http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Indian_Attack
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Attack
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colle_System
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_%28chess%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippo_Defence
"System" style openings...
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Bah, if you want to generalize about all system openings go ahead but I still disagree.
The KIA is arguably not even a system as the move order actually matters, and no it can't / shouldn't be played against just anything.
My understanding of a "system" is that you are working towards a particular strong setup without too much concern for what the other side is doing. Obviously the other player can mess with your plans, but if possible you work towards a certain setup that is versatile and strong to play from. I hope I am using the correct terminology here, but it's different from a normal opening because you are making the same types of moves regardless of what the other players response is (unless of course the response directly interferes with your system).
I remember reading a book about hypermodern chess several years ago that I got from the library that talked about the Reti opening as a way of striving towards a certain layout on the board. Given that the book was on hypermodernism they were presenting this system as a hypermodern ideal of attacking the centre of the board without occupying it. The author suggested the following layout as being a great position for white because of the strength of all the pieces, the pawn structure, the mobilty of the pieces, and so on...
No piece has moved more than once (I'm counting the castling as a move for the king) and it seems to be a tough position to crack, with some attacking possibilities. I remember in the book they showed some games from Reti where he was able to reach very similar positions as white and do pretty well. I was especially surprised by the potential power of the Qa1 move by Reti and have tried this in my own games on occasion. For some reason it just doesn't seem a like a move you would expect but it can be powerful.
I was wondering what other types of "system" openings are out there and what your opinions of them are?
I am also interested in any comments about this hypermodern idea. Unfortunately I can't find any of the example games from Reti that were used in the book I read, but maybe someone with better database access and knowledge knows what I am talking about.