Opening Defenses (Black)

Currently, as black, I play King's Indian Defense and French Defense. I very much enjoy the concept of counterattack and I feel that it suits me well. However, I recently drew a game that I should've won, due to the French exchange variation. What openings as black vs e4 provide good counterattack, but can't result in drawish positions (unless I choose to)?

Against d4, I'm content with King's Indian. I do not need suggestions against d4.

Anything against e4 that provides counterattack.

Thanks

Btw, I have a uscf rating of 1500 and a chess.com standard rating approximately 2000.

Sicilian Defence ! Both Fischer and Kasparov were fond of the KID/Sicilian combination.

When you say you drew a game you should have won it sounds like the opening went ok for you...

Also would probably second the Sicilian recommendation.  Najdorf or Scheveningen (with a Najdorf move order) are the best options for counterattacks imo.

Thanks a lot. Can you give an example line in Sicilian that shows counterattack? Also, when I say I should have won, I meant I was higher rated

There's lots of games we all should have won :-)

You may wish to play through some of Fischer's games. But most "open" Sicilians give black counter attacking chances. When white chooses an Anti Sicilian, you may have to defend, or play from a  more even position than you would choose - but perhaps a pawn up .

At the end of the day, black is the second player, and you need a sense of "chess maturity" to live with that. The thing to do is equalise and win in Anti Sicilian situations. With the open Sicilian, you may have to take a few punches as well before regrouping and striking back.

There seem to be a few threads where people want to attack with black at any cost, and even against reason. You can't do that. IF you can win all games with white and draw all games with black, you WOULD become world champion eventually !

This type of game is fairly typical of a number of Sicilian variations.  Of course white can opt for quieter lines but they don't offer white any real advantage.  One often overlooked thing about the Sicilian is that, whilst black needs to be ready for a tactical game he also needs to be able to exploit the positional advantages offered by the opening if white goes for quieter lines, as well as requiring good endgame technique since the Sicilian endgame is usually considered to favour black because of the two central pawns but it is by no means a straightforward win.  You really need to a a well-rounded and well prepared player to play the Sicilian - but it is worth it if you're willing to make the effort. 

Well said. The best chess decision I ever made was switching to the Sicilian. It showed in my chess results. I had excellent results OTB with the Kan for a few years. The Anti Sicilian lines asked the most questions because they demanded a level of emotional maturity that sometimes I just hadn't got. Facing the c3 Sicilian is a bit like facing the London System :-)

Two points:

1) If you are thinking about switching to a different opening just because of one game, one where you got a draw, then don't.  If you're happy with playing the French, then keep on playing the French.  One game shouldn't make that much of a difference.

2) THE FRENCH EXCHANGE IS ONLY AS BORING/DRAWISH AS YOU MAKE IT OUT TO BE.  If you decide to play passively with the Nf6/Bd6 system, then you'll most likely get a boring game.  There are many other ways you can play against the Exchange, it isn't limited to just that one idea.  I personally score very well with a system involving Nc6, Bd6, Bg4 against Nf3, and Nge7, where I have the option of castling to either side, and I very rarely get a boring game.  There are ways that White can dull the game, but it's not common at all.  Besides, there are drawish lines in many openings other than the French (such as the Exchange Variation in the King's Indian), but again, it all depends on how boring you make it out to be.

Thanks that was the most helpful comment. I usually play bd6 ne7 bf5 and try and trade off light squared bishop. I like the bg4 idea though

White can play the Alapin against the sicilian, which is like the equivalent of the French exchange against the French.

Pirc or Modern Defense might be an option, the latter having the potential to transpose into KID structures

I tried the pirc and had a lot of success but usually white not playing c4 gives him slightly more time this allowing his attack to be slightly faster than mine

Yes, I had the problems with White's aggression against the Pirc, so I switched to Philidor's defense 3...e5 instead of 3...g6, however, Philidor goes against a bit against what you're looking for (unles maybe the 3...Nbd7 lines, but then you deal with 4. f4).  Have you ever looked at Alekhine's Defense?  I used to play it, but found White had a few good lines I had trouble dealing with, usually the exd6 exchange lines, but it's a fighting defense for sure.

And here we go with another episode of "Im a tactical/agressive player.  I need an agressive/tactical opening that will give me an advantage" 

Todays episode: I recently drew a game that I should've won, due to the French exchange variation. 

Starring: KingsAsianDefence

First a word from our sponsor...

I didn't use the word tactical or aggressive once...

Just having some fun at your expense, because there are so many posts about "Im agressive"..."Im tactical"..."Im a counter attacker"

Just think of it this way: white gives away their advantage if they play the exchange!

No such opening exists.  As Anand once said, "If White wants a draw, White has a draw!"

Not all opening have an "exchange" variation, but all have drawish lines.

Many will claim the Sicilian, but the Alapin (2.c3) and the Closed (2.Nc3 and 3.g3) are both very drawish.

Caro-Kann, Exchange with 4.Bd3 - Drawish

Alekhine, Chase Variation - Drawish

Pirc Defense, Classical Variation - Drawish

1...e5, Danish Gambit - Drawish

Modern, 3.c3 variation, Drawish

Long story short, you are best off sticking with the French as it meshes well with the King's Indian in that both result in blocked centers in "most" variations, and the concepts of pawn chains and pawn pointing apply to both openings.

Is the alekhine similar to kings Indian defense?