Nty cause white lights are ~ heat so idk if I would add anyways <| sep |> I think you need to just pick something and stick with it , even recognizing it ' s shortcomings . Black has to make some kind of concession to make up for the tempo , so there is no perfect opening that easily gets an equal game . You ' ve been playing the Sicilian for like a week . You can ' t even begin to scratch the surface of learning the sicilian in that amount of time . But you massively don ' t understand 1 . . e 5 if you think it ' s just a mirror and only about white ' s initiative . There is a wealth of chess knowledge in 1 . e 4 e 5 , especially within the Ruy Lopez which usually does not become open fast ! . What is your rating ? I agree with uSCQA ' s remarks on the French and Caro and unhealthy obsession with quietsolid play for club players in general .