1.e4, d5

I always thought that taking on d5 makes the Queen a target winning a tempo by just developing
Black is not obligated to recapture with the queen.

If you want to play a normal game, then 2. exd5. This is probably the "best" response.
If you want to play a gambit, then 2. d4
If you want to play something off-beat, then 2. Nc3

Really I think anything other than 2.exd5 and black is probably going to equalize easily. Maybe 2.Nc3, though I don't know much about it.

Maybe 2.Nc3, though I don't know much about it.
That's the main value of the move... it's unfamiliar without being unsound.
But 2. exd5 is the only real try for advantage.

Maybe 2.Nc3, though I don't know much about it.
That's the main value of the move... it's unfamiliar without being unsound.
But 2. exd5 is the only real try for advantage.

Also called the Dunst Opening.
Of course, 2. exd5 is going to tend towards equality, too. All sound openings lead eventually to more-or-less equal positions. White's first-move advantage is enough to dictate events for a while, but not enough to win.

Also called the Dunst Opening.
Of course, 2. exd5 is going to tend towards equality, too. All sound openings lead eventually to more-or-less equal positions. White's first-move advantage is enough to dictate events for a while, but not enough to win.
Possibly helpful:
My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Vincent Moret
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
1 e4
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7819.pdf
A Simple Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Sam Collins
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/A-Simple-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-for-White-76p3916.htm
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/A_Simple_Chess_Opening_Repertoire_for_White.pdf
Playing 1.e4 - Caro-Kann, 1...e5 and Minor Lines by John Shaw
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Playing1e4CaroKannandothers-excerpt.pdf

I always thought that taking on d5 makes the Queen a target winning a tempo by just developing
Black is not obligated to recapture with the queen.
True, but on the other hand there's nothing really wrong with 2. ... Qxd5, either.
Sure, Black loses a tempo after 3. Nc3... but White has ALREADY lost a tempo anyway. His e-Pawn moved TWICE and then disappeared from the board (e2-e4xd5 then vanished), traded for the Black d-Pawn which moved only ONCE before disappearing. White traded a Pawn and TWO moves for a Black Pawn and ONE move.

"blueemu wrote: Sure, Black loses a tempo after 3. Nc3... but White has ALREADY lost a tempo anyway..."
Very true and I think a lot of people don't get that. IMO the real down side is black doesn't want to develop the queen by recapturing on d5 (a knight would be more natural for the task), and after 3.Nc3 black has to either truly lose tempo by moving all the way back to d8, or move the queen to a square that may place it less than optimally.

I always thought that taking on d5 makes the Queen a target winning a tempo by just developing
Black is not obligated to recapture with the queen.
True, but on the other hand there's nothing really wrong with 2. ... Qxd5, either.
Sure, Black loses a tempo after 3. Nc3... but White has ALREADY lost a tempo anyway. His e-Pawn moved TWICE and then disappeared from the board (e2-e4xd5 then vanished), traded for the Black d-Pawn which moved only ONCE before disappearing. White traded a Pawn and TWO moves for a Black Pawn and ONE move.
Absolutely. My answer was not trying to say there was a problem with the queen recapturing, i was just stating black is not obligated.

The best move is d5 but you can transpose into the Blackmar-Diemer with e4, the Tennison gambit of the Réti with Nf3 and if 2.Nc3 Nf6 it transposes into the Scandinavian variation of the Alekhine. Apparently 2.b3 is also a move in that position.

2.exd5 is the one and only move worth consideration.
I don't know, the Williams Gambit of the Bird (2.c4) seems great to me

2.exd5 is the one and only move worth consideration.
I don't know, the Williams Gambit of the Bird (2.c4) seems great to me
Hmmmm....and a 1400 player seems weak to me!
Pfren is right, as he is 98 percent of the time (as a guru of the French Defense, I beg to differ with a few of his assessments in that department, but otherwise, I guarantee you he knows light years more than me in any other opening, and people that know me know that I specialize in openings not named the Grunfeld or Dragon along with Endgames - weakness being the Middlegame, but I digress ...).
Now you have an IM telling you that 2.exd5 is the only move, an expert telling you 2.exd5 is the only move, and a 1400 telling you to play 2.c4.
Hmmmmmmm......

2.exd5 is the one and only move worth consideration.
I don't know, the Williams Gambit of the Bird (2.c4) seems great to me
Hmmmm....and a 1400 player seems weak to me!
Pfren is right, as he is 98 percent of the time (as a guru of the French Defense, I beg to differ with a few of his assessments in that department, but otherwise, I guarantee you he knows light years more than me in any other opening, and people that know me know that I specialize in openings not named the Grunfeld or Dragon along with Endgames - weakness being the Middlegame, but I digress ...).
Now you have an IM telling you that 2.exd5 is the only move, an expert telling you 2.exd5 is the only move, and a 1400 telling you to play 2.c4.
Hmmmmmmm......
Sorry I didn't knew you have autism as you it was clearly sarcasm

2.exd5 is the one and only move worth consideration.
I don't know, the Williams Gambit of the Bird (2.c4) seems great to me
Hmmmm....and a 1400 player seems weak to me!
Pfren is right, as he is 98 percent of the time (as a guru of the French Defense, I beg to differ with a few of his assessments in that department, but otherwise, I guarantee you he knows light years more than me in any other opening, and people that know me know that I specialize in openings not named the Grunfeld or Dragon along with Endgames - weakness being the Middlegame, but I digress ...).
Now you have an IM telling you that 2.exd5 is the only move, an expert telling you 2.exd5 is the only move, and a 1400 telling you to play 2.c4.
Hmmmmmmm......
Sorry I didn't knew you have autism as you it was clearly sarcasm
Alright smarta$$! Now you think you can start giving medical diagnosises? Sarcasm is not obvious in written form without some kind of smiley icon displaying some kind if smirk-type look.
So why don't you go take your illegal medical advice that you ought to be arrested for and shove it where the sun don't shine! And for the record, I don't have autism, but I have a nephew with Down Syndrome and joking around about neurological issues is something that would only be done by someone who was dropped on the head by mom in the bathroom at birth!