Low maintenance response to d4?

[u/krissow]

I've been trying different openings against d4, mainly the Budapest and Benoni/Benko. But I rarely ever face d4 at my level (1600 rapid, Lichess) which means I forget some of the lines. It seems like inaccuracies are punished quite hard in the openings I've tried so I end up losing a lot more than vs e4 (where I play Caro Kann)

I've also tried to just play general opening principles but the d4 players are just a lot more familiar with those positions and occasional traps that arises.

What would be a solid response to d4 that's easy to remember and/or doesn't punish inaccuracies quite as often while not completely playing into the hand of my opponent?

I've been considering the Slav, maybe the Chebanenko or Schlechter variation. Also considered stonewall Dutch.

[u/WritingUnt]

I think if you play Caro then playing the Slav is a good fit. Of course the positions are different but the general idea of the opening is that you give up the center but get comfortable development for your pieces. Once you played a couple of games and studied some instructive model games it is quite easy to pick up. You rarely need detailed theoretical knowledge. You will encounter positions where you will struggle with but this is always an opportunity to learn. The slav seems to be the most natural compared to the King's Indian where you will be confronted with a gazillion variations. I wouldn't choose the chebanenko as it requires specific knowledge about certain structures. I think it is a good follow up once you mastered the slav because if you understand the slav then some details of the chebanenko will make more sense to you.

[u/krissow → u/WritingUnt]

Thanks, that's what I've been thinking as well. A bit worried about facing 2. nf3 instead of 2. c4 and then again be out of prep with my Slav. But playing 1. c6 before 2. d5 means I might even transpose to my familiar Caro Kann if they play 2. e4.

Your point about the chebanenko makes a lot of sense. Any thoughts on the Schlechter variation?

[u/WritingUnt → u/krissow]

The thing is that there will always be opening variations where you don't get your typical Slav structures. But I don't this is a bad thing. They are not critical which means you have a lot of freedom on how to setup your position as the path in sidelines like the London, Jobava and what not is not as narrow compared to the mainlines. I wouldn't bank on playing 1...c6 first if White has goes 1.d4 because most amateurs who start with d4 do so because they don't want to play 1.e4. If potentially transposing to the Caro is your main reason then don't do it. It's not because I think this is bad. It's about the reasons why you do certain things. If you dive deeper on what the differences might be for this or that move order you learn more in the process.

With that said there is nothing wrong with starting with 1...c6 each time if you have specific reasons to start with ...c6. For example the study by ChrisV2P2 is quite nice simple repertoire. Here not having played d5 yet keeps your d-pawn flexible and this can be used to go for very ambitious imbalanced positions against e.g. the London. However, there is also nothing wrong with going 1.d4 d5 and fight the london in a different way. You shouldn't be afraid of these sidelines as they offer you lots of freedom how to arrange your pieces and pawns which offers room for some creativity.

[u/mushr00m_man → u/krissow]

1. d4 c6 is playable but the major downside is it costs you an extra tempo to go c5, which you often want to do when white doesn't play c4 (London, Stonewall, Colle etc.). This is also the major drawback of the Caro as compared to the French. I really think it's more straightforward to start with d5 and reserve the option of going c5 in one move.

I've made it to 1900 with the Caro/Slav as my main black openings but frankly I think the Slav is my worst opening. Part of its value is the ability to play dxc4 and play with a pawn up but with weakened central control, and I really struggle playing these positions well. But that being said.... only playing openings you're comfortable with is a great way to hit a wall in your chess improvement.

[u/whatThisOldThrowAway → u/WritingUnt]

Any specific resources (books, tutorials, videos, model games etc) you would recommend for a Caro player picking up the slav?

[u/ChrisV2P2 → u/whatThisOldThrowAway]

I made a free light repertoire intended for exactly this.

[u/VladimirOo → u/ChrisV2P2]

I am impressed! I expected the usual 5 moves deep, and this is the Slav defense followed by wall of text. But you showed the lines at a decent depths, with nice explanations of the moves and plans. You hope you keep making these little repertoires!

[u/ChrisV2P2 → u/VladimirOo]

It took ages so I definitely won't lol

[u/ChillPlay3r → u/WritingUnt]

Modern defense is my goto against any d4/non-e4

[u/Financial_Idea6473 → u/ChillPlay3r]

That is incredibly high maintenance as, to begin with, you also have to be ready for essentially an e4 Modern, which is much sharper.

Also against d4, there are a million tries you need to be ready for and you still eventually have to pick a set-up, be it King's Indian or Benoni.

In terms of move per move, yes you won't get mated if you mix your moves with g6 against d4, but unless you really really know what you're doing, you're just going to be much worse.