The most natural reply is 1.e5 it tends to move to an open opening, the sicillian 1.c5 is also very good, but has the inconvenient to not develop anything. The french Defense 1.e6 is probably the most defensive reply, it's very solid, slighty weaker but very playable is the caro-Kahn 1.c6, it's solid but doesn't help much for the development. The scandinavian 1.d5 with the idea of bringing the queen at the center. The Allekhine 1.Nf6 To weak the pawns of the opponent .. It depends realy on your game style, i personally prefer 1.e5 as an amator of open games ..
Sharpest Reply Against e4
Sort:
Sep 12, 2014
0
#3
e6 is not the most defensive reply. It is a counterattacking defence. Black encourages White to extend their pawn chain and subsequently attacks the base of the chain and later the front of the chain.
I have always played 1...c5 against 1.e4. Even though no pieces are really developed, black obtains two center pawns in many variations, and eventually good counterattacking chances. Their is a lot of theory as you go up the ranks to play 1...c5 so if you don't have time to put into in then play something else. The french defense is a solid defense for black, definitly if you like to play more positional positions then sharp tactical positions. I agree with Yoyizui, it depends on what your style is and what kind of postions you like to play.
Najdorf is the sharpest probably, although it's a lot of theory to learn. But every opening pretty much is a lot of theory, so najdorf is the sharpest try.
Sep 12, 2014
0
#6
Well in terms of pure strength the Carokann (1. e4 c6) is clearly number one. It's power and majesty is enough to make objective 1. e4 players resign instantly, realizing they've been outplayed on move 1. If you want to win, play the carokann.
It ensures full well placed development, beautiful pawn structure that is better than whites, and it's only disadvantage is that you have to be a tactical player to handle all the sharp variations. And there are many sharp lines in the carokann you have to be prepared for.
Rogue_King wrote:
Well in terms of pure strength the Carokann (1. e4 c6) is clearly number one. It's power and majesty is enough to make objective 1. e4 players resign instantly, realizing they've been outplayed on move 1. If you want to win, play the carokann.
best forum post I can remember seeing here
Yeah that's the nature of these openings. On page 50 of The Sharpest Sicilian instead of my 12...Bxd6?! in the subvariation the book recommends 12...Nd7! 13.Bb5!,f5! (13...axb5 14.Ndxb5,Qa5 15.Nc6+,Kd8 16.Rb5!,Qa3 is forced perpetual while 16.Nxa8?,Qxa8 17.0-0,b6 18.Nb5,Rg8 with kingside pressure and activity for the exchange) 14.Bxd7+,Bxd7 15.Rxb7,Qxd6 which looks much stronger after all. The book is (understandably) quite heavy on variations.
As for 16.c3? the idea was to overprotect the knight so the queen and rook would be free for other tasks and preempts 16...Bc5. Now that I'm looking deeper c3 is liability for obstructing the queen. 16.Be2,Be7?? 17.Bxe7,Kxe7 18.Qa3+ and 19.Nd6+ wouldn't be available if 16.c3,Be7 since the queen can't access a3.
Interesting stuff. Maybe we shouldn't limit the responses to the "sharpest" reply, but good responses in general. Anything else?
But it won't make someone RESIGN INSTANTLY, as above?
TheGreatOogieBoogie wrote:
Even some masters can go horribly wrong:
Your analysis is horribly wrong as well, I'm afraid.
11.Bh4! is best by test, not "a bad move". 11.Bxf6?! gf6 12.ed6 Nd7! (nothing wrong with 12...Qxd6 as well, but Nd7 is more ambitious) and white has not proven anything, e.g. 13.Be2 Qxd6 14.Ne4 Qc7 15.Bh5 Qc4!
12...Nfd7 is extremely risky- a huge can of worms is opened, and Black's game is hanging by a thread.Instead of 16.c3? white should play 16.Be2! with a few THOUSANDS of games going on from there.
12...Nd5! is the sane way to play, but of course Black had to play 14...Bxe6, where a ton of theory exists.
Yeah that's the nature of these openings. On page 50 of The Sharpest Sicilian instead of my 12...Bxd6?! in the subvariation the book recommends 12...Nd7! 13.Bb5!,f5! (13...axb5 14.Ndxb5,Qa5 15.Nc6+,Kd8 16.Rb5!,Qa3 is forced perpetual while 16.Nxa8?,Qxa8 17.0-0,b6 18.Nb5,Rg8 with kingside pressure and activity for the exchange) 14.Bxd7+,Bxd7 15.Rxb7,Qxd6 which looks much stronger after all. The book is (understandably) quite heavy on variations.
As for 16.c3? the idea was to overprotect the knight so the queen and rook would be free for other tasks and preempts 16...Bc5. Now that I'm looking deeper c3 is liability for obstructing the queen. 16.Be2,Be7?? 17.Bxe7,Kxe7 18.Qa3+ and 19.Nd6+ wouldn't be available if 16.c3,Be7 since the queen can't access a3 in case of 17.Bxe7,Kxe7.
After 16.Be2! I have won as white two recent correspondence games (in official servers- which means database and engine assistance permitted) by just copypasting existing theory- effectively I picked two points without playing a single move!
In the game against Martucci, 21...Qf5? is a well known mistake, which gives white by force a winning material advantage. Factly, in the final position Black may hope against inaccurate play to exchange bishops and set a fortress with rook on sixth rank, and a knight at e7- but my opponent trusted the engine evaluation (+3.7 or something) resigned, and released me from the effort to find the right moves to win.
My other opponent (a Senior Master) fell to another known trick (far from obvious, engines fail to spot it after many hours of "thought"- 28.Rf3!! is a brilliant recipe). 24...Rf8? is the losing move, Black has to play 24...Re8! when white has various attacking plans, but nothing concrete. I still believe white is better, but so far I have not found how, after a few days of analysis.
The verdict clearly is that 12...Nfd7 is totally impractical to play OTB, and Black should opt for the much safer 12...Nd5.
All in all, I would say that anything that grandmasters play are valid. Mainly because of the fact that if the opening was bad, why would they play it? Just because I like the French Defense, it doesn't mean it is the best. I have lost to many people going against e5, c5, c6 etc.
My pet move against e4 is the counter intuitive or anti-aggressive g6 (the Modern Defence, I prefer to call it the rat). Largely based on the philosophy of…if you give your opponent enough rope, he will hang himself. It’s not for everyone but I love it so much I use as white as well. The standard opening moves are g6, B-g7, d6. I like to over-protect the e5 square to avoid being crushed early and generally I delay castling as long as I can to keep white guessing and off balance. Because of the early non-engagement there is little theory here as it is more about schematic thinking, piece placement and pattern recognition.
from the things that are regularly played on top level, the Sicilian Dragon has to be the sharpest. The mainline of the dragon is just amazingly exciting and tactical. Najdorf is very sharp as well, of course
momtezt wrote:
My pet move against e4 is the counter intuitive or anti-aggressive g6 (the Modern Defence, I prefer to call it the rat). Largely based on the philosophy of…if you give your opponent enough rope, he will hang himself. It’s not for everyone but I love it so much I use as white as well. The standard opening moves are g6, B-g7, d6. I like to over-protect the e5 square to avoid being crushed early and generally I delay castling as long as I can to keep white guessing and off balance. Because of the early non-engagement there is little theory here as it is more about schematic thinking, piece placement and pattern recognition.
Quite a lot of Modern Defences (if played correctly) end up in sharp positions where each player is pawn-storming on one side of the board. I tried playing it once - like what you warned against, I got rekt way too many times by the loss of my e-pawn due to me getting greedy. That e-pawn is one of the major points in Black's game - if White undermines it, Black usually ends up participating on the receiving end of nasty attacks on the king in a surprisingly short amount of time.
Dec 16, 2017
0
#18
If you're looking for the sharpest reply to 1 e4, 1...d4, or 1...c5 are two immediate counterattacking replies with 1...c5 being recommended since it has the best results of Black Kings-Pawn defenses.
I agree with the Caro-Kann enthusiasts about it's solidity but I don't consider it the sharpest opening.
As for claiming there's not much development with the Caro note that, after two pawns moves, it usually puts it's c8-Bishop at f5 or g4, then it's b8-Knight at d7, then it's g8-Knight at f6 with possibilities of d5 and the Q is often placed at c7 or b6.
After all or some of that solid DEVELOPMENT, it's often ready to begin a counterattack with ...c5, supported by the d7-N and the f8-B and perhaps the c7-Q.
what about 1... Nf6?
The thread about replying to d4 is really taking off, so I thought I would initiate a threat about responding to 1. e4. Many people I play with or know start with e4 as a matter of course...almost every time. People at all levels of chess. What sharp and aggressive replies do people recommend, and the same for their continuations and variations, pros, cons, etc.?