Looking for go-to response to 1.e4 as black

I mean... I'm biased against opening material in general anyway, so don't mind me.

play the Caro Kann, in my opinion it's more effective than the French

this isnt as shameful as it used to be. I recently got an opening book from an FM and the analysis was superb, (i also have a second favorite thats also written by a mere FM. In fact i have come to find that GM's may trust their own analysis too much in some lines, whereas the decent masters make sure to triangulate their suggestion with engine analysis and correspondence/centaur games

@llama47 - the course is filled with historical game examples from top players and covers practically every line ever played in master games, and dozens that haven't. It's unfair to be so callously dismissive without even looking into what it's about. I'd say over 500 lines in every conceivable variation with annotation is pretty thorough. Just last month someone played a novelty and he added it to the course with best replies. He's constantly updating it at no extra cost.

I also have Nepo's course on the King's Gambit, and while I like it, it's not nearly as thorough or as deep, doesn't provide much in the way of annotation, doesn't provide KG-related tactics drills, and I'll bet anything that he has no plans to keep it up-to-date. But hey, he's Nepo, so he'll sell a lot more.

it doesnt take a genius to know which rare lines are prob not practical to learn from an engine. sharp engine lines humans would be overwhelmed trying to play or otherwise ugly lines engines think should hold are not hard to spot. NM is more than strong enough  to tell.

One thing i really liked about the book by the FM i mentioned earlier is that despite being succinct, he would say something like  " chances are even here but X side has the easier game due to the pawn structure" or things along those lines. So a decent player can provide a little bit of extra digestion. But difference between an NM and an IM both with strong engines and good databases to writing great lines is small.

Well, to be fair, my introduction to the guy a la nikki was along these lines...

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 the move 2...Nf6 is a mistake because black will be fighting for equality.

This ought to give you some idea what opinions are worth:

1) Many have the opinion that the Vaccine doesn't work.

2) Many have the opinion that potato chips constitutes healthy food.

3) Many have the opinion that Fischer is the GOAT.

4) Many have the opinion that it is ok to leave your outdoor Christmas decorations up all year.

Clearly, opinions are worthless, and so is saying that the Caro-Kann is better than the French.

The government put potato chips in the vaccines. It's a plot to make people believe Fischer is the GOAT, and as for the Christmas decorations those are just a red herring.

Llama, that's not what we were talking about. We were talking about the Vienna/Falkbeer transposition of the Alekhine relative to d5 variations.

And he doesn't say that it's bad for black, he said that it's lifeless with black always slightly worse. If I wanted to play the four knights, I wouldn't play the Alekhine. The d5 variations instead of the e5 variations, he argues, are sharper, and offer more opportunities (and Naroditsky on his streams has strongly agreed). If you like to grind out a position, it's a fine, safe, well-trodden position, but most Alekhine players are in it for the counterattacking opportunities. B1ZMARK, as he himself states, is a grinder and he likes those kinds of positions. I would venture to guess that most Alekhine players would prefer something more unbalanced. Jeez, Llama, you're feeling awfully snarky tonight.

I would just play several and find which ones click with you. If you like QID (and QID-esque Nimzos) I think you'll like the French or at least the non-exchange variations. Another possibility is an e6 Sicilian. 

I was hoping you wouldn't say something silly like this... it's the same position. If it's "strongly advised against" because "black has to fight for equality" (I'm quoting you) then it's close to arguing that 1.e4 e5 is a mistake, lol.

Not really.

But like I said, I don't like opening stuff in general, so don't mind me.

Duh, yes, it's the same position. I was talking about that position **relative** to playing d5. Naroditsky, and others say that d5 is the best path to equality and winning chances. You can equalize almost immediately with d5 and the position is much more unbalanced with lots of chances for white to make mistakes in positions that they are probably unfamiliar with. The main lines of the Vienna look like symmetrical scholastic tournament positions that leave black slightly worse. The computer recommends going into the four knights and I'd rather quit chess than play the four knights.

The vast majority of masters choose 2...d5 for this very reason (1893 games with d5 vs. 622 games with e5 in the Lichess database of master games).

Meanwhile, look at this position. Computer reads 0.0 on move four. It looks completely counterintuitive, but black is fine.

In the final insane-looking position black is better, but the opponent flagged because they weren't used to these kinds of positions.

its true the gambit with best play is even but that tells you a lot. Black has to play alot of ugly defensive moves just to maintain said equality whereas whites replies are aggressive and logical . If you feel comfortable defending this as black all the power to you but that's really besides the point because what was in contention is whether after 2.nc3 if these alekhine declined lines are a bore or not and say what you will of the spielmann gambit, boring is not how i would describe it. (heck as a general rule of thumb, anything with Spielmann's name in it isnt boring!)

@dark - there is no gambit here: just count the pawns. I've had move 4 in this line a lot and I'm completely comfortable with it. Also, I win more with black than I do with white, so I'm good.

im only talking about move 4. here bd3 is actually an error although a subtle one. in truth the weak diagonal is only one of white's many potential plans and if white plays it too soon loses equality. white must take c5 and go for early h4 if g6, or if nxc5 too soon change his plans to nf3-bb5.

If 5.dxc5, then e6

6.Nf3 Nc6 7. Bf4 Bxc5 8. Bd3 f6

... and black is slightly better. Hit me with another. I'm having fun.

e6 ? where?  you mean e5? (then just qxd5)