Ways for Black to Fight Back Against 1.

e4

c5

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Also known as the Sicilian Defense, c5 has become the most popular
way to respond to e4. Like e5 (the second entry on this list), c5 fights
back in the center by attacking the d4 square. However, it does this
in a very dynamic way, leading to unbalanced positions where both
sides can fight for a win. That makes c5 one of the best ways for
Black to fight for an advantage against e4.

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e5

The classical response to e4 is to fight back in kind, also moving the

king's pawn two squares forward. This leads to what are known as
the open games, ones that generally promote tactical battles in
which both sides must be wary of quick and dangerous attacks.
Popular openings like the Ruy Lopez and the Italian Opening spring
from these moves.

e6

The French Defense starts with e6, showing that Black intends to
give up some space and mobility in exchange for a very solid pawn
structure. While this opening has been given a reputation for being
drawish and boring, that's not really fair: many lines are quite sharp,
and the draw percentage for the French Defense isn't much higher
than that for the other popular responses to e4.

c6

The move c6 signals the Caro-Kann Defense, an exceptionally solid

opening that is perhaps less ambitious than the moves above. In
fact, it has the highest draw percentage of any move on this list.
That said, it has remained popular at all levels of chess: amateurs
find the basic ideas easy to understand, while professionals may like
the favorable pawn structures for Black.
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d6

While the top four moves are certainly the most popular and are
almost the only moves played in games between world-class players
these days there are several other moves that have a reasonable
level of popularity. Those start with d6, which is known as the Pirc
Defense. This opening allows White to build up a very strong pawn
center, which has allowed the first player to score quite well in these
lines. However, they're far from busted, allowing the Pirc to retain
some popularity at all but the highest levels of chess.

d5

The Scandinavian Defense allows White to immediately take a pawn, which

Black will usually recapture by bringing out the queen on just the second
move. Yet despite the fact that the queen can immediately be attacked, this
opening has shown remarkable resilience, and new variations have helped
bring added viability to this line. While White scores well, d5 is a better move
than it may look at first glance (particularly in lines where the queen retreats
to d6 rather than a5).

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g6

Known as the Modern Defense, g6 has a lot in common with the Pirc,
and in fact, the two openings often transpose into the same lines.
The Modern may be the better option, though: while it allows White
to build up a big center by playing e4 and d4, it also gives Black
plenty of opportunities to undermine that structure. In fact,
databases show that g6 is one of Black's best tries for a win at
almost every level of play.

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Nf6

At first, Nf6 may seem like a strange move: White can just play e5
next, dislodging the knight. But that's all part of the plan in the
opening known as Alekhine's Defense. Named after the World
Champion who pioneered the defense in the 1920s, this opening
tends to lead to lines that are very odd looking compared to most of
the other moves on this list, with White often advancing several
pawns to chase the Black knight around the board. But White must
be careful not to overextend, or thepawns will become a weakness
that Black can exploit.

Top Six Black Responses to 1.d4

When White plays 1.d4, it limits Black's good responses in

comparison to 1.e4. That's not to say that Black doesn't have plenty
of reasonable options, though. And while two moves are by far the
most popular responses for Black, there are at least six that deserve
serious attention by any competitive player.

While there are 20 possible moves Black could play in the position
after 1.d4, these six are seen in close to 99% of serious games.

Here are the top six answers to 1.d4!

1. Nf6

The hypermodern choice, Nf6 creates a dynamic imbalance right off

the bat by attacking the center with a knight rather than occupying it
with a pawn. This usually signals one of the Indian defenses, such as
the Queen's Indian or the Nimzo-Indian, and can also lead to the
Grunfeld Defence or the Benoni. However, transpositions back into
other openings are still possible at this early point. This has become,
by far, the most popular response to 1.d4, representing more than
half of the high-level games played in most databases.

2. d5

The other popular response to 1.d4 is to keep a symmetrical position

by playing d5. This is a more traditional response, occupying the
center and helping to develop the queenside bishop at the same time.
Note that both of these moves at least temporarily prevent White
from safely playing 2.e4, which would immediately give White a nice
strong pawn center.
That's a big reason why these two moves have been and will likely
remain Black's primary weapons against the d4 opening. Common
openings deriving from this line are the Queen's Gambit (Accepted or
Declined), the Slav, and the Semi-Slav.

3. e6

This seemingly passive move is actually something of a placeholder,

waiting to see what White will do before committing to a plan
themselves.

That means that this move can often lead to many of the openings
mentioned above should White play 2.c4, as Black can still play
either d5 or Nf6 on the second move. However, it also leaves open
the possibility of White playing 2.e4, transposing into the French
Defense an opening normally seen after 1.e4!

4. d6

The final three moves on this list could easily be placed in any order,
as they are played with similar frequency; I've placed d6 here
because it shares some similarities with the previous move. Like e6,
this is another move that plans to transpose into another opening
depending on what White chooses to play. Again, 2.c4 can lead to
known queen pawn openings like the King's Indian Defense or the
Old Indian Defense. But White can once again play 2.e4 as well,
which would lead to either the Pirc or the Modern Defense.

5. f5

Remember when I mentioned that the two top moves on this list
were popular because they control the e4 square? The Dutch
Defense, signaled by f5, does that as well. However, it offers a
completely different kind of position than the more popular d5 and
Nf6 options, usually leading to a positional battle. These can be
dangerous waters for those who aren't familiar with the Dutch, and
draws are less common after f5 than in most 1.d4 lines.

6. g6
Our final option of note, g6 is yet another move that tends to
transpose into other openings and thus isn't really considered
indicative of any one opening in its own right. Instead, it often leads
(once again) to the Pirc or Modern if White plays 2.e4, while 2.c4 will
result in a King's Indian Defense or Old Indian Defense most of the
time. It's not a particularly committal move, but it is one that's both
flexible and strong.

Open Games (1.e4 e5),

Semi-Open Games (1.e4 everything else),

Closed Games (1.d4 d5),

Semi-Closed Games (1.d4 everything else) and

Flank Openings (everything else).