SICILIAN
Looking for a solid defence against E4 as Black
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ConfusedSponge wrote:
My final question is if I'm to play Karo or French. I'll do some research into this. But a lot of people suggest the French and I've heard similar for Karo. Why would I play one over the other as a newer player?
Matter of preferences and structures to aim in the opening or middlegame.
Just a really big thank you to everyone who posted really constructive and helpful feedback, I really appreciate it!
I have looked at the karo cann and I understand why people play it, but for me whether to play French or Karo is preference largely based on playstyle. For me, at least at the moment, I feel quitre comfortable playing the French and like the ideas that can bounce off it.
So i've decided to stick with the French 
I like that I can muck around with finachetto of the bishop similar to what id do with the dragon (just as an idea), I don't mind my white squared bishop being locked away. At a low rating, the opening is really solid, even if I make a mistake, i'm not really badly off and can often get some brutal attacks off or counter play which regains the balance. More commonly i've found i'm actually straight up winning as black when I play the french at 400's rating mostly due to blunders from my opponent. I think this opening will give me lots of room for different ways to approach this opening, lots of depth and so won't becomee stale or boring.
So i'm really keen to learn a bit of thoery for it and build on that over time!
More importantly, this now means that I have respectable and openings I enjoy for both white and black Italian/London, French defence (Sicillian dragon variation) when I feel i've gotten a better grasp of the game) and my beloved Dutch defence when d4 is played. Now I have room to focus on tactics, stratergies, play longer games (giving me time to think moves ahead and stratergies) as well as focusing on core check mates and attacking ideas that can improve my chess abilities!
I know that was a little long winded. But hey! I really do appreciate the Chess.com communities, as i'm a new player and some of these steps to improving at chess can be very frustrating and difficult to overcome, but i've made my next step thanks to the support from all of you. Cheers! Have a lovely festive season, hope everyone stays safe, happy & healthy
Jan 3, 2022
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#25
Solid? French or Caro Kann. I suggest French due to the profound reason that it's more fun.
If you want Sicilian, I suggest Kan variation. Kan = Fun. (for Black)
I really like Chess Openings by Mike Basman as a good place to begin learning what you should be doing in the opening. After a discussion of general opening ideas and goals, he illustrates these with discussions of the Guioco Piano, Sicilian Dragon, Queen's Gambit, Nimzo-Indian, and Morra Gambit.
Jan 3, 2022
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#27
look for the full "building habits" streams on twitch.. the shorts from youtube are also fine but the full lessons/streams are gold.
They have lessons for beginners all the way up to advanced/intermediate...
Rather than a specific opening its more of a philosphy... I think it's great
check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyww1wXu4ZI
Ah yes! I am familiar with this guy, I agree it is quite good. I had forgot about him actually, i'll take a look. Thanks!
Jan 4, 2022
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#29
ConfusedSponge wrote:
Ah yes! I am familiar with this guy, I agree it is quite good. I had forgot about him actually, i'll take a look. Thanks!
They actually uploaded the "full lessons" to youtube... I highly recommend those rather than short ones
I am a sicilian dragon and caro kann expert. If you want classes for a complete repertoire you can send me a DM.
Jan 4, 2022
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#32
ConfusedSponge wrote:
Yep! So I agree the Sicilian does lead to complicated positions where I need to have a better understanding of the game, that being said I do tend to gravitate towards it for some reason. So I'll go back and play around with the Karo for at least 5 more games taking advice on board I'll increase time controls to 15mins and see how I go from there! The reason I've been hunting for openings that I enjoy is because if It can get a few openings I'm comfortable with then I can focus on those and improve and be able to focus on the transition to middle, middle game and end game more to improve other aspects of my game and through repetition and experience improve at the openings I know. So far I'm playing Italian for white, Dutch for d5 or alternative openings when black and maybe the Sicilian dragon or Karo in or french for e5. What this enables me to achieve is a greater understanding at these openings and to develop check mating patterns or play around with different positions I reach when playing these openings. Does this kinda make sense and sound like a reasonable plan to develop as a chess player?
Many coaches say "play any opening that is considered sound." As for the folks who say "the X opening is too complicated" (Sicilian, KID, etc.) -- I never did understand why that mattered if you're mostly playing folks at your own level.
Other advice: play longer time controls where you *really* have a chance to see the entire board and pick the best move (30+ minutes).
Learn solid opening principles (not opening lines). Review your own games afterwards.
And finally: tactics, tactics, tactics. As others have noted: no opening in the world is going to save you if you hang pieces after the opening.
Play the hippopotamus defence. Hippo/Rat or English Rat are true systems for black, but ...really? You need to be a certain kind of odd to aim at boring your opponent to death.