Why is 1. e4 actually so hard to play against?!

What do you want to learn?

"I almost always see black getting an isolated black pawn on a7 or a6" ----> yes, you are wrong.

This happens just in a couple of scenarios.

a) when a d4 knight captures a black knight at c6, and Black recaptures with the b7 pawn, and

b) when Black has pawns at a6-b7 and white a pawn at a5, and then white captures the pawn after ...b6-b5 either normally or en-passant.

Both these cases are rather frequent visitors, but very far from your "almost always".

Presumably you enjoy positional chess, where e4 can often be more tactical. Many players (including myself) find the reverse to be true and dislike d4!

I’ve found a couple of ideas to make d4 games more tactical, perhaps your best bet is to find opening responses to move e4 games into positional territory 🤷‍♂️

I peaked as a USCF A player. So I was never good enough to have games decided by the openings. As with most it was blunders, mistakes and missed tactics.

I forgot how much you care. The caro Advance probably scores well for a lot of people who are playing opponents who don't know the lines. The caro is actually far harder to play than is often supposed. There's even a dispute on the third move for black. 3. c6 ... c5, which is obviously weak, was being played until the correct lines were found for white. 3. Bf5 is probably the only correct move. It gives white a bit of an endgame edge if played accurately. ....h5 is considered more solid that ....h6, which is the one to play if you're playing for a win with black. But if you're playing for a win, would you really play the caro? I don't think so. If you have to win, surely the sicilian is the best choice.

The 1980s main line, 3. Nd2, is probably still the strongest option unless you go for the c4 lines or 2. Ne2. I believe it gives a somewhat better endgame advantage for white than the advance, but is correspondingly harder to play. People in the 80s stopped playing 3. Nc3 due to the rise of 3. ...g6 or maybe a slightly later g6. I played that and won, at the time.

1.d4 players should be fed to crocodiles, they should be dragged behind a chariot around the arena, they should be forced to eat at Arby's--for a week, they should be forced to wear red baseball-style hats overseas, they should be forced to read Hans Kmoch--in German. 1.d4 is for Goblins.

It's not. Just play E5.

haha, the amount of lines there are after e4 e5 are like infinite, and your opponent PROBABLY knows smth that you dont when you cross like 1600 rapid, which is why people play d4

Oh bud, bless you.

My win rate as white for 1.e4 e5

This month: W 61% D 11% L 28%
3 months: W 51% D 11% L 38%
6 months: W 52% D 7% L 41%

e4 e5 opens you up to so many options depending on what your opponent wants to do. Do they want an Italian, Spanish, scotch, ponziani, a king’s gambit, a danish gambit, any sideline in any of these openings and tonnes more… it’s one of the most complicated ways to approach the game (Sicilian notwithstanding) and is avoided by many players for very good reason.

don’t get me wrong, it’s a great use of opening fundamentals when you’re playing people who don’t know theory, and it’s a great opening when you’re a high level player or master who knows boatloads of theory, but for anyone in the middle there are definitely better options to avoid what OP is on about.

When I started playing 1. d4 I found that my wins were much quicker than with 1. c4, 1. Nf3 and 1. e4, all of which I had played for at least one chess season. So naturally, I stuck to it and have continued ever since. Winning quickly as white was VERY important for a tournament player in particular.

I play 1.e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5, as black, specifically because I want white to take their best shot and see if I can survive the coming arrow-storm. I don't understand all those players who say that they want a challenge and then try and dodge and prance about with half-open or half-closed, or some such opening/defense that they think will allow them to avoid difficulties. It's like talking big, challenging someone to "take it outside!".... then running away.

For the OP, the QGD has a deserved reputation for being solid precisely because white can't get the lead in development that occurs when black plays the QGA. The 1.e4 openings either are gambits, or have dangerous gambit lines, so 1.e4 openings can become gunfights if white wishes it. Black plays 1.e4 e5 precisely because he accepts the white challenge; still there are a number of 1. e4 e5 openings that allow black to parry until he is ready to counter punch. such as the Petrov, Ponziani, Philidor, and the Four Knights. Plus, there are no gambits that Black must accept, so black does have a number of good options.

You could try to play openings against e4 where you put a pawn on d5 like in the QGD, and then capture on e4 (Caro, French Rubinstein, Scandi).

Just a good ol sicilian

# 32 whereas you are probable not a Reptile-Person, and as such get a pass, most 1.d4 players are in fact Reptilians, inter-dimensional invaders from the constellation Orion. Reptoids may appear to be human, but in fact they are able to deceive with their snake-like hypnotic gaze, so humans will not detect aberrations in their disguise or behavior that would give them away. This survival ability also allows them to win games quickly. On their home planet they play 1.d4 and get fed a rat every time they win, rats are rare, so they are a delicacy, Thus, obsession with 1,d4 may be a prime indicator that one is in the presence of the Lizard People.

Actually, these may not be "infrequent" at all if you play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 as Black.

Scenario A is common in the Scotch.

Scenario B is common in the Slow Italian (Italian with d3 instead of d4), which has overtaken the old Italian lines with 7.d4 because those have basically been figured out.

If said person hates those isolated a-pawn lines, maybe the Petroff, Sicilian, French, or Caro-Kann is a better fit than the 2...Nc6 open games.

Unless I am missing something big, neither the Scotch, nor the Slow Italian are Sicilian branches.