Best chess openings for Black for intermediate players
Lines where Black makes the last move, ranked by Black's score (wins plus half the draws) in rated Lichess games between players rated 1400 to 1799. Among the 1,500 most-played lines, those reached in at least 50,000 games at this level.
Among Lichess players rated 1400 to 1799, Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Lasker Trap scores best for Black: 68.0% (wins plus half the draws) in 132K games, ahead of Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Variation (62.5%) and Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation (58.0%).
The 30 best-scoring lines
| # | Opening | Moves | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B | Black score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D08 Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit, Lasker Trap | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. e3 Bb4+… |
132K | 30 / 3 / 66 | 68.0% |
| 2 | C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6… |
60K | 36 / 4 / 61 | 62.5% |
| 3 | C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5… |
882K | 41 / 3 / 57 | 58.0% |
| 4 | C31 King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Nimzowitsch-Marshall Countergambit | 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 c6 |
77K | 41 / 3 / 57 | 57.9% |
| 5 | C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5… |
311K | 40 / 3 / 56 | 57.8% |
| 6 | C89 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6… |
136K | 41 / 4 / 55 | 57.3% |
| 7 | B40 Sicilian Defense: Kveinis Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
95K | 41 / 4 / 55 | 57.3% |
| 8 | C45 Scotch Game: Modern Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4… |
166K | 41 / 4 / 54 | 56.6% |
| 9 | D52 Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6… |
99K | 41 / 4 / 54 | 56.5% |
| 10 | C45 Scotch Game: Steinitz Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4… |
439K | 41 / 5 / 54 | 56.4% |
| 11 | C02 French Defense: Advance Variation, Euwe Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6… |
1M | 42 / 4 / 54 | 55.9% |
| 12 | C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Cochrane-Anderssen Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4… |
132K | 43 / 3 / 54 | 55.6% |
| 13 | A40 Mikenas Defense: Lithuanian Variation | 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 |
92K | 43 / 3 / 54 | 55.5% |
| 14 | D85 Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5… |
146K | 42 / 6 / 53 | 55.5% |
| 15 | C45 Scotch Game: Classical Variation, Intermezzo Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4… |
772K | 43 / 4 / 53 | 54.9% |
| 16 | C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5… |
581K | 44 / 3 / 53 | 54.8% |
| 17 | A57 Benko Gambit | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 |
712K | 44 / 4 / 53 | 54.7% |
| 18 | B21 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation, Batavo Gambit | 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 |
92K | 44 / 3 / 53 | 54.6% |
| 19 | C02 French Defense: Advance Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 |
16M | 43 / 4 / 53 | 54.6% |
| 20 | B01 Scandinavian Defense: Panov Transfer | 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. c4 c6 |
1.4M | 44 / 4 / 53 | 54.5% |
| 21 | A57 Benko Gambit Accepted | 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 |
194K | 44 / 4 / 52 | 54.3% |
| 22 | C02 French Defense: Advance Variation, Wade Variation | 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6… |
155K | 44 / 4 / 52 | 54.2% |
| 23 | B43 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Wing Attack | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6… |
311K | 44 / 4 / 52 | 54.2% |
| 24 | A45 Indian Defense: Reversed Chigorin Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 |
220K | 44 / 3 / 52 | 54.1% |
| 25 | B02 Alekhine Defense: Scandinavian Variation | 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 |
1.7M | 44 / 4 / 52 | 54.0% |
| 26 | B01 Scandinavian Defense: Icelandic-Palme Gambit | 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. c4 e6 |
1.4M | 44 / 4 / 52 | 53.9% |
| 27 | B41 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 |
2M | 44 / 4 / 52 | 53.8% |
| 28 | A48 Indian Defense: Colle System, King's Indian Variation | 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Bd3 d6 |
417K | 44 / 5 / 51 | 53.7% |
| 29 | B40 Sicilian Defense: French Variation, Normal | 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4… |
1.1M | 44 / 4 / 52 | 53.7% |
| 30 | B21 Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack, Tal Gambit | 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 |
80K | 45 / 3 / 52 | 53.6% |
Numbers: rated blitz, rapid and classical games on Lichess between players rated 1400 to 1799, fetched for the 1,500 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.