I'm not a strong player by any means, but I've found that by understanding my openings, I find middlegame positions easier, which translates to more success. Currently my repertoire is quite limited, consisting of the Scotch as white (I feel very comfortable in this opening), and the Petroff as black against 1.e4 (I only picked this up a few days ago, so I'm not 100% sure yet). I like openings that open up the board and lead to attacking positions (I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology or if it makes sense, it's just what came to mind).
What I'm looking for:
- Responses to the French, Caro, Sicilian, KID, etc, that I can learn and thematically suit my style.
- A response to 1.d4 openings as well at 1.c4 and 1.Nf3
- Of course, if there are any suggestions for alternatives to the Petroff I am willing to take those into account.
Any help would be appreciated
Well, some of these lines are indeed aggressive, but not necessarily open. In some cases, you cannot have both! For example, the Exchange French is open, but White gets no attack what-so-ever.
I see your point. I think it is essential as part of my improvement as a player that I can navigate closed positions as well, and form attacks from a more diverse range of positions in order to refine my repertoire and see more overall success in games. Thanks for your suggestions as well.
As black, against almost anything other than e4 you can try any variation of the Dutch. I'd recommend Leningrad or classical.
Against caro-kann the fantasy variation hasn't been mentioned yet and is quite tricky and aggressive.
against the french, kings indian attack is somewhat systematic but if you're feeling adventurous there's also the almost sound super fun to play wing gambit
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4
Wing Gambit is no good. 4...d4! Is equal at best for White. One slight slip-up and White is dead. It is not a good line for someone that does not want to spend for ever trying to find that very thin line to survival. It has about the same level of soundness as the Latvian Gambit.