Your Black Repertoire Levels

How booked up are you, with the Black pieces? Let's check.

Respond to the following list (by copying and pasting), then choose one of the "Level" options below, for each move.

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For example, if you always play the same variation of the French Defense against 1.e4, then you would put "Tournament Player" next to it, like so:

1.e4 - Tournament Player

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Level Options:

• I'm versed in multiple defenses/variations against it, and can alternate between these at will. (Master)
• I'm versed in a single defense/variation against it, and play it as my trusty response. (Tournament Player)
• I know a general structure and/or basic ideas against it, and use this knowledge as my intuitive guide. (Club Player)
• I know a move or two against it, then I'm on my own after that. (Novice)
• This move is a surprise to me, and I'm out of book as soon as I see it. (Patzer)

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1. e4 (King's Pawn) -

1. d4 (Queen's Pawn) -

1. Nf3 (Reti) -

1. c4 (English) -

1. g3 (Hungarian / Barcza) -

1. b3 (Larsen) -

1. f4 (Bird) -

1. Nc3 (Dunst / "Queen's Knight") -

1. b4 (Polish / Sokolsky) -

1. e3 (Van't Kruijs) -

1. a3 (Anderssen) -

1. f3 (Barnes) -

1. g4 (Grob) -

1. c3 (Saragossa) -

1. d3 (Mieses) -

1. h3 (Clemenz) -

1. a4 (Ware) -

1. h4 (Kadas) -

1. Nh3 (Amar / "Ammonia Opening") -

1. Na3 (Durkin / "Sodium Attack") -

I'll start:

1. e4 (King's Pawn) - Master

1. d4 (Queen's Pawn) - Master

1. Nf3 (Reti) - Master

1. c4 (English) - Tournament

1. g3 (Hungarian / Barcza) - Club

1. b3 (Larsen) - Club

1. f4 (Bird) - Club

1. Nc3 (Dunst / "Queen's Knight") - Club

1. b4 (Polish / Sokolsky) - Club

1. e3 (Van't Kruijs) - Club

1. a3 (Anderssen) - Club

1. f3 (Barnes) - Club

1. g4 (Grob) - Club

1. c3 (Saragossa) - Novice

1. d3 (Mieses) - Club

1. h3 (Clemenz) - Patzer

1. a4 (Ware) - Patzer

1. h4 (Kadas) - Patzer

1. Nh3 (Amar / "Ammonia Opening") - Patzer

1. Na3 (Durkin / "Sodium Attack") - Patzer

Doesn’t 1. c5 or Nf6 work against all of the above?

Sure, that's a playable approach.

Is that one move where your prep ends, though? If so, that'd be "Novice" for all of them.

I typically play an Indian or Sicilian Game; my game.

The popular lines definitely at the club level. 2-3 moves into the opening is enough for me to figure out the middle game plans because of the inherent imbalance positions. In certain cases, Nf6 or c5 can be played depending on the preferred transposition or my aggression level for the day.

The odd lines, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it or go out of my way to prepare; novice level.

e4 tournament

d4 club

Nf3 club? i mean i know how to transpose to d4

c4 club ig

g3 club defo

b3 novice

f4 novice

Nc3 club coz transpositions

b4 novice ig...

e3 novice

a3 club coz im basically playing white and as white i dont really go to b5 often lol

f3 novice

g4 novice...

c3 novice?

d3 novice..... (i am very unsure around here)

h3 club (see a3)

the rest novice

no patzer coz for every single weird opening i can just bank on "take the center"

Is Wood pusher a level on the scale?

1. e4 (King's Pawn) - Master

1. d4 (Queen's Pawn) - Master

1. Nf3 (Reti) - Tournament

1. c4 (English) - Master

1. g3 (Hungarian) - Novice

1. b3 (Larsen) - Novice

1. f4 (Bird) - Novice

1. Nc3 (Dunst) - Novice

1. b4 (Polish) - Tournament

1. e3 (Van't Kruijs) - Tournament

1. a3 (Anderssen) - Club

1. f3 (Barnes) - Patzer

1. g4 (Grob) - Novice

1. c3 (Saragossa) - Novice

1. d3 (Mieses) - Club

1. h3 (Clemenz) - Patzer

1. a4 (Ware) - Patzer

1. h4 (Kadas) - Patzer

1. Nh3 (Amar) - Patzer

1. Na3 (Durkin) - Patzer

Nice lists so far.

Another reason I made this thread was to (hopefully) motivate others to look critically at our own Black repertoires, to see where we could put in a bit more effort.

After filling this out, I realized that I want to book up more against 1.b3, 1.f4, 1.g3, and 1.Nc3. Especially 1.b3 and 1.f4, as I see those two the most frequently, of the four ...

I was wishing that the data would prove we should put less effort on openings and spend the available time more productively on game analysis or basic tactics and end game training.

As in my example, I rarely see c4 or Nf3, and can respond with c5 or Nf6 for a comfortable game.

Why would I go out of my way to put a light on side lines when Nf3 and c4 that are top 4 but rarely played?

french- master

caro- advanced

alekhine- club

nimzo- club

pirc - advanced

sicilian - master

owens - club

modern- advanced/club

e5- master

scandi- club

a6- club

h6- special ed

g5- special ed

b5- special ed

d4

indian game- master

• nimzo- master
• benoni- advanced
• kings indian- advanced
• grünfeld- master
• old indian- advaced
• queens indian- advaced
• bogo indian - club

d5- master

• slav- advaced
• semi slav- master
• classical QGD- master
• rubenstein- club
• Ragozin- master
• tarrash- master

old benoni- club

dutch- advanced

e6- advanced

probally missed some openings

1. e4 (King's Pawn) - Master (French - Winawer, Classical, McCutchen, Rubinstein, Open and Closed Tarrasch, etc)

1. d4 (Queen's Pawn) - Master (Dutch, KID, NID, QGD, Polish Defense)

1. Nf3 (Reti) - Master (1...f5, 1...b5)

1. c4 (English) - Tournament Player (1...f5)

1. g3 (Hungarian / Barcza) - Tournament Player (1...f5)

1. b3 (Larsen) - Tournament Player (1...e5)

1. f4 (Bird) - Master (1...Nf6, 1...d5, 1...e5)

1. Nc3 (Dunst / "Queen's Knight") - Tournament Player (1...d5)

1. b4 (Polish / Sokolsky) - Master (Exchange, 1...e5/2...d6/3...f5 - I also play this as White so could play virtually any decent line for Black)

1. e3 (Van't Kruijs) - Club

1. a3 (Anderssen) - Club

1. f3 (Barnes) - Club

1. g4 (Grob) - Club

1. c3 (Saragossa) - Club

1. d3 (Mieses) - Club

1. h3 (Clemenz) - Club

1. a4 (Ware) - Club

1. h4 (Kadas) - Club

1. Nh3 (Amar / "Ammonia Opening") - Club

1. Na3 (Durkin / "Sodium Attack") - Club