Any defensive opening recommended? (For black)
Examples: caro-cann, sicilian
Examples: caro-cann, sicilian
i wouldn't call sicilian defensive. Slav is defensive
sicillian for me
Caro-Kann / Nimzo-Indian. Sometimes Petrov's Defense. I much prefer playing against d4 players.
How do you want to play?
Solid, with fire? Or bring the entire hordes of hell?
Use risky lesser seen gambits and openings?
Solid:: slav and caro. Petrov and QGD mainlines or QID
Middle:: Taimanov or Kan or Kalashnikov or French and QGD Tartakower (also solid)
Sicilian Dragon or Sveshnikov and Grunfeld or KID or Nimzo or Semi Slav or Dutch
More risky:: Scandinavian, Pirc, Black Lion, Old Indian, Benoni/Benko, Latvian, English Rat, Budapest, Albin, Englund
Solid, with fire? Or bring the entire hordes of hell?
Use risky lesser seen gambits and openings?
Solid:: slav and caro. Petrov and QGD mainlines or QID
Middle:: Taimanov or Kan or Kalashnikov or French and QGD Tartakower (also solid)
Sicilian Dragon or Sveshnikov and Grunfeld or KID or Nimzo or Semi Slav or Dutch
More risky:: Scandinavian, Pirc, Black Lion, Old Indian, Benoni/Benko, Latvian, English Rat, Budapest, Albin, Englund
King's Indian is good but you need to have good control of the h file throughout the game and not trade the dark squared bishop easily
The Petroff is defensive, the Caro-Kann is quite aggreesive contrary to what people believe. Here is why:
- It is essentially a gambit ... yes, really :-) ... 1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. cxd5 Nf6 5. Qa4+ and black will not get the pawn back quickly.
- The advance variation is full of sharp lines e.g. in the Bf5 system those with early h4 + g4 pawn storms.
- In the classical mainline the most played system is 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 usually with opposite castling
... and so on ... It is no surprise that the Caro-Kann gets often sharp because with 1. e4 c6 you quickly create non-symmetric pawn structures.
- It is essentially a gambit ... yes, really :-) ... 1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. cxd5 Nf6 5. Qa4+ and black will not get the pawn back quickly.
- The advance variation is full of sharp lines e.g. in the Bf5 system those with early h4 + g4 pawn storms.
- In the classical mainline the most played system is 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 usually with opposite castling
... and so on ... It is no surprise that the Caro-Kann gets often sharp because with 1. e4 c6 you quickly create non-symmetric pawn structures.
@FourtyTwoFields said in #7:
> The Petroff is defensive, the Caro-Kann is quite aggreesive contrary to what people believe. Here is why:
I think there's a point that a lot of people miss which is that for black in particular, the openings that are "defensive" in the sense of being cramped and slow and giving white the chance to attack early on are often "aggressive" in the sense of being provocative, imbalanced and risky.
If black tries to stay on an even footing in terms of centre and development - by playing e5 and all the usual stuff against e4, say - then it takes a lot of careful buildup (or an unsound gambit) for white to get a serious attack going against accurate play. If they play the Sicilian or the Caro or the French, they gift white an early lead in development and the chance to start attacking straight out of the blocks, and bet on the fact that the attack's going to fail and leave white overcommitted and at a disadvantage in the later middlegame / endgame.
Essentially, black's normal role in chess is to be a counterpuncher, and the more counterpunching they want to do, the more punching they have to invite from white.
> The Petroff is defensive, the Caro-Kann is quite aggreesive contrary to what people believe. Here is why:
I think there's a point that a lot of people miss which is that for black in particular, the openings that are "defensive" in the sense of being cramped and slow and giving white the chance to attack early on are often "aggressive" in the sense of being provocative, imbalanced and risky.
If black tries to stay on an even footing in terms of centre and development - by playing e5 and all the usual stuff against e4, say - then it takes a lot of careful buildup (or an unsound gambit) for white to get a serious attack going against accurate play. If they play the Sicilian or the Caro or the French, they gift white an early lead in development and the chance to start attacking straight out of the blocks, and bet on the fact that the attack's going to fail and leave white overcommitted and at a disadvantage in the later middlegame / endgame.
Essentially, black's normal role in chess is to be a counterpuncher, and the more counterpunching they want to do, the more punching they have to invite from white.
"... You should play the simpler and more adventurous openings, from which you will learn how to use the pieces. Much later on you can go on to the more difficult openings - if you play them now you won't understand what you are doing ... Play the openings beginning [1 e4 e5]. ... if you haven't learnt how to play the open game you won't be able to use positional advantage even if you are able to get it. ..." - C. H. O'D. Alexander and T. J. Beach (1963)
Alekhine defense.
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