I passed the last 3 days thinking about what to play against 1.d4, and I'm still pretty lost.

I like the Slav Chameleon/Chebanenko Variation (with ...a6), but the thing is it appears that in lot of variations White get some scary attacking chances, and to weather the storm Black needs very accurate play and a lot of memorization. And even if he does succeed in defending, Black doesn't always get to keep his light squared Bishop (or it gets stuck behind his Pawns). I just don't think it's a good move for a non-GM player.

I've been thinking of playing the Slav Accepted 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 and then inserting the move 7... h6!?
That move is only played less than 0.1% of the time, but Houdini said it's good, so it can't be that bad.

But the problem is mostly that I don't know what to do against 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 (or 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3)
4... e6 blocks the light squared Bishop and enters a Semi-Slav (I'm not going to memorize BOTH the Slav Accepted and the Semi-Slav)
4... Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 lose the Bishop pair
4... a6 is the Chameleon/Chebanenko (and I'm not going to memorize BOTH the Slav Accepted and the Chameleon)
4... Bg4 lose the Bishop pair
4... g6 I dont like

So I've been thinking about playing 4... Bf5 5. Nc3 Nbd7!? (it's very rarely played, but it's apparently playable) and then try to insert ...h6
And it looks like it permits me to keep the Bishop pair in most variations. And on the few variations were I lose the Bishop pair I inflict White with doubled isolated Pawns or things like that, but it will require a little bit of memorization because the positions can become temporarily slightly sharp (after 6.Qb3 and 6.cxd5).
What do you think about it?

kylemeister wrote on 01/01/14 at 17:12:51:


Lol, obsessed was something I forgot to mention!

Just play chess, try an opening and see if you like it! If not, try another one :-D

Okay, I'll say it:  you seem to be looking for the impossible, and a bit obsessed.

Marc, I don't agree with what you expressed and the general consensus.
The Slav can become extremely chaotic, tactical, complicated, insane-pawn-structures, etc.
The Semi Slav is a different story all together!
Sure, you have to deal with some annoying lines but that's true for everything!

That said, I don't think either is the right choice!
Following your own desires - slow, positional, sound, solid, not too many tactics:
I'd go with a bullet proof Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakover Variation.
It has a good score, it's balanced, it's been played for ages by top GMs, you can find many great historical games that will inspire you. It's extremely applicable yet somewhat off beat these days (though Nigel Short still plays it) and it is exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=d58

Old benoni

- 1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 (with a blocked center).

- Stonewall dutch (preferably answering 1.d4 with 1...e6 and playing the Fort Knox french)
- QGD Ortodox variation (Nbd7). But then you have to have something "slow" against the Catalan. Many times it means slow torture for black though

I cant get it slower than that. 
 

ErictheRed wrote on 09/23/13 at 16:30:25:


Good idea also - never a waste of time learning the QGD because the pawn structures will come in handy in all sorts of other openings later.

Concerning the ... a6 Slav, I kind of like the arising positions, but pushing queenside pawns in the opening like that seems a little risky and it gives white a development advantage. I mean, perhaps GMs can play this, but for an amateur it looks like one single inaccuracy can be lethal.

And as for the QGD, I like it too, but I heard that many Caro-Kahn players tend to go with the Slav instead. And with the Caro-Kahn + Slav combo I can play 1 ... c6 against everything, even against 1. c4 (which is a good bonus, since I never knew what to do against 1. c4 if my opponent doesn't allow me to play the Benko).