Switching from 1.d4 to 1.e4

I have gotten kinda tired of playing 1.d4/2.c4 and want to try out the other side of the fence and switch to 1.e4. I just kinda need a change and this way I'll be exposed to more positions... I need some help in developing a repertoire though.

I have only decided 1 thing for sure though, I will play the Open Sicilian since it is the most fun and I don't believe in the Anti-Sicilians. Its summer vacation for me so I have time. I know the main ideas in d6 Sicilians but not so much the Nc6 or e6 Sicilians so can someone enlighten me on them?

Against 1...e5, I think I might go for a Ruy. I don't really know the main ideas except to try to get in d4 (usually prepared by c3) and stuff. I'm also wondering, is it worth avoiding the Marshall Attack? In CC play at least? In my database, white scores less than 50% here...

For the rest of the replies, I don't really know what I should play. No gambits or offbeat lines for sure though. I know for sure that against the French, I don't want to play the Advance though so its between 3.Nd2 or 3.Nc3 (allowing the Winawer).

I used to play 1.e4, and trust me 1.d4 is much easier to manage in terms of the theoretical workload that comes with playing the mainlines. So do not be surprised if you find yourself running back to 1.d4 once you find yourself swimming in the never ending sea of open Sicilian and Ruy Lopez theory!

Anyways, here are some of my suggestions:

1.e5 - play the mainline Ruy. The positions are great for learning positional play and are generally easier to play with white than with black, at least that is what I have found. Avoid the Marshall; it is not worth learning that much theory and black will probably know it better than you anyway. Anti-marshalls are good; I recommend either 8.a4 or 8.h3. The Petroff is annoying but I think the mainlines can only be better/more comfortable for white if you take the time to learn them.

1.c5 - Definitely open Sicilian. I suggest playing the English Attack because it will allow you to play a similar set-up against several different variations (Najdorf, Scheveningen, Taimanov). 'Dismantling the Sicilian' is a good book if you go this route.

1.e6 - 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2 are both good. If you want to play aggressive chess than 3.Nc3 is definitely the way to go.

1.c6 - I used to play the mainline but I doubt white gets much of an edge there. There is a lot of theory; which for me was hard to remember because I did not see the Caro-Kann as much as the above mentioned defences. I think the advance variation is the way to go these days if you want to test black's opening choice.

1.d6/g6 - Austrian Attack if you like theory. If not, then playing a sort of 150 attack with Be3/Qd2/0-0-0 should be good.

1...d5 - Take and play Nc3 mainlines.

Overall I think this repertoire will lead to a large variety of positions, and as far as I know the lines are theoretically challenging for black. It is a lot of work though if you are serious about learning theory. About the ideas; there is a lot of them so why not just look them up on wikipedia or something?

Oops I forgot Alekhine's defence! I always tried to play the mainlines with 4.Nf3, but struggled because there is a fair bit of theory there. Unless this is an opening that you often face, the exchange variation would probably be a better choice.

I love e4 and will never play anything else.

1. ... e5, play the italian game. If giouco piano, then mainline with c3, and if you want a safe, tactical game, go with Bd2 after Bb4+. If two knights' defense, then Ng5.

1. ... e6, play the exchange variation of the french, and then play c4. Reinforce the attack on d5 with Nc3 and Qb3, and try to bring your kingside knight into the fray with Nh3/Ne2 then Nf4. make sure to trade away your c pawn before opening up g3 to fiancetto your bishop. Its like turning the tables on the french.

1. ... c6, same thing as french, just with a few idiosyncracies because of the e pawn protecting d5 instead of the c pawn for black.

1. ... c5, I love playing against the sicilian; I used to hate it. The key is to get the Maroczy bind for an easy game. Open sicilian with 2. Nf3. For 2. ... e6 play c4, but for everything else, play d4. After the exchange, if they play the accelerated dragon, then play c4. If they play Nf6, then play f3, so you can play c4 later. (The key is to play c4 in the opening after exchanging their c pawn for your d pawn. This is known as the maroczy bind, look it up!)

1. ... Nc6, just play 2. e4. they either have to go into the mainlines with e5, or play a worse game.

1. ... Nf6, 2. e5, and if Nd5 or Ne4, play Nc3. The doubled pawns are fine, and will actually help you paralyze black's queenside bishop, along with f4 to protect the e5 pawn.

That's not an easy question. 1.e4 is wonderful but there is a lot black can play. White can certainly afford to play the Ruy Lopez with c3, h3 and d4 and the bishop on c2 if black plays b5. I played this often and I always had some idea how to play it, even if black played a slightly different variation. The ideas are very clear if you study a few games. You do need to check the open lines so you don't lose the pawn if black plays Nxe4 instead. The Marshall is no picknick these days, so if you don't know it, yes, avoid it. There's always 8.a4 which will give black something to worry about. You can clearly see someone is heading for the Marshall, they hold back the d-pawn much longer.

The open Sicilian is a lot to take on. Though I played e4 for a long time I never knew every single variation. I can't explain it in a few words either. If you castle queenside the attacking idea is clear enough. Castle kingside and you usually want to throw in f4. Then you press on e5 or you go for kingside attack instead. Some club players play this very calmly with white. They just put pressure on the d-file and look for centre exchanges without ever thinking of kingside attack. This can certainly work if d6 is weak, but it can also backfire if black calmly builds up on the c-file and you don't get ahead. Now, if black plays e6, but doesn't follow with d6 any time soon, there is the risk Bb4/Bc5 comes in the game. You should have a line prepared against that pin. Otherwise you are usually fine, since you can press on e5 much easier if black insists on this setup. In case of d6 to prevent this you end up with the typical Scheveningen/Najdorf line you probably know.

The Maroczy bind certainly is annoying, though it leads to a clogged game. If black plays d6 and Nf6 right away you probably cannot pull that off. Otherwise it may be considered. It does cost a tempo to play c4 and it certainly isn't always good. If black attacks back right away you may end up worse instead. I never remembered all the lines that well. With white I was always happy to complete my development. If you can do that and keep your space advantage you're fine in club play really. 

I can't comment on every possible black reply. I pretty much agree with what was said. Play the main lines unless you have time to study a specific line. There is nothing wrong with playing the Winawer. The Qg4 main line is very interesting and white has good opportunity for kingside attack. However you are also totally fine with a more positional approach. White has the space advantage and is going to be slightly better. Anything can happen. I played both sides of it and it usually leads to good games. 

THnaks for all the replies.

Yea, against d6 Sicilians and Taimanov, I'm definately going to play the English Attack, especially since I know it well enough from playing the Black side of the Najdorf. Against Accl Dragon, I think I'll go for a Maroczy too. Its the Svesnikovs and Kans that I practically know nothing about and Imma have to do some research.

1...e5 I'll go for a Ruy and avoid the Marshall.

1...e6 I think I will just have to go through some games and find which suits my style better...

1...c6, not sure yet, probably Advance. Against the Pirc, I'll decide based on how the theory-load is going with the top 4 replies and as for the Alekhine and Nimzovich, I'm not too worried about atm so I'll pick a low theory variation since i won't face them often.

Btw, what is considered the 'best' line against the Latvian and Elephant Gambits?

 1.e4 e5 Nf3 Nf6(Petroff)/ I'd rather play Nxe5 d6 Nf3 Nxe4 and now you can choose between Qe2 and the only response is Qe7(otherwise f3)

Or Nc3 (then they should take,or have an about-0.15 (Rybka) position.

I've played both sides of the Sveshnikov and my results are much better with white. This is probably because it is such an anti-positional opening for black, which requires precision beyond that of most amateur players. Black also has to know tonnes of theory just to get a reasonable position, and there are many lines where one wrong move can literally mean game over. One line I hated facing with black was:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.c3 (0-0 is the mainline, and was my choice as white. If black is well booked he seems to be fine though) Bg7 13.Nxb5! axb5 14.Bxb5 Bd7 15.exf5

This is surprisingly rare, but quite scary for black. White has 3 pawns for the piece, two of which are passers. Black must try to attack white's king down the g-file, and will probably play ...e4 and ...Ne5, to co-ordinate minor pieces and build up an attack. If his counterplay fails he will probably lose to the queenside passers. I do not know the current theoretical status of this line, but whether white gets an edge or not, it is tough for black to play over the board. I doubt I will ever go back to the Sveshnikov in serious games unless I am 2200+ strength.

Against the Kan I think an early Bd3 followed by c4, setting up a Maroczy bind, is annoying for black. In principle, this seems the best way to take advantage of the fact that black is not putting any pressure on white's center after 4...a6, whereas in other sicilians he attacks e4 or the d4 knight early, making Nc3 a requirement for white. I did not play this as white, but it seems quite popular. Black will often set up a hedgehog formation against it.

The Latvian and Elephant are annoying, especially in blitz where I would never remember the theory for some reason. Against the Latvian white has a couple ways of getting at least a small edge, probably more, and against the Elephant I think he is significantly better.

Latvian: 3.Nxe5 is the move. Black usually plays 3...Qf6, after which both 4.Nc4 dxe4 5.Nc3 and 4.d4 should be better for white, but you need to learn some lines (I don't remember them).

Elephant: 3.exd5 is better I believe, but 3.Nxe5 is probably quite good too. Black plays 3...e4 and white follows up with 4.Qe2, which eventually gives him a better position or extra pawn or both IIRC. These lines are annoying though, and the more I look back at all these early gambits against 1.e4, the more happy I am that I play 1.d4 now.

Anyway, good luck with it.

I've played e4 forever and I avoid all Ruy Lopez and Petroff theory by playing this sequence: 1.e4, e5; 2. d4, ed; 3. Nf3, Nc6; 4. Bc4 and go for the Scotch Gambit.  The SG is not a bad opening, and it helps to avoid all the specialists in the other open games (Ruy Lopez, Guico Piano, Petroff, Latvian, etc.)  Just a thought for you.

Ah the Petroff, completely forgot about that one haha.

As as for theory in the Ruy and Petroff, I don't mind it since I objectively want to go for that slight advantage no matter what as white. It might not matter much at my level but I like to go for it regardless. I can learn more this way and I have a titled player coach who encourages playing the main lines.

I never worry too much about opponents being booked up on a main line opening. Eventually, one of us will inadvertantly deviate from theory and then its whoever plays the position better. Thankfully, I have MegaBase so I can compile games and go through them to understand the positions :)

Why not to avoid Marshall by playing Exchange variation? Fisher proved that it's still playable.

I love the bishop pair too much to play the Exchange haha.

@ajedricito

Didn't you recently make the transition from 1.d4 to 1.e4? I see all those "Learning a new Open Starting with...." threads. How did you go about smoothly transitioning?

Btw, I don't see a 1...e5 thread x]. Whats planned for that :O?