Basic opening repertoire for black?

So I just joined a real life chess club, and someone there recommenced me to start out with learning the London System just to get a foothold in the field of opening repertoire for white. But how does one go about learning an opening repertoire for black when one doesn't start out with the initiative as with white? Is there some kind of basic response that I could use as black no matter what white does just to get started with something?  Seems kind of unbalanced to just focus on how to open with white without preparing anything for black. Or would just getting a foothold with white translate over in general to my playing as black as well?

Opening Principles:

1. Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5
2. Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key
3. Castle
4. Connect your rooks

Tactics...tactics...tactics...

The objective of development is about improving the value of your pieces by increasing the importance of their roles. Well-developed pieces have more fire-power than undeveloped pieces and they do more in helping you gain control.

Now we will look at 5 practical things you can do to help you achieve your development objective.

They are:

1. Give priority to your least active pieces.

• Which piece needs to be developed (which piece is the least active)
• Where should it go (where can its role be maximized)

2. Exchange your least active pieces for your opponent’s active pieces.
3. Restrict the development of your opponent’s pieces.
4. Neutralize your opponent’s best piece.
5. Secure strong squares for your pieces.

 

Don’t help your opponent develop.

There are 2 common mistakes whereby you will simply be helping your opponent to develop:

1. Making a weak threat that can easily be blocked
2. Making an exchange that helps your opponent to develop a piece

 

Pre Move Checklist:

1. Make sure all your pieces are safe.
2. Look for forcing moves: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) as this will force you look at, and see the entire board.
3. If there are no forcing moves, you then want to remove any of your opponent’s pieces from your side of the board.
4. If your opponent doesn’t have any of his pieces on your side of the board, then you want to improve the position of your least active piece.
5. After each move by your opponent, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"

For Black against 1.e4 you can try the French Defense. On your level people usually play 1...e5 or sometimes 1...c5. The French is rather straightforward. I am a Beta tester for a book on the French in Chessable. The author did an amazing job, explaining every single move in his repertoire. The report is based on the Winawer, which can lead to very sharp positions. The book is called the Unbalanced French. The same author published another book in the French. It is a basic repertoire, not very deep, but again very well explained. I think it is called the Unbalanced French: The Exchange Variation.

Against 1.d4 it is difficult for me to recommend you a repertoire, as I am working with a book which is probably not suited for you. Perhaps you can ask in the Chessable forum what people suggest.

With Black your main weapons are 'information' and 'counterplay'. With white you have the initiative but you also have to declare your intentions. With black you have knowledge of white's intentions and then you defend and counterattack. If you play some openings like the Ruy Lopez as black be prepared to defend for more than 20 moves. If you are playing Sicilian you get to counter attack sooner.

I would recommend to you the Books Build up your chess1 : The fundamentals, Boost your chess 1:The fundamentals and Chess Evolution 1:The fundamentals. Once you finish these books you will be a fierce player and a true fighter of the board.

Also I recommend you to not focus too much on the opening rather study endings and focus mainly on middlegame ideas.

"... for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard.
Play opponents who are better than you … . Learn basic endgames. Create a simple opening repertoire (understanding the moves are far more important than memorizing them). Study tactics. And pick up tons of patterns. That’s the drumbeat of success. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (December 27, 2018)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/little-things-that-help-your-game
"... For beginning players, [Discovering Chess Openings] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

Detailed suggestions are provided by Moret in his My-First-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-for-Black book.

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9050.pdf

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/

Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014) combines explanation of principles with starting opening suggestions. Of necessity, his opening descriptions are less detailed (than those of Moret) because he tried to offer choices to the reader and give some indication of how a player might choose what to try.

http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/

https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf

Some of us think that it can be useful to use books like First Steps: 1 e4 e5 and First Steps: Queen's Gambit

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7652.pdf

as sources of games with explanations intended for those just starting to learn about an opening. Most of the time, one faces a position with no knowledge of a specific move indicated in a book. One has to accept that as part of chess, and think of opening knowledge as a sometimes helpful aid. After a game, it makes sense to try to look up the moves in a book and see if it has some indication of how one might have played better in the opening. Many opening books are part explanation and part reference material. The reference material is included in the text with the idea that one mostly skips it on a first reading, and looks at an individual item when it applies to a game that one has just played. Resist the temptation to try to turn a book into a mass memorization project. There are many important subjects that one should not neglect because of too much time on opening study.

"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)

"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)

"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)

"The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)

"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

Various items of possible interest:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-perfect-opening-for-the-lazy-student
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9035.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9029.pdf

http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-1-exceprt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103659/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review778.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Boost-Your-Chess-1-77p3744.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Boost-Your-Chess-1-excerpt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review834.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess-Evolution-1-excerpt.pdf

 

Black usually seeks to equalize first since White has 1st move initiative   (Unless you play a Black Gambit.)  Deirdreskye's suggestions are quite good and reasonable. 

"... For players with very limited experience, I recommend using openings in which the play can be clarified at an early stage, often with a degree of simplification. To accomplish this safely will take a little study, because you will have to get used to playing wiith open lines for both sides' pieces, but you can't eliminate risk entirely in the opening anyway. ... teachers all over the world suggest that inexperienced players begin with 1 e4. ... You will undoubtedly see the reply 1 ... e5 most often when playing at or near a beginner's level, ... After 2 Nf3, 2 ... Nc6 will occur in the bulk of your games. ... I recommend taking up the classical and instructive move 3 Bc4 at an early stage. Then, against 3 ... Bc5, it's thematic to try to establish the ideal centre by 4 c3 and 5 d4; after that, things can get complicated enough that you need to take a look at some theory and learn the basics; ... Of course, you can also play 1 d4 ... A solid and more-or-less universal set-up is 2 Nf3 and 3 Bf4, followed in most cases by 4 e3, 5 Be2 and 6 0-0. I'd rather see my students fight their way through open positions instead; however, if you're not getting out of the opening alive after 1 e4, this method of playing 1 d4 deserves consideration. ... a commonly suggested 'easy' repertoire for White with 1 Nf3 and the King's indian Attack ... doesn't lead to an open game or one with a clear plan for White. Furthermore, it encourages mechanical play. Similarly, teachers sometimes recommend the Colle System ..., which can also be played too automatically, and usually doesn't lead to an open position. For true beginners, the King's Indian Attack and Colle System have the benefit of offering a safe position that nearly guarantees passage to some kind of playable middlegame; they may be a reasonable alternative if other openings are too intimidating. But having gained even a small amount of experience, you really should switch to more open and less automatic play." - IM John Watson in a section of his 2010 book, Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 4

Some sample 1 e4 games are explained by Moret in his My-First-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-for-White book.

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/

Opening Repertoire 1 e4 and Keep it Simple 1.e4 are somewhat similar sorts of books.

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7819.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9068.pdf

Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014) combines explanation of principles with starting opening suggestions. Of necessity, his opening descriptions are less detailed (than those of Moret) because he tried to offer choices to the reader and give some indication of how a player might choose what to try.

http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/

https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf

Some reviews of books with more sorts of 1 e4 games:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627104938/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen159.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627022042/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen153.pdf

Some sample Colle and KIA games are explained in books mentioned here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627110453/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen169.pdf

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7277.pdf