Pingudon wrote on 07/21/11 at 18:41:07:


It all depends on what kind of positions you like to play.

Pingudon wrote on 07/20/11 at 16:13:49:


The defence to 1.d4 that has the best reputation at the moment is the QGD. I can't think of any quotes at the moment regarding the QGD other than my coined phrase '1.d4 Petroff', but I'm sure there are quite a few out there. 

Zatara wrote on 07/21/11 at 02:47:48:


Trolls make inflammatory or otherwise nonsensical posts designed to provoke a negative response from people.

Pingudon,
Your welcome.  Lets be practical and talk about which is best for ameteur to play.  I believe out of the three the Nimzo is the way to go.  I think after 1.d4 the best defence for the ameteur, is in my opinion the Nimzo/and something else.  Reason: leads to many position types, open semi open and closed positions and is highly thought of.  In Watson's book number 4 on openings he highly recommends the  Nimzo and Bogo indian (I would play Ragozin).  He also says many teachers of chess recommend the NImzo.  Roman Dzindchashvili (how you spell this I don't know) recommends QID/Nimzo or KID.    Granted watson  also recommends KID and Benoni, Nimzo will teach you more about chess.  Plus you can use the Nimzo wether your 1400 or 2800, the others not so much.  The KID is probably suited to 1900-2300 and Benoni from 1400-2000?  These are of course arguable.  KID you the elo can go up not the case of Benoni as the 4 pawn variation with the check on b5 is very good for WHite.  Black is on the defensive and he also has to worry about Bf4 systems and the Modern line with h3 and I think Bd3?!  KID you have to worry about Gligoric system and classical (Bayonette, 9Ne1 ect)
Nimzo you have to worrry about 2 systems 4.Qc2 and 4.e3 oh and have a defence or idea vs 4.f3 and 4.a3 which are sharp but from theory not as good as Qc2 e3.  The main thing to worry about is after 3.Nf3 or g3 you can play Bogo, Ragozin/Vienna, QID, Blumenfield gambit.  Many GMs play either QID, Ragozin or bogo.  Ragozin sharper then QID or BOgo in most lines.  Bogo maybe easiest to play, well easier then QID (Watson said so).  BOgo can be played vs 3.Nf3 or 3.g3.   

vs 1.e4 the sicilian is out.  Best sicilian is Najdorf.  Tons of theory and John Watson says if you read between the lines a bit you should be 2000+ to play sicilian.  As OPEN Postions teach chess best.  Many coaches agree as almost all positions open up - you can't avoid them.  But not to worry to much as one can play Caro or 1...e5.  Many Many teachers have recommened 1...e5.  Many people who come on chesspub.com recommend this way till maybe 2000 or even higher.  Plus vs Ruy Lopez you get a lot of variety and some very good systems you can play for life.  The schleman might be possible but king safety is not so good here as in other variations.  I would go with Archangel over schielmann as it is sharp but less worry on King safety.  Open is possible but maybe Kasparov sealed its caufin.  Berlin is ok but for higher rated who like positional play and not good for improvers.  Zaitsev is sharp but white is attacking black is counterattacking there is a pretty good book on the Zaitsev by Johansen.  Berlin I think is best (or Archangel).  reasons 1. sound 2.Carlson plays it 3. active enough and best of all Larry Kaufman is coming out with a new book on it where he HIGHLY recommends it.   
OH Caro is a good choice but the advance NEEDS to be studied well.  When white play Nc3 and g4 you should play 6....c5 and hold on to your hat!!!  Schandorff wrote best book on Caro.   

I put 1.c4 lowest because 
1. not as active as 1.e4 or 1.d4 in these variations white can get an active postion relatively easy with 1.c4 you have to really work the position
2.  The move 1...e5 causes a lot of worry.  SO much so as many people will play 1.Nf3 just so Black can't play 1...e5.   
any comments are welcome....
thanks,
Zatara

whether or not fischer used 1...e5 as his main defence is not relevant to what he thinks is the best.

you would have to be utterly stupid and moronic not to understand that 1...e5 equalizes. In fact I would go so far as to say that white's position is theoretically dubious after 1 e4. of course Fischer knew this when he died.

the best defence against 1d4! is unknown. Does it really matter if there is a best defence when they are all insufficient? black's position is on the brink of destruction after any normal reply. I think the best defence is probably... no I don't know. sorry. good luck finding the answer though.

Pingudon wrote on 07/20/11 at 16:13:49:


I never read that Fischer thought 1...e5 was the best response to 1.e4. His own practice would suggest that he thought 1...c5 was the best response. Fischer's record against the Spanish would suggest that he wasn't so fond of it for Black.

Fischer played 1.e4 e5 as Black about 10 times in his career. He played 1.e4 c5 more than 100 times.

Please, where did he say that 1...e5 was the best move?

Fischer said 1.e4 was best by test. Later Fischer and Spassky said 1...e5 was the best weapon! Sveshnikov said in the fist page of his book about the Advance in the French Variation that perhaps 1...c5 was the best answer against 1.e4, What has been said for the great players about the best defense against 1.d4?