What should I play against e4?
If you want something solid play caro kann... But I would highly recommend to start learning the Sicilian defense as it will take time to learn properly... Sicilian made my journey through 1400-1600 much easier than expected
For someone who doesn't want many lines, and is a fan of levy I would recommend the caro cann as it only has two main lines and is a very simple opening for beginners but will often lead to a positional battle in a cramped space.
I want something without too many lines and variations
I like the french. It does have a few lines, but very few variations.
White can play the advanced, which practically forces a set up where white is stuck defending d4. Very little variations in this line.
White can play the exchange, which defuses the early game and gives black space to do basically any set up they want. It's considered drawish but if you play Bd6 and castle queenside it's very explosive.
Or white can play it classically by doing neither and developing a knight. This does have some theory but is pretty uncommon until at least 1400, and it usually transposes into a similar pawn structure as the advanced if you want it to.
That's pretty much it. I find most white players are very predictable against the french and you can often be in very familiar territory 12+ moves into the game with relatively little theory.
Obviously Caro Kan. Especially if you have a pic of Levy, which is cringe!
but jokes aside Caro is good... Also it can have some connection to the Scandi, like if you learn some lines in the Scandi you can transpose in to Caro Kan, and vice versa... check that out maybe someone else knows more specifics...
I have no idea how theory heavy it is but I think less than e5?...
I play e5, I barely know theory, just improvise get crazy positions out of e5...
Idk, GMs play c5 most of the time. But the engine likes e5 slightly more.
Scandinavian is very rare.
I want something without too many lines and variations
Sounds like the Scandi.
I want something without too many lines and variations
I like the french. It does have a few lines, but very few variations.
White can play the advanced, which practically forces a set up where white is stuck defending d4. Very little variations in this line.
White can play the exchange, which defuses the early game and gives black space to do basically any set up they want. It's considered drawish but if you play Bd6 and castle queenside it's very explosive.
Or white can play it classically by doing neither and developing a knight. This does have some theory but is pretty uncommon until at least 1400, and it usually transposes into a similar pawn structure as the advanced if you want it to.
That's pretty much it. I find most white players are very predictable against the french and you can often be in very familiar territory 12+ moves into the game with relatively little theory.
If white plays knight out I play dxe4 on move 3 and then transpose into rubenstein
I want a new opening to play against 1.e4. I normally play the Scandinavian but I'm starting to realise that it isn't very good. So what's a simple opening that doesn't involve too much theory?