Aftermath Fan wrote:
I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
(I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).

However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
few plys deep. It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)

The answer you hate: play whatever you're comfortable with. At the
sub-1400 level, your games are being decided by tactical mistakes that
drop pieces, not slightly inferior positions coming out studied
opening variations.

Develop your pieces quickly, with threats if possible. Centralize.
Avoid playing things like Alekhine's defence, the Pirc/modern, the
King's Indian and so on, where Black gives White a significant space
advantage. I'd advise against the black side of the Sicilian as it
seems to be quite a fragile defence -- Black seems to have to play
more accurately than White.

Does this contradict my assertion that slightly inferior positions out
of the opening won't make much difference? Well, to some extent,
yes. But you're more likely to find the tactical opportunities going
against you if your opponent has a space or development advantage.

So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
I'm OK. I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
with the King's Gambit. I don't really care much about the
up-to-date theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen
because the odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material
to a tactical trap before then.

Sir, you are wise beyond your rating. :-)

But what to play against...

...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?

Anything that develops sensibly. The setups with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
d6/e6/Nc6/whatever 3.Bb5(+) are sound and sensible and let you get
your pieces out early and castle while Black's king is still stuck in
the centre. I wouldn't recommend you play the Sicilian as black but
by all means give it a go if you want to. If it goes well for you,
stick with it; if it doesn't, try something else.

...the Caro-Kann as white?

*shrug* Anything, really -- the Caro-Kann isn't the sort of opening
where Black's aiming to kill you if you make a slight mistake.
There's no reason not to play 2.d4, since Black isn't immediately
contesting the centre. Black will probably play 2... d5 and then you
can go for whichever of 3.e5, 3.exd5 and 3.Nc3 seems most to your
liking.

...1. d4 as black?

1... d5 is probably the simplest.


...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)

*shrug* Anything, really. Play symmetrically with ...c5, aim for a
reversed Sicilian-type setup with ...e5 or aim for an Indian-type
defence with ...Nf6.

...the French as white?

As the with the Caro-Kann, it doesn't make much difference and there's
no reason not to play 2.d4.

Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
situations. I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)

Hehe. You have three options: take the pawn, defend it with ...e6 or
defend it with ...c6. Don't play 2... Nf6 because of 3.cxd5 and
either 3... Nxd5 4.e4 kicking the knight or 3... Qxd5 4.Nc3 kicking
the queen. If you take the pawn, don't try too hard to hang on to
your material advantage -- it's only temporary, really.

Hope that helps.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Disgusting Dish (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ fine ceramic dish but it'll turn
your stomach!