Best chess openings for Black for beginners
Lines where Black makes the last move, ranked by Black's score — wins plus half the draws — in rated Lichess games between players rated under 1400. Among the 500 most-played lines, those reached in at least 50,000 games at this level.
| # | Opening | Moves | Games | White / Draw / Black | Black score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C02 French Defense: Advance Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 |
5.7M | 45 / 4 / 51 | 53.2% |
| 2 | B32 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
642K | 46 / 3 / 51 | 52.3% |
| 3 | A03 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation | 1. f4 d5 |
2.9M | 46 / 4 / 50 | 52.3% |
| 4 | A48 East Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 |
1.6M | 46 / 4 / 50 | 52.2% |
| 5 | B23 Sicilian Defense: Closed, Traditional | 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 |
2.9M | 46 / 4 / 50 | 51.7% |
| 6 | B54 Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Main Line | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
1.4M | 47 / 4 / 50 | 51.5% |
| 7 | B40 Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Open | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 |
1.3M | 47 / 3 / 50 | 51.4% |
| 8 | B90 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
674K | 47 / 3 / 49 | 51.1% |
| 9 | B40 Sicilian Defense: French Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 |
5.7M | 47 / 3 / 49 | 50.9% |
| 10 | B44 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
667K | 47 / 3 / 49 | 50.9% |
| 11 | C21 Center Game Accepted | 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 |
17.8M | 47 / 4 / 49 | 50.8% |
| 12 | B13 Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation | 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 |
3.1M | 47 / 4 / 49 | 50.8% |
| 13 | B20 Sicilian Defense | 1. e4 c5 |
83.5M | 47 / 4 / 49 | 50.7% |
| 14 | B01 Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation | 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 |
4.8M | 48 / 4 / 49 | 50.6% |
| 15 | B27 Sicilian Defense: Hyperaccelerated Dragon | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 |
1.4M | 48 / 3 / 49 | 50.6% |
| 16 | B10 Caro-Kann Defense | 1. e4 c6 |
42.2M | 48 / 4 / 49 | 50.5% |
| 17 | E60 Indian Defense: West Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 |
2.4M | 48 / 4 / 49 | 50.4% |
| 18 | A04 Zukertort Opening: Sicilian Invitation | 1. Nf3 c5 |
1.8M | 48 / 4 / 48 | 50.2% |
| 19 | B50 Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 |
10.7M | 48 / 4 / 48 | 50.1% |
| 20 | A56 Benoni Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 |
271K | 48 / 3 / 48 | 50.1% |
| 21 | A40 Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense | 1. d4 g6 |
9.4M | 48 / 4 / 48 | 50.0% |
| 22 | B32 Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
687K | 48 / 4 / 48 | 49.7% |
| 23 | A45 Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 |
29.9M | 48 / 4 / 48 | 49.6% |
| 24 | C11 French Defense: Classical Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 |
960K | 48 / 4 / 48 | 49.6% |
| 25 | E70 King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 |
765K | 49 / 4 / 48 | 49.6% |
| 26 | C00 French Defense | 1. e4 e6 |
63.3M | 48 / 4 / 48 | 49.6% |
| 27 | A43 Benoni Defense: Old Benoni | 1. d4 c5 |
6.5M | 49 / 4 / 48 | 49.5% |
| 28 | B06 Modern Defense | 1. e4 g6 |
18M | 49 / 4 / 47 | 49.4% |
| 29 | B30 Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 |
16.2M | 49 / 4 / 48 | 49.3% |
| 30 | A15 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense | 1. c4 Nf6 |
2M | 49 / 4 / 47 | 49.2% |
Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess between players rated under 1400, fetched for the 500 most-played lines and refreshed monthly. Each name appears once, as its most-played line. At this level, sharp lines in which a natural-looking reply goes wrong score highest — a high score says how a line does in practice, not that it is objectively best.