Sharp Openings for Black

(I think this the right forum for it)

Let's say (in daily chess) there's a game you need to win with black. (assume your opponent is roughly the same rating as you)

1. Do you play the openings you normally play and hope for the best or do you deviate and play something dubious?

2. If you do play differently, what are some openings that give black good attacking chances to secure a win?

i wont claim to know anything much at all. But if it's a game i feel i really need to win, I stay with standard openings with black for a few or 5 moves, to try to get my development keeping up...then at the 1st opportunity, i try to do something that is, or at least looks like it is, a threatening move. Try to get white reacting as soon as possible. I do much better when its me doing the pushing. Passive play for me, is always losing, feels like. 

Better players will likely have much better answers.

I've been learning the Caro Kann  and I try to use it every chance I get with an e4 opening now. I have used the Stafford Gambit with an e4 and King's Indian with a d4 opening from time to time. 

If it was a must win I'd probably use the Caro with an e4 and a d4 - probably King's Indian. I'd use those because I know them but I don't know what my win rate is with either...

I think in general, players tend to do better with openings they are most familiar with.  It can be useful though to take a look at what openings your opponent usually plays, and see if there are any opportunities there for you to surprise him.

At the GM level, 1.e5 e5 or 1...c6 are fairly drawish, while 1...c5 is less so.  Alekhine's Defence 1...Nf6 is a sharp fighting opening, but you may need to learn some theory.

Against 1.d4, I think the King's Indian Defence or the Benoni lead to unbalanced positions where you can play for a win.

I don't deviate openings.  I deviate variations.

As Black, I play the French and Dutch.  If a draw is satisfactory, I may play the Classical (or Steinitz if 4.e5) or Rubinstein French.  If I am in a must win situation, it will surely be a Winawer or McCutchen/Steinitz against 3.Nc3.

Dutch, I may play the Modern Stonewall for a draw and the Aggressive Stonewall in a must win (1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nf3 Be7 6.O-O Ne4 with no intention of castling.)

If all you know is one subline for each variation, then you don't know the opening.  For example, a serious Caro-Kann player will know 4.Nd7, 4.Nf6, and 4.Bf5 against the old main line.  You may play one more frequently and have a preference, but if you are a true Caro-Kann player, you will know all 3 and adjust based on the situation.  If you need a draw, play 4...Bf5 or 4...Nd7.  If you need a win, play 4...Nf6.  If it is "round 1" of a tournament, you simply play your preferred line.

So again, if all you know is one narrow line of the opening you play, you don't know the opening you play.  A dragon player ought to know both Rc8 and Rb8 (Chinese Dragon).  A Najdorf player ought to know 6...e5 and 6...e6 lines.  A Ruy Lopez player ought to have at least 2 lines.  A safe one, like the Breyer, and a play for the win line, like the Zaitsev or Moller.  Etc.

Just as I suspected: There's lots to know!

I'm having enough trouble with the advance and exchange Caro...

In correspondence? I don't know.

Against d4, play the QGA or a KID system

Against e4, play Sveshnikov or the Giuco Piano lines. On a side note, having beginners play the older lines of the Giuco Piano is a little insane.

Against Nf3, you can transpose into d4 or e4, but that depends on white's predisposition.

Against c4, play e5 into King's English.

Thank you all for the very interesting responses.

I mentioned "daily chess", so that means you have access to Opening Explorer, so going into unfamiliar lines should not be an issue.

My dad always had me play either the King's or the Queen's gambit when I was young. Those lines are difficult for GM's...LOL

I play the KID or Benoni or QGD vs 1. d4  I play the Breyer or Winawer as Black vs 1. e4   I'm not an opening expert.  Rather, I'm beginning to see just how many lines there are and just trying my best to get decent development.  I play it like @fbobobby . Trying my best. Hartston's opening book, "The Penguin (notice... Penguin) Book of Chess Openings" has been my opening Bible, although a bit out of date. 

I've used the KID and Pirc a lot, but always seem to get into spatial trouble. Any suggestions?

I've worked myself through Horowitz's "How to Win in the Chess Openings" and "Modern Ideas in the Chess Openings" - both 'older' books. I am presently working through Hellsten's book "Mastering Chess Strategy". Frankly, I find the exercises pretty difficult but thinking through them helps me 'see' the board differently.

If you always play for the win with Black then you are most likely already playing sharp openings and there is no reason to deviate. Sicilian vs. 1.e4 and Dutch vs. 1. d4 are two sharp openings.

Chess Openings for Dummies by Wm. Eade is also very good.

I have "My System" and "Chess Praxis" by Nimzowitsch as well but I've not yet begun reading it. I also have "Watchmaking" by George Daniels - it's got nice pictures of watch parts but, unlike Roger Smith, I will never use the book to build a watch.

My System is outdated.  If you simply want to learn the historical aspect of it, it is an excellent work, but it will not make you any better at chess.

If you are looking for improvement, get Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, which literally compares Nimzowitsch's ideas from "My System" to the turn of the century about 75 years later when computers were coming into the picture, and many of Nimzowitsch's strategies have changed significantly.

The follow-up to it is Chess Strategy in Action.  If the first book is "My System" in modernized form, this one is "Chess Praxis" in modernized form.

Interesting! I will certainly buy those books. My problem is remembering all the stuff you have to remember. I have trouble remembering 'Checks, Captures, Threats'...LOL