Intuitive responses to d4

Hello,

I'm an amateur player. I'm not very good and I just play for fun.

I usually dedicate some time to openings in order to avoid wasting a lot of time calculating at the beginning of the game. For white I usually play intuitive stuff such as the Ruy Lopez or London System. For black I play French for 1.e4 and QGD against 1.d4...

I don't like QGD too much and I wanted to taste something different. I am looking for a different response to d4 but without needing a lot of study. Simply, I don't have the time. I'm currently checking the benoni

I have been told KID is simple and intuitive, and something interesting if you don't want to memorize too much ...

I want to avoid long theoretical lines or tons of different variations that need to be addressed in very different ways...

So, do you know an "intuitive" black opening against d4? something easy to play following general principles or something that takes you to middle game quickly ...

Thanks a lot in advance

Mmm, but that sounds like ...d5 to me. May be QGA?

Thanks for the answer Pulpofeira.

I will put those two in the list. The best way is to test them in some games and check what are my feelings.

Best regards

Are you playing the league this season? I'm preparing a line... :P

In fact yes, we have a team to have some fun.  I play with the club chess of Alcorcón in 3rd, we would be several teams, no idea of the "char" yet (maybe Alcorcon D or similar). Who knows, we could face each other.

I question how natural or intuitive the KID is.  Sure, the standard mainline is straight-forward: push the f-pawn and attack on the Kingside.  But what if White plays the Saemisch or the Averbakh or the Four Pawns or the Fianchetto?  These are nowhere near as simple, and just mindlessly trying to push the f-pawn can lead to disaster.  

I learned this the hard way, which is why I no longer play the KID.

I'd say the most natural and intuitive defences against 1.d4 are the Slav and the Queen's Gambit accepted.  I played the QGA for a good while, with pretty decent results, but it has three drawbacks.  First, it's a gambit, and if White plays one of the very aggressive variations than a single imprecise move can be devastating.  Second, most White players love playing the White side of the QGA, and they likely have more experience in their preferred variations than you do.  Lastly, if White doesn't play the Queen's Gambit then obviously we can't play the QGA, but that's kinda moot.

The Slav is perhaps the most natural response to 1.d4, as you can play d5, c6 and Bf5 against just about any White set-up.  Play is easy and straightforward.  On the downside, I've personally always had trouble winning from these positions.  I usually get a solid but passive position, and I have to wait around and hope White does something dubious so I can pressure for a win.

For that reason, I've started using the Nimzo and Bogo-Indians.  I suppose they are pretty intuitive to a point, but that depends on your hypermodern understanding.  Also, they rely on a certain move order from White, and they are toothless against the popular London or Colle setups.

Thanks a lot for your comments. 

It seems that there is some consensus that QGA can be a pretty decent option, that would allow me to avoid the very passive positions from the QGD. So I will give it a try.

Kind regads

I would say the Nimzo or the Queen's Indian Defense is the most intuitive and needs the least amount of theory. But you need to be able to understand the middlegame ideas well if you want to have success (true of all openings really).

Maldición, ahora que me había aprendido (con gran esfuerzo) los primeros movimientos de la Benoni resulta que  no la veo muy recomendada para ajedrecistas desmemoriados y con poco tiempo como yo. En fin, volveré al gambito de dama, todo un clásico.

You could try out the dutch possibly.  Starting off with 1... f5 isn't quite conventional but it can be quite successful and fun.  Not to mention, white really doesn't have much that he can do against it and the theory isn't as deeply developed as more conventional openings like QGD, The Slav, The Pirc or whichever else.  You do want to make sure you learn it fairly well though, since there can be some weaknesses you need to be aware of.

hahaha ... Vasco, you got me!!

see you on saturday!!

to the rest, many thanks, very valuable info here

Best regards

e6 best reply for 1 d4