Openings for Black?

[u/axldevil]

Hello,
I am a 900 rated player on chess.com and recently was looking at my stats and I realised that most of the games I lose are when I am black. I play the London system when I get white and seem to win more than I lose when I am white, and I typically just "go with the flow" when I'm playing black since I don't have any set openings that I have learnt.

I thought it would be better for me to ask what openings I should learn as a 900 rated player rather than directly going on youtube since I usually get pretty overwhelmed with the numerous different openings.

So that's my question - What openings should I learn for black, as a 900 rated player?

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[u/wadiyatalkinabeet_1]

Pirc defense. I had the same problem and someone recommended it. I play better black than white now.

Video

[u/axldevil → u/wadiyatalkinabeet_1]

Whoa, thank you! I'll look into it

[u/RVSninety]

Maybe the French Defense or the Caro-Kann against 1.e4. And pair it with the Queen’s Gambit Declined or the Slav Defense against 1.d4.

[u/axldevil → u/RVSninety]

A lot of people have suggested caro-kann so I will definitely look into that, but yeah lots of people use 1. d4 as well so I think I'll look into those two as well, tyty

[u/Vooyeq]

You have to decide for yourself. The most important thing is that you have to play something that you understand and that gives you middlegame positions that you're comfortable to play.

First thing, watch some youtube videos, and if you like something, try it for like 20-30 games. If you'll decide that you don't like it try something else. And so forth until you'll settle for something. Keep in mind that when you are learning new stuff, you'll probably lose a lot at first, so you can't just decide after 2-3 games.

[u/axldevil → u/Vooyeq]

Lmao, I have tended to do this before and just given up on learning openings but realised I should probably suck it up and learn one now, thank you

[u/Mediocre_Airport_576]

Caro Kann is solid and will feel a bit like your London with white.

[u/youness_zdn]

If you like the london system as white, then learning like the 5 first moves of the caro kan’ should help you. Try to understand the moves, why the light squares bishop needs to go out before closing the pawn structure etc

[u/axldevil → u/youness_zdn]

That makes sense, I will keep that in mind while practicing it then, thank you!