Ok, so the two suggestions which seem to be based on my other openings are the Dutch and Queen's Gambit Declined. Superficially anyway, the QGD looks a lot like the French, but how alike are they? Is the c5 advancement as cruicial to the QGD as it is to the French? Are things any different because of the lack of a pawn on e5? Between these 2 (I don't care about pet lines that have nothing to do with anything, espcially if you are talking about 1.e4 responses like the Caro), between the QGD and the Dutch, which is better, which fits my "style" better? Are there any other things I can say to help figure this out. I still am not sure what to play against d4, but the possibilty of transposing to the French a third of the time or so with either of those others seems like a bit of a nice safety net, eventually though, I think I'd play the moves in a more natural order.
Originally posted by UmbrageOfSnowI can't tell you how the QGD/French compare too well because I won't play either - too boring. But the French and QGD probably mix better than the French/Dutch.
Ok, so the two suggestions which seem to be based on my other openings are the Dutch and Queen's Gambit Declined. Superficially anyway, the QGD looks a lot like the French, but how alike are they? Is the c5 advancement as cruicial to the QGD as it is to the French? Are things any different because of the lack of a pawn on e5? Between these 2 (I don ...[text shortened]... f a nice safety net, eventually though, I think I'd play the moves in a more natural order.
I reccomend playing 1...e6 because it is solid and will sometimes transpose into the french which you enjoy. Also, if white doesn't play 2.e4 for you to play a french, white will most likely play 2.c4 in which case you can play the Queens Indian Defence with 2...b3 or 2...Nf3 3...b3. It is a solid choice to play against 2.c4, you will fianchetto the queens bishop and bring the kings bishop to e7 and the kings knight to f3. Also, if you find the queen indians defence doesn't suit you, you can play 2...d5 transposing into a queens gambit declined (usually 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6(nf3)) which can have similar elements to a french defence.
No matter what you choose, you should research it a bit on google by searching for the move order (eg. search for: "1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5"😉
Originally posted by ChessJesterI agree that I want a bit of research. The problem is that I don't seem to have much luck with google as far as general principles and "personality" of the opening go. I was hoping that asking a bunch of chess players might prove to be a better resource.
I reccomend playing 1...e6 because it is solid and will sometimes transpose into the french which you enjoy. Also, if white doesn't play 2.e4 for you to play a french, white will most likely play 2.c4 in which case you can play the Queens Indian Defence with 2...b3 or 2...Nf3 3...b3. It is a solid choice to play against 2.c4, you will fianchetto the que ...[text shortened]... earch it a bit on google by searching for the move order (eg. search for: "1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5"😉
From what I gather, the Dutch is really risky and bears some resemblance to the King's gambit. If we don't want to compare to the French, How would the Queen's Gambit Declined compare to the Queen's Indian Defense? This question might help, since it seems the consensus is against the Dutch and it seems very risky. I am playing a game where I'm using the Dutch as Black against the player DutchDefense on white. I don't really like the feel of the game, but at least in this case, he doesn't seem to be crushing my weakened king yet.
Whatever you do don't play QGD! White can get a really vicious game very easily.
Nobody mentioned the Gruenfeld defense, this is my favorite against the queens pawn. It's hard to describe, but basically you try to undermine white's center (which can be huge) but will crumble!
Instead of trying to describe it, I posted some of my games below. If you want I can explain it more specifically.
This line takes a while to get the hang of, but once you figure it out it seems to be a really strong line and whites center almost always gets demolished. It's really gratifying to see this happen.
Game 2482860
Game 2781177
Game 2618469
Originally posted by UmbrageOfSnowSymmetrical games (1. e4 e5, 1. d4 d5) many times aim for equality, while Indian defenses gives you good counter-play too. But like someone mentioned though, the QGD Tartakower for example gives you counter-play too. Many lines of the QGD give excellent chances for equality, but many players are usually a bit more ambituous than that. I think a good way of picking your defense is, apart from fitting your style, thinking about how much counter-play you want, and how much complications you want. History though, showed that counter-playing defenses score better (e.g. the Sicilian, Nimzo-Indian, French..).
How would the Queen's Gambit Declined compare to the Queen's Indian Defense?
Something you should also know about the Queen's Indian is that you can't always get it against 1. d4, the closest thing is the Nimzo-Indian. If white permits it though, you can get it for example when you play the Nimzo. The Nimzo is a defense I love, being a french player. The Nimzo and the French aren't really similiar in pawn-structure, but they are similiar in "thought".. both of them got much of the theory from "My System", written by Nimzowitsch. A small plus is perhaps that you can play 1..e6 against everything.
Originally posted by UmbrageOfSnowTry them and see what YOU like. They're all sound.
Anyone else want to weigh in here? Why doesn't the QGD give black counterplay chances? Is the Nimzo just as good with the move order starting with 1.d4 e6? I've gotten a bit of good advice, but the field is still at about 3.5 openings and I still don't know what to look at.
Originally posted by UmbrageOfSnowI suggest you get something to read about them. There are good books sold that handle all major openings. Get one that covers a little of every opening, not one that covers only one opening in-depth (to begin with). There are also resources on the web, but I should add a little warning about those. Some are not qualitative. Of course, it happens that opening books are also bad since the author likes to give you the impression that the system(s) mentioned gives the opponent no good chances etc (but there are no wonder-systems). After you have gotten the information, try each one of them out (you can easily blitz away 20 games in a night), and chose those you think are fun, easy-to-play and preferably something which is also played at higher level.
Anyone else want to weigh in here? Why doesn't the QGD give black counterplay chances? Is the Nimzo just as good with the move order starting with 1.d4 e6? I've gotten a bit of good advice, but the field is still at about 3.5 openings and I still don't know what to look at.