What opening scares you the most?

i fear to play against alekhine defence, infact i have never won any game against the opening, for that reason i have decided to switch to d4

I don't like gambits. Who plays that know the tricks, i usually don't. Even if it is only to gain tempos on me, i tend to get the worst from positions. So, i almost always decline them.

I don't like open games, so e4, f4 i usually dislike.

I really hate scilian, from white or black perspective. Too much theory, too much chaos, usually.

I prefer closed positions, d4 openings, even c4, slowly gaining positional advantages.

Systems like London are a bit boring but they are ok to play, white or black.

EDIT: I really hate Bird. Feels so wrong, i want to punish it quickly, but some (maybe 50% of times), the attack is too quick and deadly.

When someone plays against me an opening that I use as white. It is hard to reverse roles.

Nice thread. The Ruy Lopez used to give me a sense of dread whether I play it with black or white. I like playing it but I usually felt unsettled while doing so. It's an opening that offers equality to both sides that it used to be quite unnerving.

i got clobbered twice in twice playing black against ruy lopez; i just didn't respond at all well... so i had to study the thing for a year, and playing it myself. i got clobbered playing against King's gambit; i don't get that opening. what is a stonewall??? do i need to study that too? The scotch has some sharp lines; i got clobbered once against that. the petroff... i had to just memorize that one. i don't like d4 openings; so now i play them as white a lot, just to try to learn them...

i've never tried a 'system'....... maybe i should... tjhen i no guys who only play a couple openings, no matter what... that's their solution. one guy always plays a bishop's opening as white - he wants no fireworks. another guy always plays the alekhine as black. i guess that is against e4.

@pawnmulch The Stonewall is a not so much an opening but a certain type of pawn formation, a system that you can play with either white or black from a number of different move orders. Black often reaches it via the Dutch Defense, but it is also possible from the QGD. White can start with 1.d4 or 1.f4.

The pawn formation for White is d4, f4, e3 and c3; with Black you put the pawns on d5, f5, e6 and c6.

Here you will find some illustrative games to give you the main ideas:

www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1035380

www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1106138

www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1729275

It is a system you will encounter from time to time and you should know the basic ideas at the very least.

Believe it or not, St. George defense terrifies me; I used to be a Ruy Lopez player, until I saw the SGD in an OTB tournament. Black forces White away from the Ruy, but retains flexibility and does not create any real weaknesses.

@pawnmulch Against stonewall, one plan is to occupy the outposts for your knights in the weak squares of the stonewall

@clousems what is the st.george opening?

#19 @fonsecasf :
1. e4 a6!?
For those of you who think that this isn't a strong reply, take a look at this game: