What opening to play against 1.d4 ?

Beginners and intermediates should play open positions and go for the attack.

But the main responses against 1d4 contradict those well known recommendations.

How should we deal with it ?

I've looking into the tarrasch, the king indian and the QGA.

But the tarrasch looks like you have and great disvantage from the start. Its hard to create activity.

The King indian is a closed opening in the center.

The QGA you let white control the center, contradicting other basic principle.

I definitely doesnt know what to do about it.

Nimzo-Indian.

1)Nf6

? It can lead to any of those openings or the QGD

Always thought the NI was too complex for intermediates, but I'll give it a look

You cannot guarantee an open game against 1.d4 (or any opening, really, if White wants to keep things closed).  I too have struggled to find the best way to face 1.d4.  In my pre-1600 days, I got good results with 1.d4 d5, where if White doesn't play 2.c4 I play 2...c5, and if White does try the Queen's Gambit then the Slav with Bf5 or the Semi-Slav with an eventual dxc4, b5, Bb7 and c5 lead to good games.

The openings that helped get me to 1800 were the Benko Gambit and Dutch.  The Benko is near perfect, leading to a positional sound position that is fairly open and White can generally make mistakes easier than Black, especially at lower ratings.  The main disadvantage was 2.Nf3, where you can no longer force it.  The Dutch was a fun opening that gives Black a fairly formulaic attack, and I earned several victories just by opponents playing natural developing moves and not respecting the Black attack.

A popular opening at amateur level is the Budapest.  I have terrible results with it as Black, but it certainly leads to some of the most open positions in the main 1.d4 opening branch.  Again, the main problem is White can avoid it with 2.Nf3, so you'll always want something to fall back on.

I once asked the same question and was suggested to play Tarrasch defense (1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5). For me it seems to work very well and it does give me an open position.

I usually play the Dutch Defence.

Stonewall Dutch is the easiest to play, Albin Counter Gambit is the most fun, Eugland Gambit is the most offbeat, and Noteboom is the most double edged.  Which one I play depends upon my mood.

I really like the QGA. 

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dc 3.e4 e5 (3...b5 is also sharp) is exactly what you want.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dc 3.e3 e5 and 3...Be6 are interesting but I doubt you can play 3...Be6 without knowing some theory...

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dc 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 is not the most popular but good.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dc 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e4 b5 is really sharp.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dc 3.Nc3?! a6 is problematic for White.

Thank you very much for your responses.

I used to play the KID.

It really helped me with my tactics, as I was more of a positional player before.

Then my friend died, while I was borrowing his book on the Chigorin. So I inheirited that, and have been enjoying that opening quite a bit.

The Grunfeld will usually give you lots of open positions, given the vast majority of players play the exchange variation.... It's also quite tactical, but like any opening out there, it's full of theory.

Albin counter gambit

The nature of 1. d4 is that it tends to lead to closed or semi-closed positions (with some exceptions). The QGD is a solid reply that is a good opening to study for understanding some of main principles of 1. d4 d5. I recommend taking a look at Reuben Fine's "Ideas Behind The Chess Openings" for better understanding of what openings are available in response to 1. d4, and what they seek to accomplish. Yasser Seirawan's "Play Winning Openings" is also good for that.

"Beginners and intermediates should play open positions and go for the attack."

I do not really agree with this, although I know it is common advice. People should play what they feel comfortable with and if that is sloly developing games then so be it.

If you fancy an open response against d4, you could try e5.

What about the Owen's Defence?

It seems you can play it against almost any opening.

It's not ideal as white can create a strong centre with pawns on e4, d4 and c3

Gruenfeld is a great defense against d4. Kasparov and Fischer score with black. I have scored well too. Just study the games of Kasparov, Fischer and Svidler.