Opening for Black against d4

Hello Everyone! Can anybody suggest me some openings for Black against d4

*besides King's Indian, Slav, QGD or QGA stuff

London, perhaps?

For Black

I myself am shying away from the Kings Indian (because of the 13.Rc1 line) and have just started studying the Nimzo and Bogo Indians.  I have played both before, but it has been ages.

You could go for the Nimzo and Bogo Indians yourself as well.

Budapest Gambit.

Gruenfeld 

Dutch 

Stonewall Dutch?

I play that sometimes

Thank you

I think I am more positional so maybe Benoni & chigorin work well for me

Depends on what you are looking for.  The Nimzo is a very flexible defense that can be played in several ways.  If you want to pair it with the Bogo-Indian, there is a very good book from IM Christoff Sielecki (https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Repertoire-Indian-Everyman-Chess-Opening/dp/1781941092) that can give you a good foundation.  You can also pair it with the QID (where you will play b6 in most lines), or with the Ragozin (where you will play d5 early and usually play for the c5 break).

The Benoni and the Chigorin, especially the former, are not positional defenses.  The Kings Indian is a more positional defense than the Benoni, if that gives perspective.

The book you mentioned I just got on Saturday along with 2 others.  Probably own about a dozen other Nimzo books but they are all over a decade old.  In the process of making the transition from the Kings Indian back to the Nimzo-Indian for the first time since 2011.  Have dabbed with it occasionally still since then.

Through chapter 1.  His handling of the Leningrad surprises me.  He talks in general that his strategy is a closed dark square center, yet he takes on d5 rather than advance e5, leading to more of a Benoni setup rather than having similarities to the Huebner but with White spending time to get the Bishop out.

If I recall, he did a video a while back where someone asked him about that and the choice was made for tactical reasons.  I used that setup for almost 3 years with good results.  The main problem I ran into is that the Bogo lines tend to simplify very quickly in some common lines, so if you are trying to avoid draws in some situations it is difficult.  Recently, I've been using the Nimzo/Ragozin approach to provide some variety.

Interesting.  I am rarely phased by a draw, and most people intelligent enough to know how to draw are usually high enough to make a draw tolerable.

If a 2150 player wants to draw against me with myself as Black?  Sure!  I get 1600 players over the board playing the Exchange French against me and they still get trounced!

The benko.

I'm currently looking into 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6, as advertised here: https://www.chessable.com/the-accelerated-queens-indian-defense-a-full-repertoire-against-1-d4-1-c4-and-1-nf3/course/32956/. Not sure if it's any good.

One problem with the "Accelerated Queen's Indian" is White's lack of commitment to Nf3.

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6, not only does 3.Nf3 not threaten e4, giving black time for b6 and Bb7, but it also prevents f3.

The biggest issue with 2...b6 is the fact that White can get an improved Kmoch.

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3, Black is ready to play 4...d5.  With e6 played, taking on d5 does not dominate the center in Grunfeld Fashion.  After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6?! 3.f3, the move 3...d5 allows 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4! And Black cannot even trade the Knight off on c3 like the normal Grunfeld.  With ...b6 played, ...Nb6 is also unavailable to Black.

The other main alternative in the Kmoch is 4...c5.  The problem here for Black is that in the normal line from the Nimzo Indian sees Black play an early ...b7-b5 in one go.  Now you are taking 2 moves to play ...b5, which puts you down a tempo.

The Kmoch is not a line where the center can be ignored and is hence why you do not see anything outside of 4...d5 and 4...c5 in the Nimzo Indian.  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 b6?! 5.e4 is clear advantage White.  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6?! 3.f3! Bb7 4.e4 is just as bad, if not worse.

Queen's Indian should be reserved for when White has committed the Knight to f3.

@ThrillerFan, the author also considers 3.f3 critical. In particular, he gives

planning to trade the dark-squared bishops and the Queens, play a5 and put a Knight on c5.

Edit: the author himself states that the whole idea of making a complete repertoire based on 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 depends on whether 7...Bc5 works.

I the variation above, I'm actually worried about White delaying 10.Nge2 and pushing the h and g pawns so ...f5 doesn't happen.

I don't trust the line at all.

Black's play is very much in fashion with the Mexican Defense (a.k.a. The Tango), specifically the line with 3.Nc3 e5 4.d5 Ne7.

The problem is, in the Mexican Defense, the a-pawn is advanced to either a6 or a5 and the Bishop has a safe haven on a7 if harassed by the c3-knight.

Here, the b-pawn is advanced to b6, blocking any escape of his most important minor piece.

Keep in mind, I am not saying that I have refuted the Author's idea or make any claim that I know the theory of this specific line.  I simply do not trust it while I would trust the Black side of the Kmoch with 4...d5 or 4...c5.

If the author found a magical solution, then so be it.  Even he acknowledged that 3.f3 is critical, and I can say that I surely will not play 2...b6.   Even if it does work, it looks like a line with little to no room for error.  I will stick with the Nimzo or Mexican Defense, the former more often than not.