+1 for Keres, I would add Spassky also.
I know a guy who likes Lilov's Opening Repertoire for the Positional Player (https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/lilov_opening_repertoire_for_the_position...). From what I understood, it gives a good ground for building a future repertoire (in white and black), and the necessary knowledge to start playing right away (it gives lines for caro-kann players and e4 e5 players).

TD wrote on 08/16/18 at 06:36:16:


+1.  MNb has given excellent advice throughout this thread.  I would suggest following it.

One book suggestion:  The Kaufman Repertoire covers 1..e5 for Black (including the Breyer) and may be a bit more accessible than Bologan, Marin, Ntrilis, Lokander, et al.

But if all you want is a general education and/or chess history lesson, then I would suggest that you not get an opening book, and instead study classic GM games.  Keres is particularly good on the Black side of 1..e5.

MNb wrote on 08/16/18 at 05:21:55:

Sounds like a good point ... on the surface. But which major opening for black can be played without at least a bit of concrete knowledge? 
The Giuoco Piano and a couple of IGs, the 4N, the SO and the RL can be kept under control if you know how to reach a stable variation of your choice. Then the burdon of proof is on white. If he is booked up he can ask a couple of questions, if not it's equal with natural moves. This should be the vast majority of the games. 

The old fashioned violent openings, which were thought to be defused around the time of Steinitz, are often tries to blow black off the board immediately. (I'm simplifying here.) Many of them require precise handling for a couple of moves to get all your pieces out safely, and then there's nothing for white. See Capablanca's variation against the Nordic Gambit, the Scotch Gambit and half the Ponziani for example. 3 pages of theory gives a good game against 3 openings. If you want even more than equality, it gets very concrete, based on newish computer variations which allow to take pawns and keep them. But that's only *necessary* against very few openings. Against 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 ... 0-0-0 you can't avoid a direct confrontation without giving ground. It's difficult against Evans Gambit too, unless 4.- Bb6 works. And if the fight is forced upon you, why not try to win it? The good news is that it's no free ride, white runs just as much risk as black. If not more. Last I looked both openings were hardly = for white.

TD wrote on 08/14/18 at 15:37:37:

Funny, how the OP unambiguously specifies his strength and weakness and almost everybody recommends lines that require exactly the opposite. It's almost like they're trying to discourage TD from playing the Open Games.

Hello TD, 

by all means try 1.e4 e5. 
There is much theory, but in most positions it is possible to find reasonable moves other the board.   

if you want to buy just one book about 1.e4 e5, I think Bologan's Black Weapons is your best choice. 
It covers everything but the Ruy Lopez. In most of his lines is plenty of play left, he really tries hard to avoid boring drawish positions. 

The book has great instructive value because of a lot of questions the coauthor FM Dabo-Peranic has asked and Bologan has tried to answer. 
Bologan gives lots of information, he has an arsenal of strategic ideas & themes (29 pages) after the introduction. 

If you work with the book or have a look at the preview from amazon, you should read the  introduction of Bologan's Black Weapons... (especially pages 11-13) 
very carefully. 
If you have no idea about Bologan's organization the book looks chaotic. 

You get two repertoires in one book from Bologan: 
One solid and one sharp.   

For instance against the King's gambit he covers 
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 exf4 for starters and 
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 d6 6.Nxg4 Be7 
                                       4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 gxf3 
                         3.Bc4 Qh4+ etc. 

Top priority to learn: 
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 and now Bologan says 3...Nf6 has less theory than  3...Bc5 (both moves are covered!) 
 
If you want an (objectively risky) shortcut against 4.Ng5 
then the Fritz-Ulvestad variation is an option 
(not covered by Bologan):   
4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5 
Now critical and best is 6.Bf1 which is very difficult to find 
other the board and is not so well known by amateurs. 
Despite good results I switched from the Ulvestad to the mainline 5...Na5 (Bologan's choice) because it is a great learning tool.   

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4:  Bd7 is Bologan's choice. 
Maybe 7...Bc5 (Ntirlis) is the better move but 7...Bd7 is again a great learning tool (doubled pawns, blockade, ...). 

1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Re1 d5 
7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3: Here I would replace 7...Qa5 (Bologan) by 7...Qd7! (Ntirlis, Johnsen) or 7...Qh5 (Johnsen). 

The moveorder 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 is annoying if you don't have the Two Knights in your repertoire. 
There are quite a few dangerous sidelines after 4...Bc5. 

Next step is the Scotch: 
Bologan recommends 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 
because there is less theory than after 4...Nf6 and the Mieses is too complicated for starters. But Bologan covers 4...Nf6 too. 
I would look at both moves. I think 4...Nf6 has the advantage that in the Mieses it is Black who chooses the line, after 4...Bc5 it is White. 

The Ruy Lopez is covered by Marin's book which you have already. If you want to buy one more book I would choose Bologan's Ruy Lopez 

(One repertoire around the Breyer, a second repertoire against the Marshall Attack.)   

On page 13 of the Black Weapons Bologan gives detailed advice how to prepare a complete repertoire quickly (very fast Lane).   


Bologan gives careful attention to White tries to play Black with one extra tempo. 
Of course this is not top priority, but for example 
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.a3 d5? 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Qh5 
should better be avoided by Black. 
   

Very important: 
Bologan has almost no complete games. But each chapter has a lot of footnotes pointing to an appendix with game references. 
To get the games you need databases (and megabase is not at all enough to get all games).   

nocteus wrote on 08/15/18 at 14:54:52:

In my region I have never seen the Evans being played (by amateurs).

TD wrote on 08/15/18 at 07:36:19:

Given your preference for a gradual build up I'd say none of them. All 1.e4 e5 repertoire books I've seen present what the authors think best against annoying amateur stuff. And that means critical stuff those annoying amateurs are very familiar with, because they are critical for their pet openings. Such choices are excellent when you head for a principled theoretical battle (ie want to punish White for not playing the Ruy Lopez), but not necessarily so if you prefer practical stuff that fits your preferences.
The first edition of Emms' book for instance wants you to play ...Bb4+ against the Göring Gambit and ...d5 against the Danish gambit (or the other way round, I can't remember), which is highly unpractical.
Ntirlis only if you're interested in the Breyer. No matter how much I like to play the Two Knights as Black myself, a slow build up is not what you will get after 4.d4 and 4.Ng5.

Gorath wrote on 08/15/18 at 06:18:36:

I bought the books second hand. I have not enough money to buy more (new) books, alas. If I would buy one new book, which one should that be, you think? Ntirlis, Johnsen, Emms?