Bored of playing e5? Some responses you can use against 1.e4!
Hey everyone, this is @Phantom_Beast23 (previously as @IAMDAGOAT123456789) and today, I'll be discussing about possibly THE most popular first move, 1.e4, also know as the king's pawn opening. This opening is the opening that we first learn when we first start chess.
Let's begin with some pros and cons with the King's Pawn Opening as to know how to defend an opening, we must learn how to understand it first.
Pros
- Allows for early development
- Takes Control of the center quickly
- Very flexible and can lead to many traps or gambits
Cons
- Doesn't really lead to many "Theoretical positions", sorry e4 players, but its just true (unless you play center game or something I guess)
- It can be repetitive in the sense that positions can predictable.
Now most people, including me sometimes, will respond with 1. e5 as black. Now, that's a good response and all, its just not creative and fun as some of the other ways that we're gonna be exploring today.
1. Scandinavian defense
We all probably have at least heard of the Scandinavian defense, which is e4, d5. Most people will tell you NOT to play it, but it's honestly pretty good and can lead to some cool positions, like this:
As you can see, black escaped that common misconception of how the Scandinavian doesn't lead to good development, and now both sides are equal!
Pros
- Leads to some attacking positions, powerful in bullet!
- Leads to middle games quickly (through my personal experience)
Cons
- Can lose tempo if played incorrectly
- Includes some nasty tricks such as the Tennison which you should be careful of
As black, you also have to be careful of nasty little tricks such as the Tennison Gambit like I said above (I made a blog on it a while ago which I would recommend checking out
)and stuff.
2. The Sicilian Defense
We've ALL heard of this, and we know some of the positions and openings such as the Dragon, Accelerated Dragon, Hyper-Accelerated Dragon, etc (what are these names though lol). This response can lead to many theoretical positions and is known as a VERY aggressive response.
- Allows for quick development
- controls the crucial d4 square
- controls center with right development
Cons
- requires a lot of precision, one mistake can be crucial
- There's really no other points I can think of....
- Pretty flexible, in the sense that it can transpose into popular positions such as the grünfield or something
- Doesn't require too much theory, which would be a plus for me
Cons
- doesn't control the the d4 and f4 squares, unlike it's e4 counterpart
4. Alekhine's Defense!
This defense, which is 1. Nf3 This is definitely one of the more popular defenses, in general, and was obviously named after Alexandr Alekhine. This is obviously not as popular as its counterparts, e5, or Sicilian, or the French, but it has it's perks, and is definitely, something you should play once in a while.
Here is one game line of the Alekhine's defense.
- VERY aggressive, probably the most aggressive opening we've discussed
- Good for people that dont like much theory and isn't too difficult to learn
Cons
- Knight can be easily harassed if not played correctly
- Can lead to some dull positions, even though its very aggressive
5. Caro-Kann!
Lastly, is the Caro-Kann. It's very popular among theorists such as Kasparov, and is popular for blitz and rapid. The Caro and the Sicilian are often thought of as similar, even thought they are pretty different from one another. There are many, (and when I say many, I mean MANY) lines, but only a few are actually pretty popular. Here is a line that Ive seen before:
At this point, it's definitely okay to say that black is better as the knight is in a (kind of) awkward position while black has a lot of space to develop...
Pros
- Can lead to really good development
- Good for defensive players
Cons
- doesnt control many squares quickly unlike the other I've mentioned
- doesnt allow for any 2. Nc6 ideas for the first few moves
Now, there are DEFINETELY more responses than this as you can hopefully tell, but they're not as popular or even as good as the ones I mentioned earlier, so let's take a look at some of them, as they can be very bizarre,
This is the Nimzowitsch Defense, known for its VERY theoretical positions. It's classified as an uncommon opening, and has a surprisingly good win rate....it's not very popular though, as, like the Alekhine's defense, can lose tempo.
The Owen defense, basically a substitute for the Nimzo-Larsen attack, just for black, and the purpose it to control many squares quickly by placing the bishop in a fianchetto.
The Pirc defense, know for usually transposing into the Philidor Defense the next move, is well known than most of the other defenses, and is really defensive compared to a lot of other responses. While not popular among the GM level, it's certainly a defense to try and is popular among beginners and intermediate..
The Hippopotamus Defense. For trolls or people just having fun. Period.
Barnes Defense. It's not too bad because if you can find a way to castle queen side soon, it should just end up as your average, fighting position once the middle game has been reached...
So, in the end, I hope you learned that there's many better things you can play than just 1.e5 as black. Chances are, you already knew this but there's nothing wrong with having another reminder
. If you have a line you want to share against 1. e4, make a comment so everyone can see!
As always, make sure to check my other Blogs, They're pretty good as I take my time and effort to do them! I also hope to get Top Blogger soon so your support would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
@Phantom_Beast23
