Whats the best black opening?

He didn't mention gambits, but if so, then I have a bunch more. Traxler, Albin, Englund, probably Saragossa

latvian gambit is a chess opening

I know that, but he didn't explicitly state that. So I went with only "openings", not gambits, attacks, counter gambits or counter attacks

MaetsNori wrote

"I'm not sure why Levy would recommend the Owen's. Black is going to have a harder game.

I'd only recommend that for advanced players - who enjoy the struggle of fighting from a more difficult / slightly worse position." 

He has a course on Owen's Defence on his Chessly website. It's an interesting opening, but I tried it lots of times, and not only is it very easy to mess up - also, I don't think it results in an especially great position or material advantage for Black. But maybe I'll re-visit it one day 

All of those things are openings.

Gambits, Attacks etc are a sub-class of openings.

You don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about.

Not a clue.

For beginners I would say either the french, the caro or even the sicilian can be lethal. Those are some sharp openings (maybe less so for the caro-kann) that force your opponents into territory they wont know just as well as you do. You will have a better knowledge of the ideas, tactics and positions of your own opening which is exactly what you are looking for. On the higher levels, some very complicated systems like the Grünfeld, Najdorf or Berlin can be surprisingly powerful weapons in black's arsenal but any beginner will probably get lost in the impractical level of complexity.

I have a problem with quoting.

On the first page, someone said that the Italian Game has the advantage of being easy, I assume he meant easy to learn. That don't make it easy to play or win in the resulting middlegame. I don't see any clear cut plans there. Black has it easy compared to other openings, and White still has the Sicilian to prepare for, French, Alekhine, Caro-Kann, Philidor's, pirc, modern, French, Petroff, Two knights, blah blah blah.

To Mr. Potatohead666 on page 1. I agree with everything you say except the last sentence, about the Najdorf. Unless ypu can explain to me why Black is more likely to get lost in the complexity than White. Maybe we can say dangerous, but dangerous for White also, if he slips up. Most testing for Black would have to be 6.Bg5, no? 6.Be2 probably most solid. The Schevengen defangs 6.Bg5, then Black would have to face the Keres Attack. As black, I'd rather face the Keres than 6.Bg5 in the Najdorf, and I am a 2...e6 player anyways.

The same silly question again, and again.

There is no "best opening" for either color, period and fullstop.

I thought of it before...

Sogoi

WRONG! They are all openings, whether the name has Opening, System, Defense, Gambit, or Countergambit in the name. All those names do is distinguish which side played the ultimate move that determined the opening played that game.

1.e4 e6 d4 d5 is called the French Defense because it was ultimately Black's second move that determined the opening. 1.e4 e6 is not the French Defense. It is unknown at that point what the opening is. 2.d4 d5 is the French, 2.d4 c5 3.d5 is the Franco Benoni, 2.d4 c5 3.Nf3 is the Sicilian Defense.

The Trompowsky Attack is called such because White's move, 2.Bg5, is what determined which OPENING was played.

Another mistake many make is they think they are each playing a different opening - WRONG! Every chess game is 1 opening, and you are playing the White side or Black side of it. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 is NOT a Queen's Gambit.

And don't forget about transpositions. For example, 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.e4 and this is NOT a symmetrical English. This is a Sicilian Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind. 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.d4 is not a Symmetrical English either. It is a Fianchetto Kings Indian.

But these are all OPENINGS. Yes, if you are playing White, and the game goes 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6, you are playing a Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation. You are playing the WHITE side of it, but that is indeed the opening played in this game. And you can't say "No, Black played it" because you contributed to half the moves. There is no way possible that this would be a Sicilian Dragon if you played 1.b4 now, is there? So White contributed just as much as Black did. The opening is the Sicilian Dragon for both players, and each is playing one side of it.

You statement that openings are only those with the word "Opening" in it makes it obvious that you have a LOT to learn!

Here's a laugher! He likely thinks that Sokolsky's Opening is an opening but the Polish Attack and the Orangutan are not!

ROFLMAO - That would literally be the stupidest thing I have ever heard if he were to confirm the above statement as being true as all three of those are the exact same thing!