Positional opening against E4

Forget about labels like "positional". "tactical", "open", and "closed"

Any opening can be tactical, or positional.  

Drop the labels, and find openings you like to play.  Learn the basics of each of those openings (pawn structure, piece placement, middlegame ideas)  Then play over some GM games with those openings.

Didn't Orwell write that some are more positional than others?

Sounds to me like you want to play the Spanish.

Very strategic, rich games.

There is one of those Everyman Move by Move books about it.

GShelton: I respect GM Lev Alburt who made Alekhine's his main weapon against 1. e4. If you can make it work for you, by all means continue. Most White players don't know it well.

I play French and you might like that too, though it's not as positional as some players believe. When the center breaks open, anything can happen.

I don't play the Caro-Kann but it is a positional defense, quite sound.

However, I can't recommend 1...e5. If you knew White would play a straight-up Ruy Lopez, it would be one thing, but you could find yourself looking at anything from a King's Gambit to a Four Knights Game to a Center Game to a Fried Liver Attack.

No one plays into the Fried Liver anyway, the KG is easy to play against and at least equal for Black, and the Center Game is kind of lame.

Yes.

But white has just as much versatility, when you play 1....c5 as well. 

Just because 1.e4 c5 2.d4 doesn't have it's own chapter in MCO like 1.e4 e5 2.d4, doesn't make it any less dangerous against an unprepared opponent.

And black needs to analyze those lines, just as he does when playing 1....e5

If you think it the King's Gambit is easy to play against at the class level, back it up. That's not what I've seen statistically or anecdotally. I'd agree the KG is a hard sell at the GM level, but that's not me and I'm betting that's not you.

Likewise, the Fried Liver, Center Game and now that I think of it, the Ponziani or Danish at the class level.

Class play is still the wild west. If you want to play a positional game against 1.e4 with 1....e5, you had better be ready for a lot of wacko tactical White play.

But I'm not recommending the Sicilian for positional play against 1.e4. If the OP wants to play positionally against 1.e4, as he claims, he's got some thinking to do. That's the point of his post.

I don't think e5, e6 or c5 are good choices for a positional game. As near as I can tell, OP's best bet is the Caro-Kann or Pirc.

Alekhine's is not a bad positional choice if White sticks to the Exchange or Modern as many White players do, but I wonder what OP does against the Four Pawns Attack.

The best way to choose openings that suit the style you want is to find games by players you admire who play in that style and see what openings they played. For example, Karpov and Kramnik are two renowned positional players. Karpov played mainly 1...e5 and the Caro Kann, Kramnik has always played almost exclusively 1...e5. Both the Berlin (against Ruy Lopez) and the Petroff are very solid openings played by 1...e5 players that are intended to minimize sharpness and risk of getting tactically destroyed. White has other options, e.g. the bishop's opening and the king's gambit, so you will have to learn some playable lines against things like that.

FM chuddog:  Can't argue with that. 

However, speaking as a class player who plays class players and within limits likes to control the game's tenor via the opening, 1...e5 opens Black to far more wildness than 1...c6 (or 1....e6 as I play). 

I say it's a different world for Kramnik to play 1...e5 against other GMs than a class player against other class players.

Of course, no matter what level of player you are, there is only so much you can control in the opening.

That was from Animal Farm, right?

True enough, but I find that the Scotch is usually not too crazy, the Four Knights is just a game, and Black has about a dozen good ways to play against the KG. The Center Game I'm not impressed by either: 4. Qe3 g6 is a simple way to kill White's Qg3 ideas. The Italian is the annoying one: I can never seem to play well against it, but I'm sure it isn't that hard.

The November 2017 issue of Chess lists the top twenty openings compiled from a list of 2402 September games where both players were rated over 2400 Elo. One can not take position on this list too seriously because it is greatly influenced by how the openings are grouped. For example, all the Retis are grouped together, while English is separated into 1...c5, 1...e5, etc. Nevertheless, for what it is worth, some of the list entries are: 126 Retis, 100 King's Indians, 97 Nimzo-Indians, 84 Caro-Kanns, 76 declined Queen's Gambits, 73 Slavs, 63 Catalans, 61 Najdorf Sicilians, 58 1...c5 Englishes, 55 Berlin Lopezes, 55 Queen's Indians, 49 Guioco Pianos, 48 1...e5 Englishes, 45 Kan Sicilians, 43 1...Nf6 Englishes, and 42 Taimanov Sicilians.

"... It is well worth experimenting with [the King's Gambit] ..." - GM Gabor Kallai (1997)

"... A typical way of choosing an opening repertoire is to copy the openings used by a player one admires. ... However, what is good at world-championship level is not always the best choice at lower levels of play, and it is often a good idea to choose a 'model' who is nearer your own playing strength. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)

"... Unless you are a professional with unlimited time for study, it is better for you to specialize in a few openings characterized by simplicity and economy. ..." - GM Larry Evans (1974)

Good joke. You made my day. Thanks.

In a way, it both is and isn’t a joke. That’s what makes it so true.

The third move and your final statement is that black doesn't have any winning chances. Did I get it right? You're an illuminated. 😆

If Whitr players only played the exchange variation, I would go back to the French in a heartbeat, because I believe Black is the only one with winning chances!