As white, openings like the catalan or the english tend to be very difficult for black to steer out of the known territory.
As black, I guess g6 or b6 can be played against almost anything - though I might be reluctant to play it against b4 or g4.
The white lines are ok sort of games, but if you like tactics and intresting positions then they are definately not for you - it is a purely positional game every time.
The g6/b6 stuff can be trickier as there are some very aggressive systems white can employ against you so you have to be on your guard.
Stonewall can be played as white and as black against pretty much anything except 1.e4. The King's Indian Defense/King's Indian Attack/Pirc system is quite common.
But to be honest, I don't think it's wise to play those kind of systems. You'll have an advantage for some time, but chess is about getting in different situations. I think that, to improve, you need to master different openings, I'm not saying you should play a dozen different openings (unless you really want to invest in this game and reach GM), but trying to always play the same thing will slow your development. It's especially true in corr. chess.
One well known system is the King's Indian Attack- it's pretty good and easy to play
As for my thoughts on systems- I think it has some pros, some cons, though I think the pro's outweigh the cons. The pros: Limited opening studytime; familiar middle game positions, ability to reserve time usually used for openings for other stages cons: gives you experience in only one type of positions, no variety in middle games
Systems are a good idea for people who don't want to study openings
Originally posted by chessisvanityYou have actually got some good suggestions I guess on this...but it really is a difficult question.
Does anyone know of "system" like openings that can be played with white and black almost regardless of the opponents replies?
also...what do you think of those "system" like openings?
Years ago when Chess Digest was owned by Ken Smith he sent me two manuals...cause when you bought enough crap you earned freebies...there both something like A Complete Defence for Black...and one was on d6 and the other was either g6 or b6.
As for white...someone posted about the KIA...it really is the one opening that noone can stop you from going into.
But as for Black...well folks lets give it a shot...I will play the next 10 games answering anything with d6 and will see what happens.
I am not big on g6 or b6...so I pose someone who likes a fianchetto position to try those.
Any takers on this one?
And hopefully at the end we will have some good analysis and an answer for chessvan ( hope it is ok for me to use that for short )
Dave
The Hippopotamus can be played as White or Black, but I've only seen games where Black played it. Here are the moves (the move order is quite flexible): 1...b6 2...Bb7 3...g6 4...Bg7 5...d6 6...e6 7...Nd7 8...Ne7. The most recent book on this system is "The Hippopotamus Rises" by IM Andrew Martin.
A class-A strength player using the pseudonym "Pafu" wrote a book called "The Beginner's Game" in which he advocates playing this formation as both White and Black. It contains about 200 games in which a computer played itself with the opening. There is a RHP thread from several years ago that discusses Pafu's book.
Pafu also wrote two other books that you can view for free at his website: http://www.beginnersgame.com
"The Center Game": 1 a3 2 h3 3 d3 4 e3 5 Bd2 6 Be2. Can also be played as Black.
"The Defense Game": 1 d3 2 e3 3 Nd2 4 Ne2 5 Nb3 6 Ng3 7 Bd2 8 Be2. Also recommended for Black.
I've tried all three of Pafu's systems in blitz games, and fared pretty well with the Hippo formation detailed in my previous post. The Center Game leads to interesting tactical melees that suit my style.