Does Black have more potent replies to 1.e4 than to 1.d4?

That's.. really not how it works. It's chess, not rock-paper-scissors.

The Sicilian is a family of several unrelated openings that only incidentally have the same name. It "guarantees counterplay" in some lines, sure. It also guarantees a very high cost of a single inaccuracy in those very same lines.

The Berlin does not "guarantee equality". You realize you have to play at some point, right? Ignoring the fact that White is by no means forced to enter the Berlin endgame, the endgame itself is incredibly intricate, with dozens of strategic ideas, which one has to live and breathe in order to play it. Try getting "equality" with either color against a Berlin player.

The Scandinavian.. which Scandinavian? Qd6, Qa5, Qd8, what? In any case, even Tiviakov has stopped playing it.

Petroff.. if you've found clear equality in the Petroff in all lines, you should contact Magnus immediately, he'll be very interested to see your analysis. Personally, I just eked out a draw against an elderly ICCF IM in a correspondence game, after never quite equalizing in the opening.

Meanwhile, with 1.d4, I see almost nothing but a slight plus for White in every major defense.

If you find a slight comfortable plus for White against the Gruenfeld, once again, please contact a top-10 player immediately, you'll be handsomely rewarded.

/r/chess Thread