e5 than 1...c6

- Slow-paced and positional games ++ Yes, Caro-Kann, Closed Ruy Lopez, Petrov fit that.

- Pawn strucuture and positions similar to the queens gambit ++ Caro-Kann and Petrov fit that. There are even transpositions between the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Petrov. The Caro-Kann has some similarities with the Slav Defence. The Caro-Kann Exchange is a reversed Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange. The Panov Botvinnik Caro-Kann is like the Queen's Gambit.

"- Straight foward positions" ++ Closed Ruy Lopez

"what you guys think about the Pirc and Caro-Kann ?" ++ Caro-Kann fits your criteria, Pirc does not.

"Should I just practice them more or should I learn something else ?" ++ Practice more.

*I really dont like playing the French. ++ 'I have never in my life played the French Defence, which is the dullest of all openings' - Steinitz

Blindnoob1996
Hi. Your post is interesting.

Could you tell about French, why you don't like it?
Thank you.

Cough... Scandi... Cough.

"Unfortunately," because in their opening post, they said, "I've tried playing... the Caro-Kann... but im not having good results with it and honestly im not very confortable in the positions they create" [sic]. It's one of my main go-tos, personally. I think it's great.

I'm curious -- what's an example of a line in the QGA that is a Petrov transposition (or vice versa)?

Also... I don't feel like the Panov is like the QG. It's very very different that black doesn't have the c-pawn and white doesn't have the e-pawn. White never has e4, black never has c5. White never tears open the c-file to get at a weak pawn on c6 or c7. Black has more space compared to a QG.

It's also a question of how you play the Caro-Kann, the choice of lines. I recommend playing Nf6 rather than Bf5 in the mainline, and recapturing on f6 with the e pawn, giving you a solid phalanx of pawns in front of your king. Against the Two Knights, you can play dxe4 and Nf6, leading to the same position, while you can meet 3.e5 with c5, which is easy to play. You also need something against the Fantasy variation, 3.f3. 3....e6 seems the most solid.

Based on your needs, the Pirc seems not quite right. The Caro-Kann should be good, but if you want something else then the French is also good. Check the book Keith Arkell (2020) Arkell's Endings. (There are also a Chessable course and a video course, but I haven't seen them.) Arkell plays both French and Caro-Kann and likes _long_ endgames, so you may get some ideas.

Some people think the Exchange French is a problem for black, and they say the Caro-Kann is better because if white exchanges then it's more unbalanced. But if you are patient, and like endgames, even the Exchange French can be played for a win.

@15

"what's an example of a line in the QGA that is a Petrov transposition?"
++ Here are two such transpositions:
1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e3 e5 4 Nc3 exd4 5 exd4 Nf6 6 Bxc4 Be7 7 Nf3 O-O 8 O-O Nc6
1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e3 e5 4 Bxc4 exd4 5 exd4 Nc6

"It's very very different that black doesn't have the c-pawn and white doesn't have the e-pawn."
++ Trading c6 for e4 is the same as trading c5 for e3 and the reverse of trading c4 for e6.
It is the same structure: d4 faces d5, one side misses the e-pawn, the other the c-pawn.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 is the reverse of 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 cxd5 exd5

"1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e3 e5 4 Nc3 exd4 5 exd4 Nf6 6 Bxc4 Be7 7 Nf3 O-O 8 O-O Nc6"

I was curious to find a game that transposes like this, here's a couple: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1385544 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1296700 (by playing 9. h3 Nb4 in the line above, this transposition can be reached).

Re: Panov/QGD

It just seems extremely different for white to have the c-pawn on c4 in the Panov vs. black to have the c-pawn on c6 in a QGD Exchange (or even a c-pawn on c5 -- where white is a tempo up in a reversed Panov). Maybe I'm wrong, it just seems extremely different and like both sides would have extremely different plans.

@19

"I was curious to find a game that transposes like this, here's a couple"
++ Chess is full of transpositions. Nimzovich recognised the strategic importance.

"It just seems extremely different for white to have the c-pawn on c4 in the Panov vs. black to have the c-pawn on c6 in a QGD Exchange or even a c-pawn on c5"
++ In the Tarrasch Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined black has the pawn on c5.

"white is a tempo up" ++ The tempo is a dynamic difference, the static structure is the same

"it just seems extremely different and like both sides would have extremely different plans."
++ Some plans work with an extra tempo and do not work with a tempo less.