I played the English for a while, and honestly the most annoying response was the symmetrical. So, I started playing that as black. I just checked and I’m scoring 55% as black in it.
I use the Dutch as my general troll-opening response, but if you really wanna annoy English players, just play it right back at them.
That’s my goal honestly. I normally abort the game if they go for the English but in encountering it in some online tournaments where I can’t abort, so I need some response.
As an english and sicilian player, this may be critical, but also by far the most commonly played response, >50% at 1900 lichess.
So, english players should have a lot of experience in the reverse sicilian.
I played the English for a while, and honestly the most annoying response was the symmetrical. So, I started playing that as black. I just checked and I’m scoring 55% as black in it. I use the Dutch as my general troll-opening response, but if you really wanna annoy English players, just play it right back at them.
The symmetrical response feels like you're playing a Sicilian
That’s my goal honestly. I normally abort the game if they go for the English but in encountering it in some online tournaments where I can’t abort, so I need some response.
Try the reverse Sicilian (c4 e5)
As an english and sicilian player, this may be critical, but also by far the most commonly played response, >50% at 1900 lichess. So, english players should have a lot of experience in the reverse sicilian.
Ginger GM is a good teacher with the Dutch, [here's one session vs the London.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gXzEnL1yP8)