What are common games after e4?

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flatseven

Hello,

I am looking to switch from playing 1.d4... as white to 1e4...

What are the most common openings I will have to face?

I know sicilian defense because I play that as black.  I guess I'm asking, which openings should I study in order of importance in order to get started playing e4 as black?

Thanks.

mkkuhner

It will depend somewhat on where you are playing as local areas have favorite openings.  Here in Seattle I would work mainly on the Sicilian and the double KP openings, and after those on the French.  That would cover more than 75% of my 1. e4 games, and the remaining 25% are spread out over a large number of openings--Caro-Kann, Pirc, Scandinavian, Alekhine, Nimzovitch.

In a lot of places the French will be less popular than it is here.  You might try to get hold of games records for the tournaments in your area, assuming you are planning to play in tournaments--those should give a good idea what's popular.

For chess.com play I'd still say Sicilian, then double KP, but after that maybe the Pirc.

kindaspongey

Possibly helpful:
My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White by Vincent Moret
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings
A SIMPLE CHESS OPENING REPERTOIRE FOR WHITE by Sam Collins
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/A_Simple_Chess_Opening_Repertoire_for_White.pdf
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/A-Simple-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-for-White-76p3916.htm
A Chess Opening Repertoire for Blitz and Rapid by Evgeny Sveshnikov and Vladimir Sveshnikov
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9020.pdf

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