Several defenses vs 1.d4: Comments wanted

Hi there,

I'm trying to find another 1.d4 defense to add to my repertoire, and I've starting browsing the plethora of defenses available. However just taking a look at theory books or DVDs all of the defenses look really great, so I just wanted sound out people in order to know your feelings for them.

I would like to ask you about the Benko, Benoni, Czech Benoni, Grünfeld and Dutch.

Nothing theoretical, I would like to know which one you would choose and why (or why not the others). If you have any other suggestions different from the proposed, please feel free.

Thanks a lot in advance for your ideas.

1 d4 1...Resign :)) just kidding play the nimzo indian its one the best against 1 d4

fake

i have given the benoni/benko, gruenfeld, and dutch a try.

i wasn't particularly found of the gruenfeld in all honesty. not my style i guess.

the benoni/benko is quite exciting, but i found that my opponents can get a good game against it a decent amount of the time.

the dutch i've only played a few times, but i'm really liking the middle game positions and the possibilities of counter-attacks. also, i find that many of my opponents don't quite know the best strategy against it.

From my experience, the Grunfeld is quite solid although play can be somewhat cramped. The Benoni is not considered quite as sound. I really enjoy the Dutch as it can seriously frustrate anyone who has never seen it. It also fits well with my aggressive style of play.

I have also been looking at a new opening against d4.  I currently play several but I feel much less comfortable in them than when i get to play the various sicilian lines against e4.  are there any openings against d4 that are just as sharp as an e4 najdorf for example; possibly one that could wind up with similar pawn structures?

The kings indian defence is a good choice to avoid memorization and complications, if you are not used with 1.d4 games.

Just "build a house" for your king playing 1...Nf6, fianchetto your king's bishop and castle sooner or later.

Meanwhile, if white starts to be very agressive in center (they usually do), beware to avoid they playing e5 and attack your king's knight. d6 is a good move to avoid this.

The game usually goes like this:

In my last post I said "attack the center with d5 sooner or later", but I actually mean c5!

Sweet joke !

to answer riuyryk, I have some experience with the Dutch :

I don't like the Stonewall, when White knows his stuff it's very  hard work to win a game.

The classical and Leningrad are much fun but require precise play. A small slip can cause big troubles. I got many crashes in blitz/rapid games.

I gave a try to the Benoni : very difficult to handle, the Taimanov variation (with f4) is no piece of cake.

I'm currently having a good look at Czech Benoni. It looks interesting but 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 is an annoying move order.

i use as black the Modern defense. i can't tell is the best but it is ok.

Aagaard's book on the Gruenfeld is great. It is written for black but it is [i]not[/i] a "repertoire book" - he offers you several choices at key moments and classifies them as to how theoretical they are and what the databases say (win% for black). Also I believe that it's a fun defence to play. I am not playing it but I know I will because it will be fun to learn it from Aagaard.

I am playing the Classical Dutch nowadays and I agree with the above poster, it needs precise moves and some of them I forget unfortunately. White has some advantage, but you're attacking his kingside and that is a psychological edge. Also most players don't know that they should fianchetto on g2, so you can play Bb7 with b6-e6-f5 pawn structure, later c5 with good potential on the KS.

Of your choices the Grunfeld would be my choice. The Dutch and Benoni's are good surprise weapons but I wouldn't want to play up with them.