Good opening against E4?

Hello all! I was looking for a good opening against E4? I don't want to play the siscilian, so basically I play e5 and then I improvise... Which have often led me astray.

I have seen a lot of opening for the D4 move, although much of my oponents open with E4 (I play sub 1100).

Any suggestions? Thanks again :)

Play e5. Then, if he plays Nf3, play Nc6.

Any openings guys? Much appreciated

Thanks buddy!!

1. e4 c6, 2. something d5

maybe the scandinavian but instead of Qxd5 Nf6 and you get a gain in development and if they don't play c4 you can your pawn and you get a a lead in development or you coukd play the french wich is very solid.

I always use the Caro Kann Defence (1. e4, c6) against pawn to e4 as it is a great way to control the center and to develop your pieces, plus it promotes in a solid pawn structure and most of the time, it leads to a good endgame for black.

Try 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Ke7!!

The Petrov is a sound choice, but not for everybody.  Basically you are accepting a slightly inferior position and waiting for White to overextend himself. Often in the Petrov you end up in a slightly inferior ending with no chance to win.  The Petrov is good to have in your repertoire, but I would start looking for more active defenses when you want to play for a win.  If you play the Petrov, you still need a defense to the King's Gambit, Bishop's opening, and Vienna.

  I would start looking for alternatives in the openings you face the most often.  If you are facing a lot of Italian then I would suggest the Two Knights Defense.  You need a defense against the Ruy Lopez, There are lot of choices, I would recommend the Marshall.

I play the French (1...e6 2. d4 d5), and have had some good results with it. But you do need to learn a bit of theory.

The French was the first real opening I learned.  There is a bit of theory but it's really not necessary if you are starting and playing players under 1100.  I just knew the general idea of the French and it worked well when I was starting out.  You'll eventually get used to positions and strategies that work and know which don't work.  

The French is all right, but if you are going to continue playing the open game (1e4 e5) I would chose the Sicilian when you face a must win situation.

Talk about helping others 

The sicilian all the way.  I really enjoy the sharp games the dragon provides.  The series GM Kierwa does on here covers a bit of the basics of the 3 main tries against the yugoslav attack. (By far the most common way white deals with the dragon)  If sharp play and tactics are not your thing, the lessons GM Shankland drops on the Najdorf are a little old, but cover loads of the opening theory and will give you a good idea about what to do in whatever line of the Najdorf you choose to play.  If you are not planning on getting a premium membership then you can check blogs and join groups on the dragon and the najdorf.  You will find a load of information on all sorts of neat variations.  Tons of info on here for free.  People say the sicilian is hard to learn because of the volumes of theory, but close to the same could be said about any opening, so choose one that suits your style and have fun.

c5 is always my answer to e4 to get a fair control at the center.

the french is alright up to a point I would think (if it's a blitz game, by all means, french it up, as that is not real chess) but I think if white knows how to play against it, you end up with a rather passive position and have to do some solid defending, possibly for the whole game unless white errs, which isn't fun and is harder than attacking. and you would probably have to go through a slew of variations and theory to decide which french you want to play, I think there are significant differences between them. and of course in the french white always has the option to go into the exchange lines which is annoying, frustrating, boring, drawish, possibly make you angry and cause you to make an error. I just don't think the french is best opening to start off with in general if you are trying to learn and improve. 

I think if you are like me and 99 percent of the population and are just learning really, not at titled player level, I think it's completely fine to play e5 and the two knights defense, it's doubtful someone who isn't titled would know everything there and would play flawlessly. 

in general I don't think opening theory matters at all in most normal situations until you reach expert level. 

The opening to play for a win is the sicilian as most people here have already written. it creates imbalances right away and gives black more winning chances.  I think the accelerated dragon is a formidable and very reliable weapon against e4.

 I think the Petroff was refuted by the Cochrane Gambit.

If learning the French, how many different variations should one have prepared? In other words, what are white's options? (Tarrasch, Winnawer, exchange... are there others?)

Advance but also learn the exchange because it would be unpleasant to face it unprepared.  For beginning e4 players, the French can be an uncomfortable surprise but at the same time, the exchange variation can return the surprise to black if black's not ready.

You are sub-1100(as you say) and you think you are losing after 1.e4 e5 because of the opening?Basically you need an opening that it will transform you  from bad( on 1.e4 e5) player to good.You don't need an opening , you need a miracle.Or simply realise that opening is not your problem(but that is a small miracle too).You should ask about good middle-game books and not good openings.