An aggressive repertoire

Hi guys. I'm looking to develop and openign repertoire that is made up of openigns that offer me the chance to play sharp and aggressively.Currently, I've been playing the english. Against a decent opponent who know's where to plant their bishops and knights, the game can become extremely precise - and usually ends up with massive series of exchanges which transpose into a quasi endgame scenario where I either win fantastically, or get squashed.

To summarize, I have the most experience witht he english as white, but that's neither here nor there. 

My real question is what would be a good attackign repertoire? I've heard discussions where a decent idea is to look up a Master level player who has the same style as you and emulate that player's repertoire. Is that a good idea? What are some strong precise attackign players that I could research? (better yet, what is their repertoire?)

I've also been told the sicilian would be a good choice as black because I consider myself an english player - however i don't have a lot of time to deeply study openings so I'm not sure if that's the right path I should take as black.

More questions: As white, what are some openings that allow for aggressive/sharp play? As black, what are aggressive/sharp responses to d4 and e4?

I'm thinking of trying to take up the blackmar diemer gambit played by white. There is a series about it here on the site, so that might be fun to try. I think somethign along the lines of that gambit is what I would like to try to pursue. It's aggressive.

You are 1310, learning new openings should not be a priority.

That being said

WHITE

The kings indian attack is very popular at the club level as its easy to memorize and gives you attacking chances.  1. e4 is the best choice if you are a gambiteer, as I'm sure I could name a dozen gambits If I tried.  Ok I'm going to try now

Kings gambit, danish gambit, scotch gambit, goring gambit, reti gambit, morra gambit, blackmar-diemar gambit, tennison gambit, halloween gambit, wing gambit, poisioned pawn sicilian, milner barry gambit.

1. e4 is a good, grandmaster level option if you are not a gambiteer, but it takes a bit more memorization then the KIA.  You can reach IQP positions against the french/caro-kann (structural weakness vs increased activity), great open battles against e5, counterattacking duels against c5, smack pirc/modern players with the 150 attack.  The only opening I don't know an agressive line (save gambits) against is the scandinavian.

Edit: whoops, mixed up KID and KIA.

It's kings Indian Attack, KID is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 and is very demandinig from a theoretical standpoint.

THE attacking, sharp, first opening for players to learn is 1.e4.

Against 1...e5, play the Italian, 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. Answer the Two Knights 3...Nf6 with the Modern Attack, 4.d4 exd4 5.e5. Answer the Giuoco Piano 3...Bc5 with the Evans Gambit, 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 followed by d4, quick castling and moves like Qb3 (only when the opponent can't reply with ...Na5).

Against 1...c5, the Sicilian, play 2.c3 aiming for d4. Don't be tempted to play the Open lines with 2.Nf3 and 3.d4, they have the most theory in chess, there are many completely different variations afer it the choice of which is up to your opponent, who will always be better prepared in them than you are. Eventually it turns out that the Open doesn't give any more advantage than 2.c3 anyway.

Against 1...c6 and 1...e6, play 2.d4 d5 3.e5. Protect your center, develop pieces and try to make use of the space advantage.

Against other replies, improvise (play chess) or look up master games. Or Wikipedia, its opening knowledge is overwhelming.

I'm sorry, but I'm sure you mean King's Indian Defence (KID), as described by your move order. There also is a King's Indian Attack (KIA) which is a system employed by White: 1.Nf3, g3, Bg2, 0-0, d3, Nbd2 and e4, almost regardless of what Black does. While this can become very aggressive in some lines, a positional handling will be required in others.

However, this is not what I would recommend a 1300ish player wanting to improve. Rather go for 1.e4, from where you can choose which style to play:

Aggressive Gambits which may be fun, but have a dubious reputation, like the Sicilian Wing Gambit, the Smith-Morra, the Centre Gambit or the Fried Liver Attack. At below 2000 level, I suppose you don't have to worry about their reputation.

Aggressive lines which lead to equal play if Black knows what he is doing, like the King's Gambit, the Evans Gambit, the Greco-Möller Attack. GM Tkatchiev has shown that you can play the King's Gambit even up to 2700 level, although I must admit that when he had finally arrived among the world's top players some years ago, he didn't score too well with it.

If you really want to try and go for a typical opening advantage, I guess there are no real options to the Ruy Lopez and possibly the Scotch.

As Elo_A_Day pointed out though, your priority should definitely not be with learning openings. Opening theory is often overestimated, after all both White and Black can get playable positions from a lot of openings, and it is what you do from there on which will decide the game.

Kings Indian Defence is great..I use it all the time :P

btw, I disagree with Elo_A_Day that learning new openings should not be a priority.

If you find yourself a favourite opnening.. you can discover new variations of that and from there go on and develop your game..

Play the Scotch as white. It works on all levels.

So the propper thing to do at this point in my chess career is play the same opening over and over until I get tactically strong enough to move onto others?

No, not really.

More like play what opening you think looks good (maybe because you have seen a game with it or two), even play different systems just to get a feel, but don't waste too much time trying to study them in depth. This will be much easier if you have gathered experience and playing strength, because then you will be much quicker in understanding why what move is played in the opening you study.

Go for the Scotch gambit if you are not sure what to play - it is a sound opening, and not uncommon even at master levels. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is not completely sound, and should be advised against - while this may not affect the game too much for the average club player like you or me, if you want to develop your game to a higher level it may spell trouble, and so when you attain a certain level of skill, you would probably want to change openings - save yourself the hassle and don't play it in the first place.

Would it be prudent to instead adopt a 'system'?

Alexander Morozevich is a sharp player who is among the world's top ten.  He plays the French Defence against 1.e4 and the Slav against 1.d4.  He is also an expert on the Chigorin Defence 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 introducing many new ideas and writing a book on it.  As white, he prefers 1.e4 playing mainly the Ruy Lopez or Scotch against 1...e5.

Judit Polgar, Evgeni Bareev and Nigel Short are other sharp attacking players.

The Sicilian defence often leads to very sharp positions especially in the Najdorf and Dragon variations.  The English Opening 1.c4 strikes me as slower and more positional than 1.e4.  The English Defence 1.e4 b6 is somewhat rare, but can lead to sharp games.

King's Gambit (e4 e5 f4) is very fun and sharp....

Here is a suggestion for a nice active repertoire with some players to emulate :

As white - 1.e4 (compulsory ) :

• against 1...e5 2.f4, King's gambit (role models : Morphy, Spassky, Bronstein)
• against 1...c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 - Morra Gambit (role model : Milan Matulovic)
• against 1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 - Milner Barry gambit (role model...Milner Barry !)

As black -

• against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 - Two Knights defence - role model = Morphy again !)
• against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 - Jaënisch gambit (role model = Radjabov)
• against 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 - Albin countergambit (role models = Morozevich and Kazimdhzanov)
  

This covers 70% of the ground - if you need any further insights, feel free to ask

I can tell you you'll learn A LOT for your chess development by playing along these lines

It really depends on what you're aiming for. A 'system' will seem easier to play, but it won't improve your chess the same way my sample repertoire will.

So you'll get some comfort, but will probably not improve very much (unless you have a good coach who helps you to get something out of your system). On the other hand, a repertoire like the one I'm suggesting will probably bring more fun, and has potential for good progression, though you'll have to rack your brains a little more and stay alert on the board

 No wonder. According to Kasparov Ruy Lopez and Scotch are the only openings giving white a realistic chance of winning 1. e4 e5 openings. Well, atleast on grand master level.

I also read somewhere that playing gambits is healthy for newer players. Is that true?

it can't harm