Best chess openings for Black for experts
Lines where Black makes the last move, ranked by Black's score — wins plus half the draws — in rated Lichess games between players rated 2200 and up. 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 | C50 Four Knights Game: Italian Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3… |
128K | 45 / 7 / 48 | 51.5% |
| 2 | C40 Elephant Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 |
362K | 46 / 6 / 48 | 50.9% |
| 3 | C30 King's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 |
167K | 47 / 5 / 48 | 50.3% |
| 4 | B40 Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Open | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 |
2.9M | 46 / 7 / 47 | 50.3% |
| 5 | B32 Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
932K | 46 / 8 / 46 | 50.1% |
| 6 | C33 King's Gambit Accepted | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 |
473K | 47 / 5 / 47 | 50.0% |
| 7 | A03 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation | 1. f4 d5 |
541K | 47 / 7 / 46 | 49.9% |
| 8 | C55 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 |
1.7M | 47 / 7 / 46 | 49.6% |
| 9 | B02 Alekhine Defense | 1. e4 Nf6 |
3.1M | 47 / 7 / 46 | 49.6% |
| 10 | B40 Sicilian Defense: French Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 |
4.7M | 47 / 7 / 46 | 49.5% |
| 11 | B00 Nimzowitsch Defense | 1. e4 Nc6 |
1.5M | 47 / 6 / 46 | 49.5% |
| 12 | B32 Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
818K | 47 / 8 / 45 | 49.5% |
| 13 | B06 Modern Defense | 1. e4 g6 |
3.1M | 47 / 6 / 46 | 49.5% |
| 14 | B27 Sicilian Defense: Hyperaccelerated Dragon | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 |
1.3M | 47 / 8 / 45 | 49.4% |
| 15 | C50 Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 |
609K | 47 / 7 / 46 | 49.3% |
| 16 | B32 Sicilian Defense: Open | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 |
3.5M | 47 / 8 / 45 | 49.1% |
| 17 | B01 Scandinavian Defense: Main Line | 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 |
917K | 47 / 7 / 46 | 49.1% |
| 18 | B44 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
864K | 47 / 7 / 45 | 49.1% |
| 19 | C50 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 |
1.5M | 48 / 7 / 46 | 49.1% |
| 20 | B01 Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation | 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 |
1.6M | 47 / 7 / 45 | 49.0% |
| 21 | B02 Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation | 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 |
1.9M | 47 / 7 / 45 | 49.0% |
| 22 | D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 |
886K | 47 / 8 / 45 | 49.0% |
| 23 | A56 Benoni Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 |
2.1M | 47 / 7 / 45 | 49.0% |
| 24 | B01 Scandinavian Defense | 1. e4 d5 |
5.4M | 48 / 7 / 45 | 48.9% |
| 25 | B21 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted | 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 |
686K | 48 / 6 / 46 | 48.8% |
| 26 | C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 |
371K | 48 / 6 / 46 | 48.8% |
| 27 | B01 Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation | 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 |
2.5M | 48 / 7 / 45 | 48.7% |
| 28 | B54 Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Main Line | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
4.8M | 48 / 7 / 45 | 48.6% |
| 29 | C42 Petrov's Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 |
1.6M | 47 / 9 / 44 | 48.6% |
| 30 | A40 Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense | 1. d4 g6 |
2.4M | 48 / 7 / 45 | 48.6% |
Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess between players rated 2200 and up, 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.