Black against d4

Black has a number of possible opening moves against d4. Black’s main choice is whether to copy White by playing “d5” or to choose one of the many other alternative Queen pawn defences for Black.

The main openings for Black to consider include:

• 1..d5 (Queen Pawn Openings)
• 1..Nf6 (planning an Indian Defence or Benoni/Benko)

Queen Pawn Defences: Black plays “1..d5” so both Queen pawns are in the center. There are various options for Black in the Queen pawn openings:

• Queen’s Gambit Accepted
• Queen’s Gambit Declined
• Catalan Opening
• Slav Defence
• Semi-Slav Defence
• Tarrasch Defence
• Semi-Tarrasch Defence

Indian Defences: The main defences for Black in the “1. d4 Nf6” lines are:

• King’s Indian Defence
• Queen’s Indian Defence
• Nimzo-Indian Defence
• Bogo-Indian Defence
• Old Indian Defence

The other “non-Indian” lines with “1..Nf6” against “1.d4” include:

• Benoni Defence
• Benko Gambit
• Blumenfeld Gambit
• Budapest Gambit
• Gruenfeld Defence

Other less popular but quite playable lines for Black against “1.d4” include:

• Dutch Defence (1.f5): Leningrad Dutch, Stonewall Dutch, Orthodox Dutch
• Nimzo-Dutch
• 1. e6 (probably transposing to a French Defence or Queen’s Gambit, or an obscure line like the Franco-Benoni opening)
• 1..c5 (Old Benoni; early Benoni-style move but White is better than the main Benoni lines)

Some of the less respected lines of play for Black against d4 include:

• 1..e5 (Englund Gambit. Black offers a free “e” pawn.)
• 1..b5 (with 2.a6 and 3. Bb7; Baker’s Defence or St George Defence)
• 1..a6 (intending 2..b5; Baker’s Defence)
• 1..h6 (intending 2..g5; Basman’s Defence)

Some moves that leave White with the pleasant choice of whether to play “2.e4” or not:

• 1..c6 (possibly transposing to Caro Kann after “2.e4” or Slavic Queen’s Gambit with “2.c4”)
• 1..e6 (possibly transposing to the French Defence after “e4” or Queen’s Gambit Declined after “c4”). Also possible is the Franco-Benoni Defence (an unusual but playable line).
• 1..d6 (possibly transposing to the Pirc Defence after “e4” or Old Indian Defence after “c4”). Also possible is Balogh’s Defence.
• 1..b6 (possibly transposing to the Owen’s Defence after “e4” or a Queen’s Indian Defence after “c4”)

Some very odd moves for Black to play against “1.d4” would be:

• 1.. Nc6 (Queen’s Knight Defence. White will just play 2.d5 and biff the Knight back, but surprisingly it’s actually a playable line. Rarely seen.)
• 1..f6 (just plain bad move, weakening the Black king)
• 1..Nh6 (just plain bad move, Knight on the edge of the board is bad and White can just play Bc1xh6 immediately, ruining Black’s pawn structure.)
• 1..Na6 (just plain bad move, Knight on the edge of the board is bad)
• 1..g5? (White just takes the free pawn!)