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How to master 1.e4 repertoire from scratch

Chess Asked on October 5, 2021

I was a hardcore 1.c4 player. But, for quite some time, the popularity of Nakhmanson Gambit, Jerome Gambit etc. has encouraged me to experiment with 1.e4.

I have read 1.e4 with backup plan before. Now I am preparing myself to master the entire 1.e4 repository [ECO B00 – C99] for white, as well as for black. Since I am completely beginner in this line, I have the following questions:

How can I understand, which opening seeks more attention than others? Should I follow the database to find the most popular reply or it’s better to stick with the ECO code serially? How can I link the connection between two openings? (eg., Scotch Gambit and Urusov Gambit)

5 Answers

I have to say, studying the whole 1.e4 repertoire is quite hard, so I suggest that you narrow your options down. I reccommend the King's gambit. For other non-...e5 responses to 1.e4, you could attempt to rip up the position and to make your first-move advantage apparent.

For the Sicilian, there is another case. Play the Kopek system(Bishop to d3), which creates positions similar to the Ruy Lopez. You should only need to know about the basic strategies to play this system the right way.

Answered by user24344 on October 5, 2021

I have been playing Pirc, even so I can learn different lines.

I even bought some interesting books, one in Spanish "La Defensa Pirc y Fianchetto de Rey" and another in English that I don't remember the name now, but I'll get the name on the website I bought.

Pirc can vary from very simple lines to some of great complexity, where both sides can have advantages.

At first I started playing so I could have something different in my repertoire and maybe catch some opponent off guard.

Your initial chess moves are:

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 ...

Answered by Narutoo Uzuumakii Naruto on October 5, 2021

Adopting e4 is a huge undertaking. Since you played the English, I recommend you incorporate the King's Indian Attack into your repertoire as you can play it against anything you haven't studied yet.

A gambit repertoire is not a bad idea either. You might be able to link lines like: 1.e4 d5 2.d4 dxe4 3.Nc3 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.f3

1.e4 c5 you can play 2.c4 and head for some kind of English or The Smith-morra gambit, and Grand Prix Attack are good alternatives. Otherwise, Main line Sicilians would take a couple years to learn.

There are plenty of e4 repertoire books/videos, and they try to link lines/simplify things.

Answered by Ywapom on October 5, 2021

The easiest way to close a decent repertoire would probably be to study the Vienese Opening (or maybe Danish Gambit) against 1...e5, some line against the Sicilian (it really depends on how much time you want to spend. You can choose between Open Sicilian, Closed, Alapin... pick up the one you like the most).

Against Caro-Kann you have the Panov. It'll teach you great chess. For the French, just try the Exchange variation. Learn some e4, d4, Be3, Nc3, Qd2 formation against fianchettos and see a couple of games crushing Scandiavians

Answered by David on October 5, 2021

The special feature of a 1.e4 repertoire is that transpositions are rare. You can have independent repertoires against each of black's replies. This is very different from 1.c4, 1.d4 and 1.Nf3 where moves can often be played in many different orders and you always have to watch out for transpositions between your various lines.

Then these are the "big four":

1...e5 -- The Open Game

1...c5 -- The Sicilian

1...e6 -- The French

1...c6 -- The Caro-Kann

Most of your time should go to those, especially the first three (the CK is also very good but not as popular at amateur level).

Then there is the rest, like

1...d5 -- the Scandinavian

1...d6 and 1...g6 -- the Pirc and Modern (there are transpositions between those)

1...Nf6 -- the Alekhine

And other lines that you can skip for now.

The reason for this is that 1.e4 puts an undefended pawn in the center, and the intended follow-up 2.d4 is hard to prevent as it will be defended by the queen. This is different from 1.d4 where 2.e4 is easy to prevent. That means all replies must immediately have some specific way to deal with that, and the different ways of doing that immediately prevent transpositions.

1...e5 -- black just does the same. 1...c5 -- black will exchange his c-pawn for the d-pawn if it arrives on d4. 1...e6 and 1...c6 -- black will also put a pawn on d5. 1...d5 black immediately puts a pawn on d5 but can't recapture with a pawn. 1...Nf6 -- black attacks the undefended e4 pawn. 1...d6 and 1...g6 -- black lets white play 2.d4 and intends to attack the center later.

Hope this helps.

Answered by RemcoGerlich on October 5, 2021

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