Looking for a Patzer's Repertoire

I'm a ~1200 player, maybe 1100 on days when I'm not lucky ;-)

I don't spend a lot of time studying openings - just tactics and a little endgame.  But obviously, I need some sort of repertoire to play.  I open with 1. e4 and am looking for advice on what openings to play from there...I'm just planning on studying the first few moves from an "ideas of the opening" perspective, not memorizing lines.

So, I open 1. e4.  This means:

• Scandanavian (1...d5) - I'm OK with this.

• Sicilian (1...c5) - some advice on what to look at here would be good as I'm not real comfortable with this opening

• French (1...e6) - I play either the Advance or Exchange.  I'm not wild about the French as white because it seems to bog down (again, for a ~1200 player who's not up on strategy).

• King's Pawn (1...e5).  I have played the Ruy Lopez and the Scotch Game.  Recently, I've been adding the King's Gambit.  Sometimes the Petroff depending on my opponent.  I hate the "old stodge" Giuco Piano :-)  A surprising number of opponents play the Philidor, which is OK.

I'm really clueless about what to play as black.  

• Against e4, I usually play the Scandanavian.  I should perhaps branch out into the Sicilian.  I need to learn something about the Sicilian on both sides but am not about to buy a specialized opening book at my level.

• Against d4, I'm clueless and could really use some advice.  Fortunately, most other 1200s are clueless about d4.

• I run into c4 periodically and play e5, but don't really have any other ideas beyond that.

So...what's a "Patzer's Opening Repertoire"?   

verdantlife> obviously, I need some sort of repertoire to play

Well, I know a 2030 USCF player whose repertoire is:

White

1.e4 d5 2.exd5

1.e4 f5 2.exf5

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5(all-else) 3.d4

1.e4 (all-else) d4

Black

1. ...d6
2. ...Nf6
3. ...g6
4. ...Bg7
5. ...O-O

The idea is, it's simple to learn, it takes most opponents out of their opening books, and he gets to spend most of his study time on tactics and strategy. Opening theory matters at my level... but not nearly as much as tactics and strategy.

Play gambits and simple defences to start.

King's Gambit

Morra Gambit

Exchange against the french

Panov against the Caro

As black, play e5 against 1.e4 and the QGD against d4.

This was my repetoire when I was first learning. 

As White, play 1.d3 and aim for a King's Indian.

As Black, play 1...d6 and aim for a King's Indian.

This sounds tempting for a chess newbie such as myself. Having one opening you could play with colors reversed would enable more time to be devoted to tactics and endgame study- what makes the King's Indian so versatile?

He prepares a response for 1...f5 but not for 1...c5 or 1...e5, lol? It's not the lack of a repertoire that's most surprising--it's that he focuses his tiny repertoire on uncommon openings.

I think 1...c5 and 1...e5 are covered by 1. e4 (all-else) d4.

Oh right. It's all lumped together. It's pretty funny to see a 2000+ player using that kind of repertoire. Though I suspect he probably encounters some of these moves so often that his true repertoire is slightly bigger (he probably encountered 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 a million times already--I doubt he actually re-thinks his 3rd move response every time).

The King's Indian is a defensive opening system which allows the opponent to take up a big pawn center before striking back. It makes use of the "coiled-spring effect", where the player waits and moves his pieces to good positions before making a claim to the center.

His true strength is undoubtedly higher, since he handicaps himself by playing 2.d4 against 1.e4 e5 and against the Sicilian.

Against the sicilian, try playing 2.c3, the Alapin. It's pretty simple to learn and leads to much less complex positions that any open sicilian (generally, so please don't use specific examples to contradict me)

I play the Tarrasch against the French and don't find it extremely difficult, but you may be best to stick with your variations for now.

I would stick with the Scotch game. It's simple and leads to much more open game than others.

Don't play the sicilian now, that's no opening for beginners that don't want to learn 10-15 moves. If you're comfortable with 1...d5, play that.

I would also recommend the Nimzo-Indian/Queen's Indian complex as the best response to 1.d4 for new players.  Solid and active.

For now just play 1...e5 in response to 1.c4 and then react to your opponent's moves =)

don't think of yourself as a patzer, or else you'll keep playing like one. Black openings tend to have problems (pieces that are hard to activate, weak squares, traps) learn what these are for the openings you are studying, and how to handle them, and your play will improve dramatically.

know the basic opening theory, and learn a couple of openings quite well (i'm teaching myself the classical french and the kings indian right now, and i'm looking to learn the caro-kann and the english opening)