help choosing one decent white opening..

I play black much much better than white OTB which is quite odd. I have put this down to the fact I don't really have any clue about any particular opening. I want to choose one opening and go really deep and study it but cannot make up my mind which to choose. Everyone seems ot have their pet line.
My fide is 1800 which is not too bad considering I don't really have a clue what i'm doing.

I was thinking something that does not require too much study of sidelines and gambits.

I used to play 1.e4 a lot (i used to like tactics) but not sure if i'm an attacking aggressive player or more of a counter attacker, or really just a negative petrov sort of person..

So I have been experimenting and narrowed it down to:

1.d4
2.c4 (1.c4, 2.nc3, 3.nf3)
3.nf3 (transposing into QGD or KIA)
4.KIA
5.1.e4! (be a man!)

anyway any advice in choosing a white opening would be appreciated, thanks.

I believe 1.d4 and 1.c4 are less risky than 1.e4. 1.Nf3 seems somewhere between those imo.

If you're good tactically then 1.e4 may be best. If you prefer a more positional approach then 1.d4 seems fine.

Hope this helps & good luck.

I've always liked the scotch.Sound at any level and not overly theoretical.

1.e4,e5 2.Nf3,Nc6 3.d4,exd4 and now you have 3 options depending on your style and preference
4.Nxd4 scotch game
4.Bc4 scotch gambit
4.c3 göring gambit this one may not be fully sound but is a lot of fun

You can also try to reach it by a different move order to avoid certain defenses,like the petrov
1.e4,e5 2.d4,exd4 starting as a centre game but now 3.Nf3 when 3...,Nc6 is very likely,maybe even black's best option,and takes us into scotch territory.
Of course,when going down this road you have to be ready for other black 3rd moves.

Personally I don't agree with the common view 1.e4 = tactics 1.d4 = positional.
Will it be a slugfest or a slow dance depends much more on the players intentions than on the opening.

Originally posted by plopzilla
I play black much much better than white OTB which is quite odd...

This isn't all that unusual, BTW, for reasons similar to what you're discussing. As black, you can prepare fairly effectively picking one defense against e4, one against d4 and learning 2-3 critical lines for each. As white, you encounter a somewhat larger range of openings and its hard to prepare against them all.

My best advice is pick e4 or d4 and start learning lines you like against the various defenses. If you have limited time like I do, learn one system at a time and learn something that you don't at least lose quickly with the others. For example, in blitz I play a conventional Tarrasch French as white. I know the lines well and usually know how to play against even unconventional stuff. But I play the c3 Sicilian (because then I don't have to know all those different Sicilian lines). I'm slowing learning Sicilian lines and may add them to my blitz package at some point.

...It depends what you feel comfortable with? as a kid i started to play the KIRA for OTB-opens as it was easy to learn 1.Nf3 2.g3 right up to 7.e4...only then depending on what type of system i was meeting would i decide on a4 or h4 The KIRA can be very dangerous system and is good for OTB where you dont have to known tons of stuff...BUT! for excitement nothing really beats 1.e4!...just look at the lines in-depth that gives you the most problems... ie if you dont like meeting the sicilian and you hate to play against the Dragon then avoid open sicilians after 2...d6 play a side line 3.c3 or if you hate all open sicilians then switch to your KIRA...dont worry about whats the latest opening trends or what GM A or GM B are playing...play lines that you feel happy with and that you fully understand.

Originally posted by plopzilla
I play black much much better than white OTB which is quite odd. I have put this down to the fact I don't really have any clue about any particular opening. I want to choose one opening and go really deep and study it but cannot make up my mind which to choose. Everyone seems ot have their pet line.
My fide is 1800 which is not too bad considering I don't ! (be a man!)

anyway any advice in choosing a white opening would be appreciated, thanks.

You should play what you want to play and if that is different tomorrow so be it, because they are all just moves to be honest. Every opening has a closed/stonewall/advanced variation, an open variation, a four pawns attack, a boring exchange variation, and some rabid attacking/gambit option, oh, and a "quiet line" with a small centre. You can choose to some degree whether to lock horns early or late, to complicate or to simplify.

Knowing roughly what to do in open positions, closed positions, minority and majority attacks is probably of greater use than learning pages of specific lines which your opponent may simply avoid. They occur in every game whereas your opening line may occur once in thirty games. I would also rid yourself of any notion that one opening move is more "tactical" than another. Rubbish. Is the Linares Variation of the Queens Gambit Accepted any more or less complicated than the Botvinnik Semi Slav, Najdorf Sicilian, Double Muzio King's Gambit or whatever? You either see the tactics or you don't. Post Mortems will tell you that.

Pawn Riot is right in that the last thing that should influence you is the current fashion of any particular Grand Master. They will choose opening moves for very different reasons to us and prepare something different for their next tournament anyway.

I do not believe there is any sole correct opening and, short of a forced winning line much of chess "theory" is simply "opinion" based on more or less experience, hearsay, computer evaluations etc. Easy to be confused. Best to forget all that and simplify one's approach to what one can see for one's self.

Edit: And of course this is no more than my opinion dressed up as advice. Take it or leave it.

The six pawn attack is pretty reliable vs King's indian...

thanks all for help

Originally posted by plopzilla
I play black much much better than white OTB which is quite odd. I have put this down to the fact I don't really have any clue about any particular opening. I want to choose one opening and go really deep and study it but cannot make up my mind which to choose. Everyone seems ot have their pet line.
My fide is 1800 which is not too bad considering I don't ...[text shortened]... ! (be a man!)

anyway any advice in choosing a white opening would be appreciated, thanks.

You might take a 2nd look at c4. Many lines of play here that have not been anaylized to death.

Originally posted by plopzilla
I play black much much better than white OTB which is quite odd. I have put this down to the fact I don't really have any clue about any particular opening. I want to choose one opening and go really deep and study it but cannot make up my mind which to choose. Everyone seems ot have their pet line.
My fide is 1800 which is not too bad considering I don't ...[text shortened]... ! (be a man!)

anyway any advice in choosing a white opening would be appreciated, thanks.

I suggest 1.e4