I love opening with e4 and when I'm black I love responding to e4. But when he opens with d4 I feel uneasy. So I have 2 questions:
What are the best responses to d4?
How can I learn to open with d4 myself with confidence? (I need to learn to open this way someday...)
I usually respond to d4 with d5, but then I am a bit at the mercy of my opponent for his next move.
grit
I would recommend the Albin Countergambit
1.d4...d5
2.c4...e5
You get some really interesting positions, and avoid all the theory in the Queens Indian and Kings Indian defenses.
I know at GM level, these are more popular. However, at lower levels, I feel that the direct snatch at the center with 1...d5 is more practical.
Chigorin defense with 1.d4...d5 2.c4...Nc6 is also fun.
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I can't say I know what *the* best response to 1 d4, but I can tell what I play, which is the King's Indian Defence. It usually starts something like this:
White has more space in the center for now, but black will soon counter with e5. Lots of things can happen after that, but a common continuation is for the center to be locked, and then both sides attack on the wings - black on the king side, white on the queen side.
There are lots of books about the KID. I found Joe Gallaghers 'Starting Out - the King's Indian' a good starting point.
Originally posted by clandarkfire
I would recommend the Albin Countergambit
1.d4...d5
2.c4...e5
You get some really interesting positions, and avoid all the theory in the Queens Indian and Kings Indian defenses.
I know at GM level, these are more popular. However, at lower levels, I feel that the direct snatch at the center with 1...d5 is more practical.
Chigorin defense with 1.d4...d5 2.c4...Nc6 is also fun.
Sound advice from above posters. KID takes some study to master, but is theoretically sound against d4. The Dutch is also not terribly difficult and lets you feel more in control.
Black's 1... f5 stakes a serious claim to the e4 square and looks towards an attack on White's kingside in the middlegame. However, it weakens Black's own kingside somewhat, and does nothing to contribute to Black's development. As of 2006[update], the Dutch is unpopular in top-level play. It has never been one of the main lines against 1.d4, though in the past a number of top players, including Alexander Alekhine, Bent Larsen, Paul Morphy and Miguel Najdorf, have used it with success. Perhaps its high-water mark occurred in 1951, when both world champion Mikhail Botvinnik and his challenger, David Bronstein, played it in their championship match.
White most often fianchettoes his king's bishop with g3 and Bg2. Black also sometimes fianchettoes his king's bishop with ...g6 and ...Bg7 (the Leningrad Dutch), but may instead develop his bishop to Be7, d6 (after . . .d5), or b4 (the latter is most often seen if white plays c4 before castling). Play often runs 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nf3 (4.Nh3!? is also possible, intending Nf4-d3 to control the e5 square if Black plays the Stonewall Variation) Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 and now Black chooses between 6...d5 (the characteristic move of the Stonewall Variation), 6...d6, the Iljin-Zhenevsky System or Fluid System (less popular today), or Alekhine's move 6. . .Ne4!? retaining the option of moving the d-pawn either one or two squares.
Originally posted by gritWhat might he play instead?
But what if he doesn't play c4????
grit
His only other major option is Nf3, after which you play Nf6, he plays c4, and you play e6. Leaves you with a good chunk of the center. I feel at your level, the best thing to do is grab as much of the center as possible in the opening
Originally posted by gritFear is the fertilizer for a crop of losses.
I love opening with e4 and when I'm black I love responding to e4. But when he opens with d4 I feel uneasy. So I have 2 questions:
What are the best responses to d4?
How can I learn to open with d4 myself with confidence? (I need to learn to open this way someday...)
I usually respond to d4 with d5, but then I am a bit at the mercy of my opponent for his next move.
grit
I suggest you start playing d4 in a number of games. Play the very ideas you fear and see how others respond. I call it pan determinism.
Begin by looking at many Q pawn games, but from the white side.
Originally posted by caissad4My pal suggested I do the same thing for 90 days or longer, as I am a devout 1.e4 player. It changed my game considerably. I went back to e4 as soon as the 90 days were up though. 🙂
Fear is the fertilizer for a crop of losses.
I suggest you start playing d4 in a number of games. Play the very ideas you fear and see how others respond. I call it pan determinism.
Begin by looking at many Q pawn games, but from the white side.
What it did was make me play different positions than I was used to playing, and gave me a different perspective of my own play.