"There is no such thing as a 'best opening.' Each player should choose an opening that attracts him. Some players are looking for a gambit as White, others for Black gambits. Many players that are starting out (or have bad memories) want to avoid mainstream systems, others want dynamic openings, and others want calm positional pathways. It’s all about personal taste and personal need.
For example, if you feel you’re poor at tactics you can choose a quiet positional opening (trying to hide from your weakness and just play chess), or seek more dynamic openings that engender lots of tactics and sacrifices (this might lead to more losses but, over time, will improve your tactical skills and make you stronger)." - IM Jeremy Silman (January 28, 2016)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-questions-and-a-dream-mate
Which is better? e4, e5 , e4, d5, or e4, c5
Thank you for your reply
"'Black proclaims by his symmetrical reply 1...e5 his firm decision to cross swords as quickly as possible with his adversary and (in spite of 'the move') to meet him on an equal footing in the centre of the board, whereas a passive reply such as King's or Queen's Fianchetto (1...g6 or 1...b6) would allow White to occupy the centre immediately and for good by 2 d4.'
'After the typical moves 1 e4 e5 we frequently see a lively struggle, seeking in particular to gain the mastery in the centre.'
'Each move in the initial stage must be telling, in other words, it must contain some threat of an immediate nature (attack on a pawn, an effective pin of a piece, unpinning, counter-attack, etc.), and a game of chess of this type resembles an encounter between two fencers where thrust and parry follow and offset each other.'
Savielly Tartakower (A Breviary of Chesss)
1...e5 is arguably the simplest and most logical reply to 1 e4, taking space in the centre and opening diagonals for the queen and bishop. It has been played by every world champion in the history of the game, and many of them played nothing else. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627031152/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ebcafe10.pdf
Around 2010, IM John Watson wrote, "... For players with very limited experience, ... the Sicilian Defence ... normally leaves you with little room to manoeuvre and is best left until your positional skills develop. ... I'm still not excited about my students playing the Sicilian Defence at [the stage where they have a moderate level of experience and some opening competence], because it almost always means playing with less space and development, and in some cases with exotic and not particularly instructive pawn-structures. ... if you're taking the Sicilian up at [say, 1700 Elo and above], you should put in a lot of serious study time, as well as commit to playing it for a few years. ..."
"If you play 1 e4, then you have to be ready for a wide array of defences. The Sicilian, Caro-Kann, French, and 1...e5 are all huge topics, ... the 'big four' are not the only riddles with which the 1 e4 player finds himself confronted; there are numerous other less common but still highly respectable defences for which one must be prepared. The Alekhine, Modern, Pirc, Scandinavian, and others all require serious attention, ..." - IM Andrew Greet
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627112122/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ebcafe07.pdf
Hi,
this is just a survey but I want to know which is better against e4, e5, d5, or c5 thanks!