Response to 1. d4 for Intermediate Players

Hi, there are many books about repertoire, you have to choose

I like the nimzo-indian, but you can’t go wrong with QGD or the slav

Nimzo Indian is a good choice, its sound, flexible , neither passive nor aggressive and relatively easier to learn and play as compared to lets say Benoni or kings indian

Indian Defence is good, and if for some weird reason they play first few moves by theory then KID is good

i used to use the benoni but it got complicated after a simple pawn push

I use only the old-Benoni (1.d4 - c5)

how do you respond to 2. d5?

I never know what to do, it creates such an awkward position that I feel uncomfortable playing.

I play the Grunfeld with both colours because I prefer open and tactical games to go with a fianchetto set-up.

Its very flexible, I play it against the London and English as well.

thanks for the recommendations guys, i have decided to learn the king's Indian since it provides winning chances for black and you can play it against c4 and Nf3 as well. Do any KID players here have tips for studying since there's quite a bit of theory?

Take it slowly. The positions are rather simple and intuitive, so slowly study theory while playing what you already know. It isn't as theory dense as some openings and at your level there's no point to learning it all.

What is your preferred response against 1.e4? What type of positions are you comfortable in? Open/Closed? Do you enjoy tactics or something quieter? 

If you don't specify such things everyone will simply recommend their favorite opening and it will be impossible to choose from them.

No problem, thanks for the suggestion. I play the Caro-Kann against 1. e4 but I enjoy tactical and dynamic games. I'm aware the caro doesn't really align with these preferences but I still like it since I understand it much better than my opponents usually. I used to play the semi-slav against 1. d4, but it felt very passive and it seemed like the best I could hope for was a draw, which didn't appeal to me because I want to play for a win with both colors. 

Try English

2.d5 is very strong and White should follow up with 3.Nc3!  DO NOT play 3.c4.  Punish Black for his bad play.

The reason nobody plays the Old Benoni any more is the constant pressure on d6.  By NOT playing c4, White can use his King's Knight to get to c4.  Develop the Bishop first to e2 to avoid the Bishop for Knight trade by Black (...Bc8-g4-xf3).

So something like 1.d4 c5? 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 exd5 5.exd5 d6 6.Be2! (6.Nf3 Bg4!) g6 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.Nd2 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Bg7 10.O-O O-O 11.Nc4 with a4 and Bf4 to follow.

This is why Benoni players play 1.Nf6 first, waiting for 2.c4, before playing 2...c5.  Yes, the early trade on d5 in the Modern Benoni does open up the c4-square, but now you have the weak e4-pawn to worry about that you don't have to deal with in the 1...c5? Line.

Ahhh, that's the middlegame plan. Thank you for explaining. I recently read a thread dedicated to explaining why 1. c5 was bad in the Benoni but people never explained exactly why Nc3 before c4 was a bad plan.

Looking at your stats, you seem to do above average with both colors. Yet somehow you have better stats than me overall than even my Lichess account. Keep doing whatever you are doing because I hardly know anyone that has an overall positive win rate as Black unless they are a twitch streamer playing against low level plebs

This. King's Indian Defense. I was already playing it at 1400 OTB rating.

I like the KID and I like to play 1. d4