I play the Scotch Game as White, although you could play the Ruy Lopez.
As Black as e4, you could go for the Sicilian and for d4, King's Indian.
How much do you know about openings??
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58 views and only one person wants to share what they think??????
Ponzani isn't really the most ambitious opening for white, the Scotch, Italian or Spanish are all three viable good alternatives against 1... e5. There are ofcourse other decent openings, but most of them really haven´t got the depth of ideas that these three have. And why settle for something that limiting.
English 1 c4 aiming to fianchetto the King's Bishop has always been fairly reliable for me - and it sidesteps all that theory surrounding e4 (Sicilian, French, Caro-Kann etc). There's a common tendancy for things to transpose into a Queen's Gambit or Catalan which generally isn't a bad thing. Next time we have a club night on a free week, I can run you through it if you want...
boy678 needs to get an opening book, the english is c4 not f4 and brings about a radically different game. I suggest 'Batsford Chess Openings 2' (BCO2) with input by GM's Kasparov & Keene. Also worth a look is 'An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player', again published by Batsford & written by GM R Keene & IM David Levy. The latter is definately worth a look for some interesting ideas in the Scandanavian...
There are lots of different openings that satisfy your criteria (you're basically looking for "a good opening").
What you need is an opening that you can understand and that you like to play.
I would absolutely not recommend BCO2, it's just pages and pages of moves without explanations, and two decades old at that.
Instead, "Fundamental Chess Openings" by Van der Sterren is about explanation, not moves, of all openings, and it's received great reviews.
Here is one: http://www.chessvibes.com/reviews/review-fundamental-chess-openings/
Get that book, work with it, and experiment with different openings. Then pick a repertoire.
The Ponziani is unbelievably complicated, it isn't really the greatest choice if you are winging it right out of the opening. Even if you buy a book, you're going to get zapped a lot by unforseen tactics. Then on top of it, the Ponz is good for black after correct opening play by both sides.
The Scandanavian is a good first opening, but if you're ready to really learn your openings, and are facing opponents who are doing the same, you probably want something else IMO. Unless you happen to love those particular positions, of course.
At our level, it is far more important to get positions we like than to have slightly more of a theoretical edge.
As for your question of what you should play, get the Easy Guide To The Ruy Lopez. The Ruy definitely gives good opportunities against all responses to it. Responses to other black defenses depend on taste, so focus on figuring out an answer to the Sicilian that you like, and play the "simple" continuations to other stuff. Exchange French and Caro, Classical Pirc and Modern, etc. Replace them later if you want, and find something you like more.
As black, I would say e5 against e4 is the way to go because it can lead to so many different kinds of centers that you get a taste of everything, and can decide later if you really like one scenario much better, and then select an opening based on that. Most chess teachers think it is the best choice for players at our level, and provides the best training, so they would say go with that too.
Yeah the ponziani is crap, stick to more mainline stuff like the italian or scotch, and if you are ambitious learn the Ruy.
"This is always going to happen to you, no matter who you are or how good you get (that's why the better players are better players).
I also agree with: "At our level, it is far more important to get positions we like than to have slightly more of a theoretical edge." (Although I would be inclined to think that that's true of any level.)"
I also agree here. I started out playing the Ruy Lopez because it seemed that it was a favored opening in GM play [like that should important to a beginner like me 
] But I didn't understand the complexities of the positions, so I've switched to the Scotch/Italian since I can get into the types of positions I feel more comfortable with.
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Hello everyone
I Have recently started to take chess a little more seriously and I am trying to improve my game, I wanted to ask some opinions on openings. The openings I usually play are 1. with white I play the ponziani, with black in response to d4 I play the Dutch Stonewall, and finally in response to e4 I have been playing the scandanavian defense. I am starting to find as I play better players I am been found out, the ponziani & scandanavian for me create quite open games but I am easaly punished at a higher level, but the dutch creates a closed game in which I struggle against stronger players.
I need some advice on what to play:
1. As white, a opening that gives me good opertunites, that I can really work on which is sound against stronger players.
2. As Black in response to both d4 & e4.
Finally any advice on how to study openings and learn the variations, I have looked through the opening explorer but dont really know how to put it to good use.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.