Best chess openings for Black in master games

Lines where Black makes the last move, ranked by Black's score (wins plus half the draws) in over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ (the Lichess masters database). Among the 1,500 most-played lines, those reached in at least 300 games at this level.

In master games, Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Paulsen Formation scores best for Black: 59.2% (wins plus half the draws) in 433 games, ahead of King's Gambit Accepted: Fischer Defense (57.6%) and Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Alapin Formation (56.4%).

The 30 best-scoring lines

#	Opening	Moves	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B	Black score
1	B21 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Paulsen Formation	`1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3…`	433	20 / 41 / 39	59.2%
2	C34 King's Gambit Accepted: Fischer Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d6`	451	25 / 34 / 41	57.6%
3	B21 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Alapin Formation	`1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6`	698	25 / 38 / 38	56.4%
4	B21 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted	`1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3`	1,528	23 / 41 / 36	56.4%
5	B21 Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack, Tal Gambit	`1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6`	475	19 / 50 / 31	56.0%
6	C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Double Gambit Accepted	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4…`	794	20 / 49 / 31	55.8%
7	A00 Polish Opening, with d5	`1. b4 d5`	389	24 / 40 / 35	55.7%
8	C44 Scotch Game: Haxo Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4…`	676	24 / 41 / 35	55.5%
9	C34 King's Gambit Accepted: King's Knight's Gambit	`1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5`	876	24 / 42 / 34	55.5%
10	B21 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Push Variation	`1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3`	352	28 / 33 / 38	55.0%
11	C33 King's Gambit Accepted	`1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4`	3,315	26 / 37 / 36	54.9%
12	A41 Rat Defense: English Rat	`1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5`	4,324	27 / 36 / 37	54.9%
13	A46 Torre Attack: Classical Defense, Nimzowitsch Variation	`1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 h6`	2,388	26 / 38 / 36	54.6%
14	D03 Queen's Pawn Game: Torre Attack, Gossip Variation	`1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 Ne4`	1,050	24 / 43 / 33	54.4%
15	B23 Sicilian Defense: Closed, Korchnoi Defense	`1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. g3 d5`	833	25 / 41 / 33	54.2%
16	C33 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Cozio Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Nf6`	337	27 / 38 / 35	54.2%
17	A03 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation	`1. f4 d5`	3,556	25 / 41 / 33	54.0%
18	C22 Center Game: Berger Variation	`1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3…`	631	29 / 35 / 36	53.9%
19	B87 Sicilian Defense: Sozin Attack, Flank Variation	`1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4…`	2,689	30 / 34 / 36	53.1%
20	B22 Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Smith-Morra Declined	`1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4`	9,752	25 / 44 / 31	53.1%
21	B72 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation	`1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4…`	953	28 / 38 / 34	53.0%
22	C22 Center Game: Normal Variation	`1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6`	1,041	31 / 32 / 37	52.8%
23	B21 Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Scheveningen Formation	`1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3…`	355	27 / 40 / 33	52.7%
24	B43 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Wing Attack	`1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6…`	3,942	31 / 33 / 36	52.6%
25	A09 Réti Opening: Advance Variation	`1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4`	4,096	26 / 44 / 30	52.5%
26	A22 English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation, Smyslov System	`1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4`	3,175	21 / 53 / 26	52.4%
27	C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Pierce Defense	`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4…`	356	22 / 51 / 27	52.4%
28	C21 Center Game Accepted	`1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4`	1,780	30 / 36 / 34	52.3%
29	B32 Sicilian Defense: Godiva Variation	`1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4…`	3,777	33 / 31 / 37	52.0%
30	B22 Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Anti-Alapin Gambit	`1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Nf6`	352	35 / 27 / 39	52.0%

Numbers: the Lichess masters database of over-the-board games between players rated 2200 and up, 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.