1. e4 - Your favourite defence?

When somebody plays 1.e4
these days I find myself most often play
these defence moves:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

This is called 'Philidor Defence'.

I play it to avoid Ruy Lopez and other openings that white may chose.

I'm still most comfortable with the french defence.
I prefer the advance variation with 3. e5 c5 and the open Tarrasch with 3. Nd2 c5, but avoid the Winawer like the plague ;-)
Currently trying to pick up the Ruy Lopez as black (I'll go for the Marshall attack if given the choice ), but 1. ... e5 simply gives white too many options.

I generally play the Pirc 1.e4 d6, or the Sicilian 1. e4 c5.
Although I did recently find this website which claims that the Pirc is refuted.
http://alumni.plymouth.edu/~zrstephen02/DIEPIRCDIE.html
Is there still life in the Pirc?

I have played a lot of Pirc,
but not with g6.

Instead I have used:
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7
Black idea is to play e7-e5
4.f4 e5 5.Nf3
4.Nf3 e5

If white plays the sharpest in 4.f4 e5 5.Nf3, it is not easy for black.
But not many do not know this is best for white.
And for other lines (4.Nf3), black can get a very solid game.

mattafort wrote:

When somebody plays 1.e4
these days I find myself most often play
these defence moves:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

This is called 'Philidor Defence'.

I play it to avoid Ruy Lopez and other openings that white may chose.

philidor defense ---> defense to the King Night Opening noted by Lucena and recommended by Ruy Lopez. Its strongest advocate was Philidor; he disliked blocking his pawns with Knight and considered 2. ... d6 better than 2. ...Nc6

i like to play an sicilian variant:
1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5
i avoid King's Knight Opening becouse i hate play Scotish Opening with black...

I also used to play the Scandinavian Defense a lot:

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 [ 2. ... Qxd5 the centre counter is another possibility ] with the main continuations:
a) 3. d4 white decides to give back the pawn immediately Nxd5 4. c4 [ 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6 ] Bg6 5. Nf3 g6
b) 3. Bg5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 [ 4. Be2 can also be played ] b5 [ or 4. ... Bg4 5. f3 Bf5 ] 5. Bb3 a5 6. a3 is said to be better for white nowadays afaik...
c) 3. c4 is often seen in lower level play. 3. ... c6 and now 4. dxc6 Nxc6 normally leads to good play for black. 4. Nf3 cxd5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d4 also gives black good chances against the isolated d-pawn; also noteworthy is 4. d4 cxd5 which transforms into the Caro-Kann.

And then, in Scandinavian, we have Kadas Gambit.

Kadas Gambit
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 c6 3.d4 Nf6 4.dxc6 e5
same as:
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 c6 4.dxc6 e5
and same as Caro-Kann:
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.dxc6 e5

But I prefer to wait with e5, and play
4.dxc6 Nxc6
Black has developed both Knights, while white has only moved pawns.

mattafort wrote:

And then, in Scandinavian, we have Kadas Gambit.

Kadas Gambit
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 c6 3.d4 Nf6 4.dxc6 e5
same as:
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 c6 4.dxc6 e5
and same as Caro-Kann:
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.dxc6 e5

But I prefer to wait with e5, and play
4.dxc6 Nxc6
Black has developed both Knights, while white has only moved pawns.

The most common way of handling the Caro-Kann, the Classical Variation, follows with

3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) dxe4
4.Nxe4 Bf5
5.Ng3 Bg6
This was long considered to represent best play for both sides in the Caro-Kann. White usually continues

6.h4 h6
7.Nf3 Nd7
8.h5 Bh7
9.Bd3 Bxd3
10.Qxd3
obtaining a pawn bind on the king-side that may be useful in an endgame.

Much of the Caro-Kann's reputation as a solid defence stems from this variation being so hard to crack. Black makes very few compromises in his pawn structure, and plays a timely c5 to contest the d4 square. Black has the options of castling queen-side, castling king-side, and even leaving his king in the center. Should things proceed to an endgame, Black often stands well thanks to his solid pawn structure and king-side pawn majority.

Ishmael wrote:

I generally play the Pirc 1.e4 d6, or the Sicilian 1. e4 c5.
Although I did recently find this website which claims that the Pirc is refuted.
http://alumni.plymouth.edu/~zrstephen02/DIEPIRCDIE.html
Is there still life in the Pirc?

nice site here regarding the pirc

Some of the systems employed by White against the Pirc Defence include the following:

4. Bc4 : B07 Kholmov System (4.Bc4 Bg7 5.Qe2 O-O 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nfd7 8.e6 Ne5; also the very entertaining line 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. Qe2 Nc6 6. e5! where White sacrifices queen and two pawns for three pieces, but achieves a huge lead in development.)
4. Be2 : B07 (sub-variants after 4..Be2 Bg7 include the Chinese Variation, 5.g4 and the Bayonet (Mariotti) Attack, 5.h4.)
4. Be3 : B07 150 or "Caveman" Attack (4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2)
4. Bg5 : B07 (Robert) Byrne Variation
4. f4 : B09 Austrian Attack (sub-variants after 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 include 6.e5, 6.Bd3 and 6.Be3; also, after 4. ...Bg7 is 5.Bc4, the Ljubojevic Variation. Black also has the option to move into the Dragon Formation after 5.Nf3 with 5. ...c5.)
4. g3 : B07 Sveshnikov System
4. Nf3 : B08 Classical (Two knights) System (sub-variants after 4. ...Bg7 include 5.h3 and 5.Be2)

Black has an alternate system to employ against White, the Pribyl System or Czech Defence, where Black plays the early deviation 3...c6.


An unusual but quite reasonable deviation for White is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.f3. Former world champion Garry Kasparov once surprised American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan with this move. After 3...g6 4.c4, an unhappy Seirawan found himself defending the King's Indian Defense for the first time in his life. Black can avoid a King's Indian with 3...e5, which may lead to an Old Indian type position after 4.d5, or with 3...d5. This can transpose to the Classical Variation of the French Defense after 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 e6 6.Nf3, to the Tarrasch Variation of the French Defense after 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 e6 6.c3 c5 7.Nd2 Nc6 8.Ndf3, or even to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit with an extra tempo for White after 4.Nc3 dxe4 5.Bg5 exf3 6.Nxf3.


A rarely seen early deviation by Black is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5, which Zurab Azmaiparashvili has tried a few times. This can lead to unique lines after 4.dxe5, or can transpose to the Philidor Defence after 4.Nf3.

In the following game, Azmaiparashvili uses the Pirc to defeat then-reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov:

Karpov-Azmaiparashvili, USSR Championship, Moscow 1983 1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O Bg4 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Rad1 b5 11.a3 a5 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 Ra3 14.Bg5 Rxc3 15.Bxf6 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Ra3 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Ra1 Qa8 19.Rxa3 Qxa3 20.Be2 Qb2 21.Rd1 f5 22.exf5 Nxf5 23.c3 Qxd2 24.Rxd2 Ra8 25.Bxb5 Ra3 26.Rc2 Ne7 27.f4 exf4 28.Bc6 Nf5 29.Kf2 Ne3 30.Rc1 Kf6 31.g3 Ke5 32.Kf3 g5 33.gxf4+ gxf4 34.h4 Nxd5 35.Bxd5 Kxd5 36.Kxf4 Kc4 37.Re1 Rxc3 38.Re7 Kxb4 39.Rxh7 d5 40.Ke5 c6 41.Kd4 Rc4+ 0-1

1.e4 e5 lately. I feel very confortable in Ruy Lopez but Italian opening bore me to death.

Otherwise Winaver French and Clasical Sicilian.

I play Alekhine's defense 1.e4..Nf6. After 2.e5..Nd5 3.d4..d6 4.Nf3 I exchange on e5 and play c6. I feel that this position is solid and without lots of theory that many other openings have.

usually Sicilian variations and Indian defense