Simple but deadly repertoire

I have been playing 1 e4 (exclusively for 3 years from 800-present) and in the past few days switched it up to 1d4. The results are incredible so far. My repertoire is so simple that I have an answer for nearly anything I might come across.

as white:

jobava london (watched a few videos and got naroditskys course), absolutely crushing people with this opening. So much easier not having to worry about caro kanns, Petrovs, Sicilians, scandis, etc.

as black:

1.e4: caro kann (all variations— been playing this for while)

1. D4 c6 … Slav/london/caro kann

1. c4 f5 Anglo dutch

This is a great repertoire! The dutch especially is a really fun way to mix up 1.d4

Response to #2: What if they play 2. Bg5! which is the Hopton Attack and stops an immediate Stonewall?

The Jobava Attack is not fool-proof. There are sound lines where it is virtually unplayable.

The most logical one (1.d4 e5? Is not sound) is 1.d4 e6 2.Nc3 Bb4. In fact, White's only good move here is 3.e4 when Black may have multiple options, but they all give White a big advantage except for 3...d5, and now you are in a Winawer.

The Jobava also doesn't really work against the Modern Defense (1.d4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.Bf4?! - 3.e4 is significantly better.)

As a Dutch player myself, 2.Bg5 is a terrible move if Black plays to avoid the anti-Dutch lines.

1.d4 e6! And now if 2.c4, 2.Nf3, 2.g3, or 2.Bf4, only the 2...f5!

If 2.Bg5??, 2...Qxg5. If 2.e4, then 2...d5. If 2.Nc3, then 2...Bb4.

You want a simple repertoire? Here is simple:

White - Levitsky Attack, Trompowsky Attack, French Defense (1.d4 e6 2.e4!), Modern Defense (1.d4 g6 2.e4!)

(Alternative - Sokolsky - 1.b4!)

Black - Petroff, Dutch, French (1.d4 e6 2.e4 or 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5)

(Alternative - Just French and Dutch, answering 1.e4 with 1...e6 - you would need to know the Anti-French lines rather than the Petroff, like 2.b3, 2.d3, Wing Gambit, etc)

Nothing is fool proof but the jobava is ridden with traps and there are many great ways to play this opening even if they know the queen side "fried liver". I've found most players 1700+ don't fall for that and then I usually play f3 which turns into an improved caro kann fantasy- like position. Since I played that as white so long it is very comfortable and i've been winning tons of games with this opening. It's very trappy but can be solid if it needs to be. I'd much rather play this than my usual italian/giuco... which usually I hardly get to play because most don't play 1... e5. Plus no sicilian, no petrov, no scandi, no caro, no french.

In reaching the Jobava London I've been taking it one step further (or, should I say one step back) for better or worse. I do it to reduce theory and play something different. I open with 1 Nc3 and then the vast majority of my games become Jobava Londons. When they don't become Jobava Londons the positions are unique to anything I have played before and bound to be so to many of my opponents too who are without a repertoire book on such. I've been doing fairly well with it but still learning.

For it I've been using a recent repertoire book I found on Amazon titled The Chueca - Vidyarthi Opening 1 Nc3 that was written by two IMs. It covers 1...d5, 1...c5, 1...Nf6, 1...e5, 1...d6, 1...f5, 1...g6, 1...c6. The book avoids transposing to typical stuff. The book is 430 pages but it does have a whole lot of white space and big diagrams on the pages. Plus some of the pages are used for exercises. There are useful explanations as to why moves are played. I don't mind all the white space, I use it to write something in when deemed useful. I found the formatting of the connecting moves in lines very difficult to follow but I solved that for myself by writing the connecting page numbers beside moves, though it took some hours to do so.

Any move other than e4 and you will see a noticeable difference in the strength of opposition you encounter. Often even if you transpose into e4 lines later...

I don't think the slav is as prohibitive against 1. c4 as people make it out to be. There's just one line the engine likes slightly less than the main-main line semi-slav which bothers certain people but should really not bother you. And if you have to learn the meran as well in a few other places... it'll just improve you as a slav player. You can save yourself a ton of theory by just learning the lines here. The dutch certainly is not any better from a theoretical standpoint anyway....

I've been playing the Van Geet too. It's a great repertoire. It's about 1 in 3 games where white responds with 1... d5. And that's the only move that doesn't give white a fantastic and often surprising position for black to face in my opinion

Most chigorin players are fine playing a Paulsen french here anyway considering there are transpositions into it in so many other places throughout the chigorin. White will run into alot more french defenses in the chigorin than via 1. e4, many QGD / nimzo players seems to just wind up in one.

I wouldn't try to play a Jobava vs. the pirc / modern either, there are just better lines.

It's great vs. the kann, though.

ibrust, at this time I prefer the Jobava because as you pointed out the Veresov lines tend to be more tactical. I don't mind tactics, to a degree. Besides that, I'd like to try to master the lines in this 1 Nc3 book I'm using. I'll keep it in mind because who knows when I might see a reason to use it.

Well the Jobava is a great line regardless. The closed scandinavian is also quite good though, as is the reversed mexican defense and chigorin 3 knights. I haven't actually completely decided on which line I prefer. It's going to take years of experimentation and just trying the different lines out / seeing how they feel...

Some positions just feel right for whatever reason, they seem to flow and match your approach, and you can only really know what lines those are by trying the different options out for a while and learning all the tradeoffs.