Positional opening against E4

Hi, I know that at my rating I should not worry about openings and improve more my endgame, etc.... But I do like to study openings and I like to familiarise myself with them. To improve I need to play and for that I need to play an opening, so far I have chosen the following:

 

I enjoy positional play and I am enjoying very much playing the English opening with white, with black I play the Nimzo-Indian against D4 and I am currently playing Alekhine defense against E4.

Although I am enjoying quite a bit to play Alekhine's defense as not many people expect it, I realise that is a bit nerverecking for black (or at least it is for me) and I can't find propper serious books about it. I am thinking of starting to study an alternative and that is where I'd like advice.

 

I am not familiar with all the openings but I am thinking Slav, Sicilian or King's Indian (correct me if they are not positional openings, LOL)

 

Thanks very much for the answers

 

Cheers

all chess is positional. I would suggest, in order of preference, either e5 (and Nc6 after Nf3), sicilian, French, or caro kann

Ok, let's say I prefer closed positions to open ones instead of positional or tactical. Thanks for the advice though

in that case the French is good

Try the Caro Kann Defense (1...c6) Unlike e5 and c5, it isn't so sharp, aggressive and theory-heavy. There are only a few lines that you need to be familiar with the ideas. Caro Kann includes all the great benefits the French Defense (1...e6) has, like black attacking white on the center and queenside. However, unlike the French Defense, you don't imprison your c8 bishop, which is nice. I'd say the only main drawback of the Caro Kann is the timing; it can potentially be a bit behind when it comes to move play and castling speed. But apart from that, I think it's one of the best options black has against e4 and offers great chances for black to equalize quickly. Just take a look at some of the videos from great Caro Kann players and the variations. Give it a try! :)

Definitely the French and the Caro Kann, but you really want to be familiar with the pawn formations and the strength and weaknesses 

French can be solid and give a lot of lower rated players some headache against it, as they don't know what to do. For a surprise weapon that is also sound though, I like playing the Nimzowitshe Defense (1...Nc6), as well. It is fairly rare and a lot of E4 players won't be too comfortable against its eccentricities. Your welcome 

@Gambit_Man Nimzowitsch Defense requires a lot of theory. I used to play it and although it will usually throw the opponent off, the prepared one will usually be able to crush the Nimzo positionally.

FunnyAnimatorJimTV, man, it feels like every opening has a butt load of theory. However the less common the opening is, it feels like the less chance of your opponent being too prepared against it. 

The Nimzo can be tough and is a good choice. I would rather play against a French than a Nimzo. 

learn the ruy lopez for white and black...its fun to play and I am certain you will learn a few things about positional play from it...so many times i felt helpless looking for slow improving moves but i definately learned from it☺

The line that refutes Nimzowitsch Defense (Kennedy Variation) is 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. h4!

hi

Thanks for all the advice. I used to play Caro-Kann when I was 17 so it maybe time to retake it. I'm not a fun of the French, and the Ruy Lopez is too open for my taste. I won't stop playing Alekhine to start to play Nimzowitsch, LOL. I see there are no fans of the Slav or the Sicilian in this post.

slav is vs 1.d4...slav and caro kann structures are in the same family iirc...I am a sicilian player myself at the moment and i have to admit ive always enjoyed the sicilian but rhe sveshnikov i am playing now give difficult middlegame positions...i dont know of any positional sicilians

Hi,

 

I use to play the French with black, and I kind of disagree with the fact that it's positional. Maybe in some variations, but in most of them it's a deadly weapon in the right hands, full of active and dynamic play, very similar to what you get with the Alekhine, which I used to play in the past as well. I don't think that's the kind of game you want to play in the French since you'll simply get a bad position by being passive and positional.

 

It's hard to suggest something positional against 1.e4 - actually that's why it's known to produce very open games. If I had to choose one I'd say the Caro-Kann is very positional, but since e4 is so open and agile people tend to say it's boring. I personally am not famililar with it, and back in the days when I'd play 1.e4 and I'd face the Caro-Kann I'd play the Panov-Botvinnik attack, quickly opening up the center in order to get my "positional" rival out of his/her comfort zone. If it's of any help I'd recommend to go for something positional against 1.d4 or 1.c4 (you have beautiful closed positional games with them!), but prepare something more dynamic and active against 1.e4 because that's simply what you're very likely to get.

 

By the way, you were mentioning a good book on the Alekhine: I can only recommend the exceptional book by Timothy Taylor "Alekhine Alert!". Truly brilliant.

 

Regards.

Hi riuryK, thanks very much for your answer, very helpful. I bought alekhine's defence by Nigel Davies and that was disappointing. Maybe I should stick to play Alekhine and get a better book, after all I enjoy playing it.

 

It makes sense what you say that you can't force positional play against 1.e4 and you say about choosing something more dynamic.  Do you have any suggestions? Now is when you tell me 1....e5 right?

 

Un Saludo

Hahaha, no no. Honestly speaking I can't even remember the last time I answered 1.e4 with 1...e5, so it must be loooooooong ago. By (my own!) order of preference:

• French.
  • PROS: In other lines, it's just general ideas. It's a sharp, agressive and dynamic opening, and your chances are pretty good if you know your stuff. White center gets very often smashed, and in many many lines black equalizes quickly with active play. See all these guys here in this thread? None of them likes to face the French 
  • CONS: Be ready to learn a good buch of theory in some lines. The French requires a lot of dynamism or you end up having a bad game. This dynamism very often requires sacrificing a piece for two pawns of giving up the exchange. To give you an idea engines very often give an evaluation of "=" or "=+" in positions where black is 1-2 pawns down! That's thanks to the strong initiative. Again, if you're the type of player that gets cramps and cold sweat every time one has to sacrifice a piece or a pawn, then maybe this one's not for you.
• Alekhine.
  • PROS: A good surprise weapon. Excellent knight play. It's one of those openings that everybody says they're weak and refutable... but nobody knows how to. As a curious datum, taken from Taylor's book, white plays the best main line hardly a 15-20% of the time. The rest, they just throw a lot of junk at black.
  • CONS: If white knows the main line, and both players follow it, white has an edge. Again, this can be said of almost all openings, and taking into account the ratio main line vs junk lines I think this deserves a go.
• Scandinavian Qd6.
  • PROS: The queen on d6 is a pain in the rear during the whole game, and the white knight on c3 ends up being badly placed, so white also losses some tempi relocating it. Good counter-attack chances.
  • CONS: White has a slight edge, and you get a bit of a cramped position initially. If you're not that kind of player, maybe that's not for you.
• Sicilian Kveynis. ECO B40. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6.
  • PROS: A funny and dangerous move. Check Aloyzas Kveinys B40 games with black. If white plays calmly and correctly, again white has an edge, like in almost all openings. The thing is, just like with the Alekhine, I can tell you from experience that most of your rivals are not prepared to meet 4...Qb6. I've won countless games due to white errors in the opening. My personal statistic, yet blitz games, is a stunning 60% of victory rate with this defense. 
  • CONS: White can avoid it with things like the Alapin, the Smith-Morra gambit or even the closed Sicilian, and there's again a lot of theory there. That's why I dropped it,

I personally consider 1...e5 a more passive approach against 1.e4, but I can't tell for sure because I don't know most of the defenses arising after 1...e5. I'm pretty sure that there might be some people here that could recommend entering the Spanish, but again be ready to learn a good bunch of theory. The problem with 1...e5 is that you're pretty much at white's mercy, whereas with the above openings you have pretty good chances that you're going to play the lines you know (maybe the big exception can be the Sicilian Kveinys).

 

I hope that helps.

Wow, thanks a lot for this, that is quite an answer. I will look into all of them but you are sort of convincing me to continue my Alekhine's ways

 

Cheers

I would play 1... e5 over all of those except maybe the French. I play the Breyer myself and find that it’s easier for White to do something stupid than for Black to do the same thing.